Tuesdays' on Wednesday

Ruby Tuesdays is one of my favorite restaurants. I always order the same thing, the salad bar, but its a good spread of veggies that's not duplicated at any other restaurant in our area. Plus, I fill my plate with their croutons, they are the real reason that I like Tuesdays so much.

Justin and I have decided to attempt a yearly tradition of going to Tuesdays every year with Vada the day before her birthday. It marks a special memory for him and I. This year we had to come the day of her birthday because ironically Vada and I were in Peoria yesterday and Justin had to be at work.

One year ago, yesterday, Justin and I had an amniocentesis done to see if Vada's lungs were mature. I had been going into labor constantly and due to her medical issues and the already high risk pregnancy we wanted to make sure that I would deliver her in Peoria. If the test came back that her lungs were mature than we would be inducing labor that day. Our doctor told us that we could go have lunch while we were waiting for the results. Just as we were walking out of the hospital, my phone rang. The results were in and we were told to be back at that hospital at a certain time to start the induction. Our baby would be here soon!

Justin and I went to Tuesdays that day. It was such a enjoyable meal. I had been on bed rest for over twelve weeks and we barely had any time like this together. As we sat in our booth made for two, eating our delicious salads and croutons we kept repeating our baby is coming our baby is coming. It was fun knowing that I was about to be in a labor that wouldn't be stopped. After months of injections, NST's, ECHO's, sonograms, and weekly lab draws I was finally going to meet the little girl who I had been terrified of loosing and the moments of just him and I (when the older girls were at their dad's) would soon be no more. Life as we knew it was about to drastically change..., again. We laughed and cried from the emotions that were pouring over and at that moment I fell in love with my husband all over again.

Today, while we were dining on fresh croutons and oh, vegetables Justin pointed behind him to a corner booth. It was one also made for two and was occupied with a couple a little older than him and I. He asked if I remember sitting in that exact booth. I said that I did and to prove my memory I said "It was when we were deciding baby names. Vada for a girl and Iggy Fynn if it were a boy."

After proving that I remembered the moment he was talking about, I then asked him if he remembered the first time that we brought Vada here. Today, being only Vada's second Tuesdays dining experience. I didn't really give him time to think let alone reply before I answered my own question. It was the day of her baptism. We came with his parents and we had every single one of their flavored lemonades. It was a beautiful day and a fun time overall. That day for me also marks a dark occasion. It is a day forever linked in my vault of memories to her seizures, they started that very next morning.

As we were walking out of Tuesdays today our last trip prior to this one came to mind. It was our first childless date together. Justin's mom watched Vada while we went to lunch and then did a little Christmas shopping together.

I can connect Tuesdays to some very monumental memories over the past two years and I look forward to our newly made tradition of celebrating our last day as Justin and Tara "The Married Couple" to Justin and Tara "Proud Parents of Three".