Oh yea, I have a blog!

Well, it's been right at a month since my last post.  We have been super busy, and I am just now starting to unwind from the holiday rush.  Who would have thought I would be fighting allergies the last week of December, but I am really struggling to breath at the moment.  My eyes are itching and my nose is running like a faucet.  The weather changes are messing with my system.  One good thing about the warmer weather though is that I can still wear my flip flops.  I actually wore them Christmas Eve night at Harley's parents house.  My mom would be proud of me today though because I wore my Toms with socks all day long.  

Lots of things have happened this month.  I've posted a few pictures so you can see.  They are not necessarily in order of occurrence.  

This is Hayleigh and Halsey acting silly for the camera.  Uncle Logan is behind them.  We had a fun time meeting Logan's girlfriend Shelbie before she went home for Christmas break.  The girls took lots of silly pictures with her on my phone, but I figured I would wait a while before I completely embarrassed the girl. :)

Here is a picture of our Christmas tree after Santa paid a visit.  Hayleigh wanted a white board.  She really wanted a projector and a document camera too, but we had to explain how Santa cant go overboard because he has lots of kids to cover.  She is happy with what she got, and Harley already has it hanging on her wall so she can play school.  Halsey was pretty easy, she loves anything that has to do with Barbie.  She has had her eye on this camper for a long time.  Haddon loves baby dolls and pushing things, so the cart and baby doll was fairly easy to put together too.  All three girls were more than excited to come down stairs.  It is a lot of fun to watch them have such a good time.  I know the time is coming soon when it wont be a big deal to them, or they will want such expensive things that they can only get a few presents, so I am enjoying the time while I can.

This picture is pretty blurry, but I could not resist it.  I knew there was a chance they would wake up with the flash, but I took it anyway.  We have recently put Haddon in her own big girl bed.  It took her about two weeks to realize she can get up on her own when she wants.  Well, let me tell you, we have had a time keeping her in her bed all night long.  I joke and tell people that it's like having a newborn again, but really it's the truth.  She is up every two to three hours standing by my side of the bed wanting to get in.  I have to admit, sometimes I let her.  She is the best cuddler of the group.  Sometimes I wake up and she is in our bed asleep and I have no idea when and how she got there.  Then other times I have to march her back upstairs to her own bed.  Harley and I have resolved that we have to take her back every time now.  That is our goal over break - that she stays in her bed all night long.  Last night she actually only got up twice, so maybe we are making progress.  In this picture I found her in bed with Hayleigh when I went to bed.  I thought it was cute.

I am so proud of this next picture.  This was taken at the Fire Department Christmas banquet.  Notice how dressed up Harley is.  Well, that's because he was officially promoted to Battalion Chief.  I actually got to pin his badge on myself during the ceremony.  We are very proud of him.  He is the new Fayetteville Fire Marshall.  This is a job he never thought he would have.  Now he has an office (he's never sat behind a desk at all) and is trying to learn as much about his job as he can.  One perk, is that he works 8 to 5 every day.  This is much different from our life of the last 13 1/2 years where he worked 24 on and 48 off.  He is home every night and it has really been nice, although I feel compelled to cook more.  I dont expect we will be having cereal for dinner any time soon.

One of the other things that have happened this month - Hayleigh has finally got to start riding lessons.  This is the horse she gets to learn on, her name is Estella.  She has only had three lessons so far, but she is loving it.  I'm so glad she gets to do it.  We are on our way to learning how to take care of a horse of our own some day.  

Well, I've gone on too long.  I probably should have saved some of this for my next post.  I sure hope everyone had a great Christmas!  Thanks for reading.  Hopefully it wont be another month before my  next post.  :)