Shawn Johnson and Andrew East Make Sure to Have ‘Good Husband and Wife Time’ After Welcoming Baby Drew
Keeping the spark alive! Shawn Johnson East says she and husband Andrew East “absolutely” make time for date night while in quarantine. Even though the couple and their 6-month-old daughter, Drew, are social distancing amid the coronavirus pandemic, they make sure to get their alone time after their baby girl goes to sleep.
“She goes down around 7 and the rest of the night is spent, you know, drinking a glass of wine, sitting out by the fire, watching a movie,” the former Olympic gymnast, 28, tells Life & Style exclusively. “Just spending good husband and wife time.”
The two tied the knot in April 2016 on a private farm in Franklin, Tennessee. Though Shawn experienced a miscarriage in October 2017, they welcomed Drew nearly two years later. Since their daughter’s birth, the Winning Balance author and former professional football player have only gotten closer.
“I think watching your spouse become a parent makes them that much more attractive,” she says. However, it also “causes more tension at the beginning just because you’re trying to figure out how to be each other’s number one with another person, caring for each other’s heart, but it’s this beautiful growing process that you go through.”
Despite their ups and downs, Shawn and Andrew make the perfect team. In fact, the longtime loves have “a really good system down that’s almost perfectly 50/50” when it comes to splitting parenting responsibilities. “I will take her during the day to let Andrew go work out for at least an hour or two and then vice versa,” the gold medalist explains. “He’s definitely better at like, if she needs anything in the middle of the night. He’s definitely more coherent than I am in the middle of the night. But I always take the early mornings. So yeah, we just kind of figured it out!”
At 6 months old, Drew, who was named after her father, is also starting to develop quite the personality. “She’s my husband’s twin, 100 percent,” the Iowa native laughs. “She literally looks like him. She’s literally his physical twin and she’s incredibly tall. So that’s definitely not taking after me. And outside of that, I think she’s honestly her own personality. She’s just sassy and fun and so curious, and she’s just the best.”
Overall, the family is doing “really well” in quarantine — and Drew even hit some new milestones! “She’s crawling, so that was a big one,” Shawn gushes. “She’s very mobile now and that’s a new one for us!”
When Shawn isn’t on diaper duty, she’s showing off her new limited-edition capsule collection for Vera Bradley. The Vera Bradley + Shawn Johnson collection includes a ReActive Deluxe Tote and ReActive Ditty Bag, each available in three colorways – Dark Blue Heather, Black, and Star Power, an exclusive pattern inspired by Shawn’s signature starry touch. “I’m really excited about this collaboration,” she shares. “I’m obsessed with pockets and I feel like there’s literally one for every reason and every purpose you can possibly think of, so it makes it great for being a mom!”
Reporting by Diana Cooper
