Children Will Change Your Marriage: Here’s What You Can Do

This post is sponsored by Longhorn. As always, I only work with brands I use and love. Thank you for helping me support them.

Today’s post is a little personal, I’m talking about marriage and what happens to your marriage after kids. For 9 months, I prepped for our little one’s arrival and we waited with anticipation for him to enter our world. When he finally did, it was the best thing! I wouldn’t trade one second of it! One thing that no one told me was: having a baby changes your marriage. 

No one looked at me and said: you know those women who go to the gas station in their pajamas? Yeah…that’ll be you. You won’t shower for days on end, you will have spit up in your hair, and you will feel gross. You will have stretch marks and you will cry over the Geico commercial (why does the gecko have to be so darn cute?). Your marriage will be different after having a baby. 

After having our little one, we got off to a rough start. A two-week NICU stay, an emergency C-section and a lay-off 2 months later were NOT in the plan. Needless to say, the marriage that we had worked so hard on for 3 years. The relationship that was built around just the two of us-it was pushed to the back burner. Late nights watching Netflix were replaced with late night feedings. Don’t get me wrong: I wouldn’t trade being a mom for the world, but I would better prepare myself and remind myself to focus on our marriage and my husband a bit more in those early months. 

Thankfully, I have the most understanding hubby in the world. He is so supportive, positive and an amazing provider for my family. Now that we have been parents for a little over a year, the fog has lifted and it’s easier to see that we need to focus on our marriage and make time for each other. When we focus on our marriage and having a great marriage, we can be better parents.

We have taken a few steps to ensure that our marriage remains a top priority and we keep our focus on each other:

Date Night:

Thankfully, each time my parents are in town, they always volunteer to keep our little one while we have a date night. At first, I felt a bit guilty about leaving our little one, but after time, I have realized that time away and time together as husband and wife are necessary. One of our favorite places for date night is Longhorn Steakhouse. We LOVE everything about Longhorn! Recently, we were able to visit our local Longhorn and the experience was absolutely amazing (as always).

We started our meal off with a glass of wine (for me) and a beer (for hubby), along with their spicy chicken bites and fresh baked bread. I ordered the crab cake filet and he had the hand-cut Atlantic salmon with bourbon marinade. Our meal was so delicious and the service was beyond perfect. Each time we have ever visited Longhorn Steakhouse, we have had a great experience and this time was no different! It was truly a night for us to reconnect, spend time together and enjoy a delicious meal. I highly recommend visiting your local Longhorn Steakhouse if you are looking for the perfect date night destination! 

Make Time For Each Other:

We have also made it a point lately to ensure we carve time out for each other. It can be easy for me to work until 10 at night, but that isn’t healthy to do every night. We are making it a point to unplug, unwind and spend time watching a TV show or movie together a few times a week.

Discuss Your Day:

It’s easy to get caught up in talking about the kids or what’s for dinner, but we try to make it a point to discuss our day. I make it a point each day to ask my hubby how his day was and he does the same.

How do you stay connected to your spouse?