LoveITT: One Year and Beyond- Keeping your marriage alive

This weeks link up is about keeping your marriage alive with a toddler. I have been thinking about this a lot lately. Kaden and I have an awesome relationship but I have wondered what exactly we do to keep it that way. After two babies we seem to still be as lovey as ever. After paying attention to the two of us the past week I have came up with a few of the ways we keep our marriage alive.

- We take interest in each others dreams. Kaden and I are huge dreamers and we talk about our ideas all the time. Our best talking time is in the car. It seems like we get a little one on one time when we drive. Basically we just tune out the two babies behind us and drift back to the time before they weren't around.

- We flirt. When Kaden walks in the door from work he is almost always greeted with a kiss. When i make dinner Kaden bugs me as he walks through the kitchen. We tease each other, call each other babe and laugh a lot.

- We share the responsibility of putting Leighton to bed. This takes a lot of stress off of me and helps us to both be in good moods before we go to sleep.

- We date. This is a big one. We love our children. Leighton and Emersyn are the best part of the our little family but time away is good for all of us. Dating after having the girls didn't come easy for us. We tend to do everything with the girls and we love it so we never even thought we needed more time alone. Then one day I wanted a break, we went to a movie and our lives were changed forever. Dating is the best thing you can do for your marriage.

When you are chasing crazy stressful children around all day. Making time for one another doesn't always seem realistic. If you want to keep your marriage going strong, stay intimate with one another and have a fulfilling relationship, you have to develop a plan. For most couples i know that a loving relationship doesn't come as naturally as it did before children entered the picture. Being open with each other and deciding how you are going to stay close is the best way to start. When you are on the same page it is so much easier to know what will help you to get past the fact that your world is being rocked by a 2 year old. The four simple things we do help us to continue to grow closer and feel loved.

One Year and Beyond is back!! We just couldn't stay away from this awesome toddler series. We've gotten so much positive response so far. Motherhood can be difficult especially with a toddler at home. So we're here to talk toddler issues, mom to mom. We've got a great group of mamas who are offering their advice on getting through those challenging times with their child. Be sure to check out their blogs and then link up your own post on the topic with us below!