Valentine's Day, On a Budget, With a Baby - Yes it IS Possible!

I remember when Valentine's Day was all about going out to a fancy restaurant, taking a walk along the beach in the moonlight, going back home to exchange gifts, and thoroughly enjoying each other until the wee hours of the morning.  Ah yes, the good old days.  Sigh.

So much for that.

Valentine's Day is quickly approaching.  With all focus being on the baby, it might seem like it has snuck up on you. Before you go into panic mode (Where am I going to find a sitter? Will I be able to enjoy a night out without my baby? What am I going to wear, nothing fits anymore!?!), relax, stop pulling your hair out, everything is going to be okay.  You have options.  Yay options!  Here are some ideas to help you spend this special day with both your valentines (which is what its supposed to be all about anyway, not shiny things, lacy things, and the bedroom).

Skip the lingerie.  I'm starting here because this was my biggest fear on my first Valentine's Day with the baby.  BB (before baby) Valentine's Day would end in the bedroom with a nice lacy something or other. AB (after baby) my lacy somethings no longer fit and my belly looked like a deflated balloon (mmm, sexy).  I was not happy with the way I looked so running to the store to buy a new lacy something was the last thing I wanted to do.  Instead, I hit the thrift stores for a new little black dress.  Something flattering to my new curves that I could feel pretty in.  When I found one it cost me all of 5 bucks.  Yay thrift stores!  After seeing me in baggy easily accessible clothes for two months so I could breast feed without changing or having to take my shirt off, wearing a dress and a nice pair of shoes worked better on my husband than any lacy thing I could have dreamt up.

Skip the evening out.  As a new mom, I knew that if I tried to go out I wouldn't be able to enjoy myself.  I would be worried about the baby the entire time rather than enjoying an evening out with my husband.  Instead, we avoided the stress of going out and just stayed home and enjoyed our evening with each other and our baby.

Dinner.  If you have the energy, cook a nice dinner.  It doesn't have to be anything fancy.  But every girl has their go to recipe when they are trying to impress.  For me, its lasagna.  Cheesy, melty, gooey, food-gasm lasagna with meat sauce (hungry yet?).  But, sadly, lactose intolerance is a pain in the you know what and does not make for a very nice evening in.  So lasagna was out.  I didn't have the energy to spend two hours making it anyway.  Instead, we changed our dinner out to a dinner in.  If you don't have the energy to cook I highly recommend this.  Order dinner from your favorite restaurant and send your husband to pick up the food, giving you ample time to get into your new dress and throw on some light makeup.  When he gets back, strike a pose and hope he doesn't drop the food.  :-)

Gifts.  This can be tricky.  As previously stated, gifts usually included something shiny or something lacy.  With the new cost of a baby, those things were now out of our budget.  So homemade sentimental gifts became the new shiny and lacy.  Here are some ideas.  Go get your hubby and make him read these.  I'll wait.  Okay, here we go:

• Love notes. In the days leading up to Valentine's Day, start leaving little love notes around the house for eachother to find. In the medicine cabinet. The fridge. His toolbox. Taped to the steering wheel of his car. Hidden inside a baby bottle. Taped to the front of a diaper. Just little momentos of how much you love eachother.
• Massages. Hubbys, one of the best gifts you can give a new mother is an hour long back and foot rub. Trust me, it will be greatly appreciated!
• Make a coupon book.  All you need for this is paper, a pen, and a stapler.  You can gussy it up if you want, but with a baby around I know simpler is easier.  Besides, its not the way it looks, its what is inside that counts.  Each coupon is good for something.  You might want to include a disclaimer that you can only use one coupon per day (otherwise they might try to cash in on the whole book at once, yikes!).  You can include anything you want.  Breakfast in bed.  Back massages.  Hugs and kisses.  Snuggle time.  An afternoon to themselves to watch the game.  A weekend pass with no yardwork.  Car wash.  You get the idea.  Get creative!
• Photo book of love. No, not that kind of love, get your mind out of the gutter! Print out some photos of the two of you before the baby, and some of you with the baby. Put them in a little brag book (can usually find these at the dollar store) with a photo on one side and a note card on the other with little messages. Remember when we went here? Look at the new Daddy! So proud! You are so beautiful and such a wonderful mother. Short cute little notes.  When I made one for my hubby he got all teary eyed. He's so cute! Granted, so did I when he gave me one. These books can also be useful to end arguments. When you are at that silent treatment stage, just pull it out and start looking through it, or hand it to your hubby. Works like a charm to remind you that whatever you are fighting about is insignificant compared to the happiness you both share. :-)

I hope you were able to get some good ideas from this post.  Happy Valentine's Day to you and good luck!