On Saturday we celebrated our first wedding anniversary, quite a milestone for any couple. When I look back at what we’ve accomplished together in the past year, its quite a lot (with the help of friends and family too).
- Travelled overseas to Japan (our honeymoon)
- Bought a house
- Renovated the house (walls and floors, completely redone the backyard)
- Fell pregnant (I blogged frequent diaries as well)
- Gave birth to our firstborn, a son
When we fell pregnant and calculated the due date we realised that we would have a newborn on our first anniversary. That limited our options somewhat, in that weekends away or camping were out of the picture (I’m sure they’re possible for some people, but not something we wanted to do). We would be staying home, but we wanted to make it special nonetheless.
In the end, we had a perfect day. We started a new tradition, and got to spend quality time together and with our son.
So, what did we do?
Morning coffee
We had decided that we would go for a coffee at the spot where we first met, the Coffee Club in Mooloolaba. Luca slept the whole time! He must have wanted to give us the time together (or was tired, whatever).
It had been too hot for coffees so we’d had an iced chocolate and milkshake, but only managed about half of them before we threw them out. They were way too sweet and filling! While we drank them we sat overlooking the beach. Since we moved from Mooloolaba to our new house I’ve really missed the beach. I used to run down there nearly every morning, and I definitely felt the pang of homesickness. It was putting on its finest look for us too.
We wandered around looking at the shops, made a quick stop in so I could buy some bras and shorts for the summer (holy cow my boobs are now an E cup), and then headed home.
New anniversary tradition – gnocchi for dinner
Mario’s parents had asked if they could come up that night. The following day they were going to be having lunch at a restaurant before staying with other family visiting the coast for the weekend. Once Mario’s mother realised that it was our anniversary she backed out, but it had given me an idea. I asked if they didn’t mind babysitting Luca for us in the next room it meant we could actually eat dinner together. That put Mario’s mum at ease for visiting on our anniversary, and we got time together alone. A win for all!
Earlier in the week Mario and I had been discussing what we would have for dinner. We decided on one of my favourite meals, blue cheese gnocchi. It’s actually what he made for me the night he proposed.
So while I knew we were having gnocchi for dinner I didn’t realise what else Mario had in store. He had set up our living room in such a beautiful way! It was complete with flowers and candles. My heart melted when I saw it.
In the next room Luca was with his grandparents, so we could still hear him. It was quite funny sitting there with Mario, both of us keeping an ear out to hear Luca. At one point Mario had to leave to help his mother to put the nappy on, but in all fairness it was cloth nappies back when she was first raising her children. We had to restrain ourselves several times from not going to check on him. I can truly say I never thought we’d be those parents!
Dinner was incredible, Mario had outdone himself. I was reminded by how amazing his gnocchi is – nothing else rivals it. We spent the time chatting and laughing. I cried at one point, hormone induced maybe, from both the beautiful set up and also just reflecting on the year just passed. As new parents will share the sentiment, the best part was that we could both eat dinner with two hands (rare when you have a child), and the food was hot!
The entire day was perfect in my eyes. It’s nice to nod where it all began and the proposal through coffee and dinner. Mario showed his romantic side again, and this time I didn’t actually drop my food all over my shirt like I did when he proposed!
A big thank you to his parents for looking after the little man for us, we’re very lucky.
And of course, a big thank you to my husband. Thank you for the wonderful day, and the past year. I look forward to many more years together, I love you mostest.