A Balancing Act

Today Elijah, Kipton and I slept in (until almost 8 AM), cooked a yummy breakfast of eggs, pineapple and oatmeal, did some laundry, played inside, and then went on an adventure outside.  Our adventure consisted of walking through a couple feet of snow (Kipton first showing Elijah how it's done!).  Elijah is slowly becoming more comfortable with walking in the snow.  He still hates snow on his mittens and isn't too sure about walking in deep snow by himself.  We then took a sled ride to Elijah's friend's house.  Bennett's mommy had to work on homework and wanted to keep him inside, so we just said hi and went on our way to Aunt Faydra's house.  Aunt Faydra was not home, so Elijah took it upon himself to explore their yard a bit.  They made some trails the other day with some type of sled, so Elijah had lots of fun!  Almost every time we go outdoors, it ends with Elijah crying.  It's hard to figure out if Elijah is just cold or doesn't want to go inside or both!  I don't think he even knows, but he loves to finish off his time outside with some warm milk.

It's hard to believe that Elijah is going to be 18 months old soon!  I'd like to plan something special for that weekend, maybe a visit to a children's museum.  Some recent updates:

• I have taken it upon myself to cut Elijah's hair myself (it gets expensive to have it cut every month, and it's really easy using instructions from online).  
• He takes showers now instead of baths, mostly because the cats own the bathroom with the bathtub.  Elijah is becoming more and more comfortable with the water coming down on him in the shower and likes to stomp around, "push" the shower walls and laugh after the shower is done.
• Elijah's favorite toy is his backhoe.  He also likes his toy drills and hammers.
• Elijah likes his toddler bed but still prefers to sleep with mommy and daddy.  He does a mix of both throughout the night.
• He is starting to make more sounds that sound like words... like "hey," "hi," "yes," and "no."

I title this post as "A Balancing Act" because that is what life has become for me.  I enjoy my job, and I love my husband and son even more.  As I do my best to cook healthy for us, maintain a clean home (this has proven to be the most difficult), provide Elijah with new experiences, continue to grow my relationship with Shawn and others, and meet needs of the people I work with, I sometimes feel like a parched plant with no water in sight.  I continue to re-evaluate priorities, learn and grow as an individual each day and focus on the resources the Lord has given specifically to me.  How can I be the best steward with what He has given me?  And that's all that matters.