Big Change

Went in for an ultrasound about 3 weeks ago and they had run out of film....so I have no pictures to post but we did see the cute baby and it (yes it still is an "it" for about 3 more weeks) was about 3 inches long.  We could see fingers and toes and a big head just like dad.  Almost half way there.  Can't wait.

I get this  question a lot, so I'll just get it out there.  We have no gender preference.  It would be fun to have a boy because he would have two cousin's (one on each side) his same age, but a girl would be great too.  Even Rob thinks so.

Life has definitely become a little more interesting and exciting for us the last four months.  I feel like I have a million things to do and hardly any time to do them in.

Work has become a little more challenging, but manageable.  Let's just say my first graders think it is completely normal for their teacher to leave the room periodically and be eating gold fish and crackers all day long.  In fact, for Christmas one of the boys in my class brought me the largest box of gold fish I have ever seen with a note that said, "I know these are your favorite."  I love first graders.

More of London

So I know it has been a long time coming, but here are some more of our London pictures.

Top of Saint Paul's Cathedral.

The best view I could get of St. Paul's.  Unfortunately we could not take pictures of the inside, which is extremely incredible, so you just need to go there.

Another from the top of St. Paul's.  These are two towers in the front of the building.

Still on the top.  If you click on the picture and make it bigger, you can see the London bridge in the back.   It's right at the curve in the Thames.

A burger place we went to right outside our hotel.  It was actually called Byron's, so out of respect for a pretty cool brother-in-law, we decided to check it out.  This was written on the wall...we fell in love.

Coming up to the London Tower, this is what you get to watch.  Guards using catapults to blow off fake heads.  Very historical.

The Yeoman who took us on the tour of the London Towers.  Yes, there are still real, live Yeomen.  They guard the towers and even live there with their families.  This one happened to be hilarious.  I really enjoyed the tour...something about jolly, old men and English accents just makes me feel happy.  He was really hard to picture though...he moved his hands a lot.

Where the Yeomen live with their families.

The Queen's Gallery.  We got to see crowns dating back hundreds of years and all of the crowned jewels.  It was amazing.  One of my favorite parts of the trip.  You get to ride a moving sidewalk through part of the vault (which we rode 6 or 7 times- there was just so much to look at I couldn't help myself).

  

Us in front of the White Tower.  This is were Anne Boleyn was held prisoner before her execution.  We learned that all of the prisoners were actually treated quite well before they were killed.  They got to live in the towers with their families and servants.  Royal family members still attend church services held here occasionally.

The London Towers.  They used to be the largest towers in England.

We took this everywhere.

When we walked out of the Underground, this was waiting for us across the street.  I could hardly believe my eyes.  It is enormous.  Everything in London is fit so tightly together it is really hard to get pictures.

Close up.

Houses of Parliament.

The best view of Westminster Abbey.  Basically just a really cool graveyard inside with a lot of famous people.  We saw the graves of  Charles Darwin, Isaac Newton, Charles Dickens, Handel (the composer), and many famous poets in the "Poets Corner" including Shakespeare, Tennyson, John Keats, William Blake,  and Wordsworth.

This next part is especially for Steffanie Martz (I hope you are pleased):

The Abraham Lincoln statue across from the Houses of Parliament.

Winston Churchill.  We visited the Churchill Museum and War Rooms, which happened to be one of the most interesting parts of the trip for me.  It is set up as his life story, which made it more enjoyable I think.

The top right is supposed to say, "Cheer Up!  They may forget you, but they will remember me always."

Apparently Churchill liked to relax in these stylish babies.

The war room where all the big decisions were made.  The maps on the walls are exactly as they were left at the end of the war.  There are still markings and pins all over them.

This is all I have in me for the moment.  More to come.  Hopefully in a more timely manner.