It's a Boy

Yeah! We're having a little baby boy! Everything looked good on the ultrasound - ten fingers, ten toes, everything was as it should be. (Check out the "Our Pictures" link to see the photos.) So he will have the same initials as me, his name will be Aiden Richard. Aiden because we just like it :) and Richard because that's a family name. We have Richards on both sides of the family.

Monty and his dad (both Richard Montgomery)
My dad (Anthony Richard)
My grandfather (Richard Donald)
My brother (Richard Alexander)
Not to mention that my mom's maiden name is Richardson.

We have the crib bedding ordered and have finished registering at Wal-Mart. So, we're pretty much done with baby stuff until after the holidays.

Next week we'll be going to Hot Springs and then on to Alabama. We will be going to spend Christmas in Montgomery with Monty's family. Then I'll still have a week off at home before going back to school in January.

It's Baby Time

Actually, it's been "baby time" for 16 weeks now, but everything has been so uneventful that there really wasn't much to blog about. Not that I'm not thankful for the "uneventfulness"! I have not been sick one day and, other than being overly tired the first 10 weeks, I've felt great.

We have started getting the nursery ready. Since that was my scrapbooking room, we had to clear all that stuff out and rearrange it in the hall closet. That took some major cleaning out, but now I am down to a manageable amount of supplies. The smaller space was a bit of a challenge, but we made it work. We got our crib in last week and have that all put together. My dad is in the process of building a bookshelf for the room. He wanted to give a personal gift to his first grandbaby :).

Today we heard the heart beat for the first time! It was going strong at about 150 beats a minute. Only three more weeks until we find out if it's a girl or a boy. My gut says it's a boy, but we'll see! Either way, we are so excited!

Back to School

It's that time again! Today was the first day back to school! What a change it is to have to get up at 6:00 instead of sleeping in till 9:00. Now it's back to kids, lesson plans, and grading papers at night. Every summer just seems to fly by and I get to August thinking, "Where did all my free time go?". I didn't get half the stuff done I wanted to this summer, but that's okay. I had a wonderful vacation and got to spend lots of time with my other girlfriends who have the luxury of having summers off.

Less free time aside, I do really love my job. I love being in Wal-Mart when they put the new school supplies out, I love working in my room getting things ready, I love getting my class list and seeing who I'll have each year, and I love meeting my new kids. This year I have 24 darlings and I know we will have a great year. They are a talkative bunch but they seem ready to learn. I can't wait to see how they grow this year!

The Last Week

The past week has been busy but fun! Tuesday we went to Chocolate World in Hershey. Pretty fun tour and a gift shop with LOTS of chocolate and candy. There was a lot to see! That night we ate at Plain and Fancy Farm. We had the "family stlye" meal which was all you could eat food brought right to the table. It was a little weird that we had to eat with other people (there was a family from Dallas and a couple from Lancaster at the table with us), but there was plenty of good food ... fried chicken, sausage, roast beef, corn, mashed potatoes, buttered noodles, carrots, pie, ice cream ... YUM!!

Wednesday we dodged the rain as we did a walking tour of Philly. We toured the building where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed as well as several other historic buildings. We ended the day at the National Constitution Center. Thursday we went to a Phillies game and then drove through New Jersey and Delaware (to add two more states to the list of places we've traveled!).

Friday we had a "down" day in Lancaster. We did a lot of driving and shopping. There were some outlet stores and of course a lot of Amish stores. We ended the day by taking a buggy ride. The ride went through an Amish farm so we were able to see the men working in the fields making hay bales. The children were selling homeade cookies and pretzels. We went to a local pretzel factory but missed being able to take a tour and twist our own pretzels.

Today we left our nice little campsite and headed for Indiana. We figured if we could get that far then the drive to St. Louis on Sunday wouldn't be so bad. We stopped near Shanksville, PA to see the Flight 93 Memorial. This was the flight that crashed in the field on September 11th.

We are almost in Indiana. Unfortunately there was a HORRIBLE rainstorm and so we decided to stop and stay the night in Brookville, Ohio. We are only 20 miles from Indiana so tomorrow won't be too bad. We can get back on the road after church tomorrow.

We are planning on visiting the Arch in St. Louis and then we will be home on Monday!! We have had a great time but we are ready to be back. Monty is not looking forward to work on Wednesday. I'm sure the rest of my week will be doing laundry and unpacking! :)

You can check out our photos on our Flickr site!

