am i crazy?

Every time I hear the song 'Home' by Phillip Phillips I think of Star Wars. Specifically, Return of the Jedi. Am I the only one?

Listen for yourself and tell me if you hear it.

Home:


Return of the Jedi Victory song:


And I think I have now proved how big of a Star Wars nut I am...

check out my guest post!

Nick in all his snotty glory.

I've been so lucky to make some great friends through blogging, one of them being Erika at Chambanachik. And today she hosted me over in her space to write about what life is like when our soldier is away!

So if you would like to read about what life is like for the Harmon Squad while dad is gone, check it out! 

And I'm not going to lie, things are not that much better even when dad isn't away...  (like, our Christmas decorations are still up. I'm thinking I should get on that soon...)

I'm not the only one who struggles keeping it all together, right??

And now, I'm off to eat a bowl of cereal.

sunday best: finally!

I'm so excited to have a Sunday best to share! My postpartum body doesn't have much that will fit it well; I've been stuck with the same couple of skirts for the past few months and I don't find them very inspring this time around. (I have tons of dresses that would fit my larger waistline and chest beautifully but they do not have chest access so no dice. And I know you're thinking the "larger waist my foot" thoughts and I understand that I have nothing to complain about in the body department, but the fact of the matter is I am bigger than my normal size that I am when not pregnant or breast feeding. And no matter how good you look, not fitting into your favorite clothes is always a matter for sadness.) But I was able to squeeze into this skirt this past week and took advantage of it! I can't guarantee this means I will have something to share every week (or almost every week) however. Next week I will probably be back in those darn skirts again.

jacket: Old Navy
top: Forever 21 (I bought this when Oskar was like a week old for family photos. It was the only thing that didn't make my just-had-baby-body look hideous.)
skirt: New York & Company (circa 2002?)
hose: Christmas present from my grandmother! I LOVE what she picks out every year.
boots: DSW. These were one of my Christmas presents from Rob. Didn't he do FABULOUS? I had pinned a bunch of boots on pinterest and he checked them out and bought his favorite. I am kind of obsessed with them and have worn them a lot in the couple weeks since Christmas. Like I told him, "I feel POWERFUL when I wear these boots!"



And don't you love my hair curled?! I wish it didn't take so long so I could do it like this every day.

a new year.

Last year I had one goal: Survive.

Well, and to birth a healthy baby. But really, all I wanted to do was get through the year in one piece.

I am happy to say I succeeded!

But this new year, I want more.

Every day brings me through the postpartum fog a little bit more, that much more closer to the real me. I'm grateful that I can feel it and see it in myself too.

So while I'm not quite back to normal yet, I know 2013 will be the year I'm officially back. And that knowledge has given me hope that I can achieve some goals this year.

One year ago I sat and read about all the things my friends and family wanted to accomplish in 2012 and I was a little sad that I wasn't one of them. But I am so glad I recognized that anything more than simply getting through the day was more than I would be able to handle. I saved myself a lot of disappointment and self-loathing. Instead I told myself that next year it would be my turn. It would be my time to hope and dream again.

This year, with a new baby on my hip and puppy under my feet I make lists. Small lists, but lists none-the-less. And I guess only time will tell how I'll manage!

we had a fabulous christmas.

We stayed in pj's all day, took our sweet time opening presents (the boys lost steam about halfway through; Max even stopped to take a donut break), stuffed ourselves full of bacon and pancakes and hot chocolate, watched Home Alone (we got it for Christmas and the boys have never seen it before... they weren't so into it. Except for the part where the guy's head is set on fire. That was funny to a 6 and 2 year old), tried out our new video games, played with new toys, and took a nap. We did have a couple hiccups to our plans; Nick was sick Christmas Eve and Oskar got sick later that evening. So after staying up reeaaaallllly late wrapping gifts Oskar then screamed every half hour the rest of the night. So Rob and I were zombies Christmas day. We ended up nixing Christmas dinner of calzones due to me falling asleep and running out of time to make the dough (whoops). Thankfully we had plenty of leftovers from Christmas Eve dinner and breakfast. And we will have calzones later this week!

Now we are trying to reclaim our house from the chaos of the past couple of months... It is pretty slow going thanks to some little creatures that demand so much of my time. But I did manage to empty out my (small) closet and reconfigure it (getting rid of a huge stack of clothes in the process!)... now I just have to get everything back in there. Then it's on to the kid's room!

Oh, and I need to send out our Christmas cards. It only took three tries to get them printed right, and while they still aren't right (the bottom words are cut off) I ran out of time to try some more. Oh well, who needs things perfect anyway?

Please tell me I'm not the only person who feels like they are always a couple steps behind. Please?

Anyway, I hope you had a fabulous holiday! I still get warm fuzzies thinking about ours.

happy christmas!!

Nick Christmas morning last year. Shoving treats out of his stocking in his face. (Normally we are not so dressed for unwrapping gifts; last year Christmas was on a Sunday so we attended church before coming home and opening presents.)

Happy Christmas from the Harmon Squad!!


I'm sure as you read this we are knee deep in wrapping paper!

it's christmas eve!

scenes from our Christmas last year: the boys in their Christmas pajamas; me and my boys in front of the Christmas tree (me in the early stages of pregnancy and already feeling really rough); putting cookies and milk out for Santa.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season! I know we have some very excited little boys who can't wait for morning to come!

But before Santa comes, we like to focus on what Christmas is really about, the birth of Jesus Christ. I love this video that features one of my favorite Christmas songs:


Regardless of your beliefs, I hope your Christmas is filled with happiness!