Double Duty Dinner

Kristine and I have always enjoyed eating out. There's just so much simplicity to it, and honestly, it's not that much more expensive when it's just two of you and you factor in the cost in time to buy the food, cook it, and then clean it up. Plus, with Adler, it seems like some time out of the house is great for Kristine, who spends all of her day alone on the isle of parenthood.

So far, dinners out have been great because Adler is almost always asleep after a car ride to the restaraunt, so it's a great chance for Kristine and I to say something to each other, and also avoid saying "Ooooohieeee, Adler, you are so cute, you are so cute...la la la la la la whoo whoo, you are so cute, love you, luv u, love yoooooouu." and other baby phrases or facial gestures that send Adler into pure joy. That was until last night:

Kristine and I decided to go to Scallinni's, a local italian restaraunt that specializes in AWESOME garlic/butter rolls, and some nice affordable food in a mafia style (dimly lit) environment. The rolls are amazing by the way, if you couldn't already tell. So, we get to the restaraunt and sit down, Adler next to me in his car seat, and I notice that his eyes are as big as Texas. He's wide awake and just fussy. So, I eat rolls and salad with one hand while rocking and holding his pacifier steady with the other. I was probably a terrible date because of the concentration my little mind requires to keep a baby happy while also feeding myself. By the time the food arrived, Adler was definately frustrated and wanted to be played with. So, we implemented double duty dinner, and I fed Adler a bottle while Kristine ate, and then we switched so that I could eat. It was honestly pretty tough, and we didn't walk out of the restaraunt very caught up on "grown up talk", but I did have a good laugh inside about how in it (parenthood) we really are. He's the real deal, and there will be more of those tough times...but I Praise God for my family and how awesome and fortunate and wonderful it was to be in that situation with someone like Kristine and a son like Adler. It makes anything "tough" seem like a piece of cake afterward, and in retrospect, it's never as stressful looking back as it felt in the moment. Ultimately, he's a joy and it's a priviledge to be his Dad and her husband. Really, it was perfect because the food had cooled off to the perfect temperature by the time it was my turn to eat, so Win Win right?