Adventures in Gettysburg

We had a great time in Gettysburg. After our two BUSY days in D.C. it was nice to just lay back and relax a little. The first day we were there (Saturday) it rained quite a bit. We got some laundry done and plugged in everything in the laundry room to charge. I was not really impressed with our campsite. Unlike our others with trees and a private site, this was just a big field with a bunch of tents. The sites were separated with spray paint lines and there were no trees!

Sunday we actually got to do some sight seeing. After church we went and ate at Boyds Bear Country. This is a big outlet with all kinds of Boyds Bears for sale. It also had a great restaurant with country style cookin'. It was basically like a three-story Cracker Barrel. Then we went and did a driving tour of the Battlefield. The total tour covered about 20 miles and took us step by step through the three day battle. I was amazed at all the monuments, plaques, and memorials. We found the Arkansas, Florida, and Alabama memorials. The Visitor Center at the park was really nice and had a very informative museum about the battle. Today we went to the Gettysburg National Cemetary where Lincoln gave his Gettysburg Address. We are calling this our Lincoln Vacation as we have now seen his birthplace, where he died (in D.C.), and several other places that were significant in his life.

This is the memorial for Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.

This memorial stands on the site where he actually gave his famous speech.

We are now in Lancaster, PA. It was only about an hour drive from Gettysburg. It took us a little longer because we had to stop at Sam's on the way and get a new car battery. Luckily we could tell that it was dying and we didn't get stranded anywhere! The car starts much better now!

The Lancaster campsite is much nicer! We are next to a stream and we can look out the tent window and see farms and cows. There are actually trees and we have electric and water at our site. The bathrooms are much cleaner too and they are air-conditioned!

Here is the view from our new campsite. You can't see it in the pic, but there were A LOT of fireflies glowing in the field.

Tomorrow we are going to Hershey to visit Chocolate World. Any place with that much chocolate is bound to be fun!

More Pictures

We are now in Gettysburg, PA. Yesterday we enjoyed watching the fireworks in D.C. The weather was less than cooperative and we spent much of the afternoon and early evening under our ponchos. However, the rain cleared in time for the fireworks and they were awesome!! We'll post a video clip soon. We sat in the National Mall area between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. It was pretty cool to be in the capital for our nation's birthday!

Monty has updated our Flickr site so you can enjoy more pics of our vacation.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/monty-angela-blair

Tomorrow we are going to tour the Gettysburg battlefield after church and then we will tour the Boyds Bear Factory.

Driving and Walking

Driving and walking are the best words to describe the activities of the last four days. We certainly have done a lot of both and honestly I have enjoyed every minute of it! Monday morning we left Monty's grandparents at about 5:30. We traveled through the eastern part of Kentucky, part of West Virginia, and then into Virginia and the Shenendoah National Park.

Our time in Shenendoah was peaceful and relaxing. There were hardly any other campers in our campground. Also, being in a national park made the nights quiet and still. Tuesday we did some hiking and driving within the park. In the morning we hiked two miles to see the highest waterfall in the park and then hiked two (uphill and steep) miles back to camp. We drove about 30 miles to see another waterfall and to enjoy some of the gorgeous overlooks. Monty was able to capture some breathtaking photos of Tuesday's sunset.

Wednesday we left our peaceful oasis to enter the craziness that is D.C. On our way to the next campsite we stopped off to visit Mt. Vernon, which was once George Washington's home. We both enjoyed touring the mansion and the surrounding buildings, farmland, gardens, and memorials. Our campsite is on the Maryland side of D.C. We chose this once because of its close proximity to the capital. However, the highways run right by our site and the people of D.C. apparently never sleep because we could hear traffic all night long. That didn't stop us from sleeping though. Our days are so busy that we are ready to go bed each night!! We drove to Baltimore Wednesday night to see an Orioles game.

Thursday morning Monty was so glad that he didn't have to get back out and drive on the crowded interstates! The Metro bus came right to our campground and we were then able to take the Metro Rail into D.C. All day we walked and saw monuments, buildings, and memorials. We stayed in D.C. From 8:00 to 5:30 and our feet were ready to come back to the campsite. We covered most of the major sites and are going back today to see some more!! Since it is the Fourth of July we are sleeping in a little and then staying in the city late to see fireworks.

Here's me at the WWII Memorial!

Monty got this cool shot at the Vietnam Memorial.

Mammoth Cave, Museums, and Monuments

Mammoth Cave .....

