My biggest effort right now is going back and updating both of their blogs with old 2010 pictures and posts, but I'm dating the posts on Madeline's blog to reflect the dates/months when the pictures were taken. This is partly because several posts were already started and have their original dates, and partly because I am printing out the first two years of their blogs to keep as baby books. So there are going to be updates in the coming weeks on both blogs (in fact, there is already one here) but Madeline's might not appear as updates because they'll be dated from last Jan/Feb through December. Confusing, but it works for me!
The one ball I didn't mention in my list above is the one that's easiest to neglect and hardest to justify: Myself. I've been taking myself back a piece at time in very small and manageable ways (changing my diet around and finding easy ways to exercise are helping me to find my pre-baby body, for example), but there are so many pieces of myself that I've let go since taking on my other roles and they're hard to get back. I'm using this season of Lent to take the time that I don't usually allow myself -- time to read for pleasure, to reconnect with others, to rekindle the mystic inside, and to reflect on the direction that God is taking me in the coming year. I'm excited to see what comes out of this time and to feel the growing pains that inevitably occur whenever I let myself slip too far away from where I belong.
It probably seems backwards that one of my main focuses for this time is working on the kids' blogs and updating the past year, but looking back is one of my favorite ways to reflect -- and I don't have to look very far to see how blessed I am.
It's a good reminder to me: I'll never be the person I was before I was a wife and mother, and that's not a bad thing at all. I also know there's a balance that will allow me to feel connected to my family and my spirit, and I'm still trusting that I'm going to find it.
