updated.

Thanks for the "pep talks" on the last post! This week has been better, and I ended up with a free afternoon/evening yesterday so that helped a lot. The very long naps two of the three took yesterday afternoon were awesome too.



I took advantage of finally having some "free" time to do some long-overdue updating of business stuff. Of course the plan was to have this done with the new year, but life got in the way. So here we are almost into April with it done! (well, most of it. I still need to update the blog, we're missing two members of the Harmon Squad outside of the posts)

First, I finally updated my pricing!! I worked soo hard (with lots of tweaking over the past few months) to get it where it is, and I'm hoping it means seeing more faces through my lens. To see 2013's pricing you can go to the information page on my website, find it on the Jax Harmon Photography + Design tab here on The Harmon Squad, or find it on my facebook page.

Speaking of the facebook page, it got a complete facelift and now hosts a lot of information. Check it out to see all the new tabs, and if you are so inclined please like it! I'm no social media genius, but I'm slowly getting better at using them. (although I still haven't taken the twitter plunge. It still confuses the snot out of me)

And that's that. SO exciting, I know. (that's sarcasm) At least for you. I'm beyond excited to finally complete some things that have been hanging over my head for months!!

Now to tackle some more things on my to-do list...

(insert my children laughing)

trying to find balance.

Life has been a whirlwind lately. There is always so. much. to. do. And as much as I try to keep all the balls in the air, a few always get dropped.

Recently a friend posted on facebook about how life with three kids was suffocating; between school, after school activities, homework, housework, cooking, etc. there wasn't really any time left over for dates with friends or leisure activities. And I can attest that's pretty accurate. But while she said suffocating in a positive-ish way, a lot of the time I feel suffocated in the negative way.

Everyone has needs. The kids all have their needs. Rob has his needs. The dog has needs. I have needs too. But no matter how hard I try I can't meet them all. So I feel spread thin a lot, and feel like I'm failing at my job. I read this article toady and found myself tearing up because it describes my life right now so perfectly.

Thankfully this is not everyday. I do have good days where I get lots accomplished and everything seems to go smoothly. But the days I feel like I need everyone to go on vacation and just leave me at home alone so I can get stuff done have been happening a lot recently.

I should point out right now that I am not depressed (don't worry!), just overwhelmed. And everything that fills up my time is good stuff, nothing to worry about there. It's just as an extreme introvert too much human interaction can feel suffocating. (that includes interacting with my children) Perhaps that's why I'm a night owl; I really relish the time when everyone else is in bed and I can work without anyone bothering me. But at the same time too many conversations with a six year old and a two year old makes me a little desperate for some adult interaction. There's always that battle between child vs. adult conversation and people vs. alone time.

And since it doesn't look like things are going to be letting up soon, or maybe even ever (I have a feeling this is just what happens as your children grow), I will keep on seeking that ever-elusive balance. I know I may never find it, but it's all about the journey, right?

I think wishing for more hours in the day or the ability to run on little sleep will never stop though. It would make things so much easier.

Anyway, hugs to all of you out there struggling too!

I do know enough that if someone looks like they have it all together they are probably just really good at hiding the crazy. We're all in the same boat.

Right?

this is what a trip to Costco looks like.

Well, what the trips I have to get diapers look like. I'm glad I snapped these a couple months ago; I'm sure I'll get a kick out of them once my kids are grown and out of the house.

Also, Costco cookies are the best.

oh, man.

I think I may have overdone it today.

It began with my monthly trip to Costco. The one where I have Oskar strapped to my chest, the other two boys sitting in the cart, and then our month's worth of groceries in the back of the cart. I'm sure it's a sight to see me pushing that (way-overloaded) baby out of the store and to our car. (like, our cart was creaking whenever I had to turn kind of overloaded)

But I didn't stop there. We're finally gearing up to get our backyard landscaped, so in preparation all the holes Yula has dug need to be filled and all the dirt blown to the back of the yard needs to be hauled back to where it came from. So this afternoon I tackled that. 

I'm gonna feel it tomorrow.

And I'm already feeling the blisters forming on my hands. 

One of my goals for this year is to get strong. I've never been particularly athletic and my weight has never been an issue, so instead of the typical weight loss goals people make I just want to get strong. 

I think today definitely counted. Manual labor is not for sissies.

i will miss you google reader.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

i bit the bullet.

I've been working hard these past few weeks to update all my business 'stuff,' and since this blog is part of my business I decided it was time to look a little more professional from the get-go.

So The Harmon Squad is now found at www.harmonsquad.com.

Never fear, if you use the blogspot address you'll just get redirected to the new one, but if you're OCD like me go ahead and update it in your reader or bookmarks or whatever.

And I'm a little behind when it comes to all this social networking stuff, but I'm also taking this opportunity to let you know you can become my google friend! The little box is down on my sidebar, so if you do that sort of thing feel free to follow me! (no pressure though. I like blogging because I'm an introvert so I can make friends from the safety of my house, not because I feel the need for followers. So if you've been reading I'd love to get to know you!)

That's it for now! I'm sorry for the spotty posts, it's been a little chaotic but I'm hoping things settle down soon. I can tell you my introvert alarm has been going off a lot recently so some down time is really needed.

I hope everyone is enjoying the sunlight in the evening now! I'm so excited we're starting the journey back towards the sun!

season of sickness.

Well. Three kids (and a dog) has me overwhelmed pretty much most days. But when you throw illness into the mix all I can do is try to survive.

Last week was full of puke and poop. Lots of it.

Thankfully we are all better and I'm hoping and praying we stay this way for a little while.

I remember sometime towards the end of January I stopped for a minute and reflected on how things were going. "Life's been pretty good recently; I've been productive, the kids are being good, we're all getting along, the house is staying in a reasonable state. What's the reason for this?" (usually life is kind of chaotic around here)

Then I remembered we hadn't been sick since Christmas. Oh yeah, being healthy is awesome.

But not long after ruminating on that we came down with the horrible cold that lasted two weeks.

Then we had a lull for a week or so before coming down with a stomach bug.

So February, I will not miss you. You were rough on me.

And March, please let your coming mean the end of our sickness. Please.