To say the least we have had a busy two days. Saturday we got up around 7:00, ate breakfast, and then had to go get the oil changed in the car. About 9:00 we were on the road again. It took a little less than an hour to get to Mammoth Cave National Park. There were several tour options available, but we decided on the self-guided Discovery Tool. Most of the other ones were sold out, not to mention the fact that some of them took over four hours to complete. We were able to walk at our own pace and take our time looking around. The part of the cave we were in was wide and open. I was the most impressed with the Rotunda area. I have know idea how big it actually was, but massive is the only word that comes to mind to describe it!

Museums ....

After lunch we headed up to Louisville to the Louisville Slugger Factory and Museum. I was excited to see how they made the bats and I knew that we would get to take a tour and see bat making in progress. Unfortunately, the production part of the factory was closed due to inventory. However, we still got to take the tour and it was FREE since they were not actually making bats that day. It was neat to see how quickly they can turn a round piece of wood into a perfect bat. The coolest part was getting to hold and see the types of bats that several of the Major Leauge players use. Several have contracts with the factory and can call and order bats anytime. Each one has a specific bat that they like to use. We held bats that had been ordered by Andruw Jones, Ken Griffey Jr., and Derek Jeter to name a few. How cool! The other section of the museum had baseballs on exhibit that had been signed by 18 different presidents.

Monuments ....

Sunday we visited the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln. There is a section of the actual log cabin he was born in. They have built a nice building around it to protect it. The monument is on the actual land that his father owned called Sinking Springs. The spring is below the ground and they say that that is where Lincoln took his first drink of water! I always enjoy history and Monty enjoys taking pictures so it was a good place for both of us. There were also two statues in the town square that are monuments representing Lincoln as a boy and as an adult.

Tomorrow we head out bright (barely) and early for Virginia!!

We Made It To Kentucky

We left this morning at 9:00 for our big trip! At about 9:30 Monty realized he had left his camera charger at home so we had to go all the way back to get it! So . . . at 10:00 we were really on our way. Lunch was in Little Rock at Corky's BBQ (yum!). We met Mom and dropped off Austin. After that it was pretty much straight driving and a quick stop for gas in Memphis. At about 9:00 we arrived in Franklin, KY where we had a hotel room reserved. Tomorrow we are off to the Louisville Bat Factory and Mammoth Cave National Park. We are already having a great time and we're just getting started!!

A Day In the Life of a 14 Year Old

A typical day for Austin . . . .

1. Wake up late.

2. Eat breakfast.

3. Play video games.

4. Eat lunch.

5. Play video games.

6. Eat dinner.

7. Play video games.

8. Go to bed late.

Really, he has done a little more than that (he mowed the yard on Tuesday)! Austin is enjoying relaxing, sleeping late, and not having to go to football practice and do chores every day. I am enjoying having some company while Monty is at work. Monty is enjoying having a guy in the house to share movie quotes, funny videos on tv, and sports related conversations.

I've finally given in ....

After trying Myspace annd Facebook and finding them way too "busy" and complicated, I've decided that plain old blogging is the way to go. Not that there's that much going on in our lives, but it will give us a way to keep up with friends and family.

I am currently enjoying my fourth day of summer vacation. So far I have been to the dentist and had a cavity filled and two cavities fixed. Yesterday I got one wisdom tooth removed. That's right, just one!! I was lucky enough to have just one that was growing in on the top. I can't say it was fun, but I today I finally feel like I am back to normal.

Friday we are heading to Hot Springs to pick up Austin, my youngest brother. He is finishing up football camp this week and then he will stay with us for two weeks. Most of the time he is here, Mom and Dad will be in Seattle visiting our other brother, Andy.

The 27th Monty and I are headed on our huge vacation!! Our goal is to visit every National Park, all 50 states, and every Major Leaugue Baseball Park together. (We hope to be done by our 50th wedding anniversary!) Last year we went Mount Ranier NP and to Safeco Field (home of the Seattle Marineers). This year we will add Mammoth Cave NP and Shenendoah NP. We plan to go watch the Philadelphia Phillies play at Citizens Bank Park and the Baltimore Orioles play at Camden Yards.

Our 18 day vacation will take us through about 11 states. Trip highlights will include Washington D.C., Gettysburg, Amish Country in Pennsylvania, Hershey, PA, and Historic Philadelphia. We will be blogging our trip and posting pics so everyone can see where we are each day.