And the Belly Keeps Getting Bigger...

Here is the most recent belly shot. The belly is growing but not as big as expected, which isn't so bad. So far Britney has not really had any swelling, or anything too uncomfortable although the heat has bothered her a lot more than it used to.

Two weeks ago we had another ultrasound and they measured the baby as being about average in weight but two weeks ahead in length. It looks like we will probably have a tall baby girl!

Sad Day in Boston

Today was a sad day for the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints living in Boston. The oldest church building in New England burned to the ground in a dramatic fire today. It was dedicated in 1951 and was the meeting site for many people through the years, and is where Britney and I met. According to one news station, 22 fire trucks responded to the blaze, 7 of which were ladder trucks. In all, around 80 firemen worked to put it out. (Picture courtesy of Natalie W.)

Sadly, the fire spread through the attic unnoticed and by the time the alarms went off, it was too late. Even with all of the fire trucks the building burned to the ground! People believe it was started from an electrical fire based on where it was burning but nobody knows for sure. 

Today we had a session of stake conference church leaders broadcasted talks from Salt Lake City, so there were about 300 people in the building at the time of the fire. Fortunately, the fire alarm went off before anyone was in serious danger, but many members stood outside and watched as the chapel was engulfed in the flames. 

Here is a dramatic video captured of the flames and the collapse of the roof above the chapel section of the building.

Here is a link to a website with more pictures: http://www.tabblo.com/studio/stories/view/1740673/

This video has a firefighter talking about the blaze and interviews of members of the church.

Picking Names

Picking names can be very difficult. You don't want to pick one that doesn't fit or sounds too old and you don't want to regret your decision. To add to that, everyone asks about names and shares their sometimes negative opinions on your ideas. 

We found this while driving around Lake Winnipesaukee.

Did we choose the WRONG name???

Mother's Day

Last Sunday was Mother's Day and being an expecting father I decided to do something for my wonderful wife Britney. We picked up some flowers for her and I gave her the option of a Mother's Day breakfast-in-bed or dinner and she chose a combo: breakfast for dinner. I made her waffles and pulled out all of the fixings (which was great because it was so easy and I still got all the credit). 

If you can't tell, here is the list of toppings I 'prepared':

Fresh Strawberries

Fresh Bananas

Nutella

Whipped Cream

Maple Syrup

Peanut Butter

Apple/Apricot Sauce

It was very tasty.

On a more serious note, Britney is an amazing wife. She is always supporting me even when I come home late from work. Even being pregnant she does more than her share of work around the apartment and keeps on top of groceries and finances. I can't wait to see how wonderful of a mother she is/will be! Just two short months to go!

Racing Again!

I finally ran the Big Lake Half Marathon! The race was a week ago (Saturday, May 9), and one that I had been planning on running the last two years. I say 'planning' because both years random things popped up preventing me from running. 

Two years ago I just happened to have a final for school on the same day. It was the ONLY day I had a school engagement on a Saturday and it just happened to be the day of the race. Last year I was again planning on running but in March I started to feel more and more tired when I ran. I found out in April that I had Mono, plus my MS thesis was due a week or two later so I had to stay home yet again.

This year though was different. I had no engagements preventing me from participating in the race or training. I was able to prepare well for the race and got the right sleep and food in the days preceding and ended up running a great race. 

The course runs along part of Lake Winnipesaukee, a huge and very pretty lake in New Hampshire. It was on the hillier side but a good course and we had perfect weather. I started off on the slower side then tried to push myself a bit more on the second half. It worked well even though I was running by myself for much of the race. In the end I posted one of my faster times, 1:22:41 (6:20/mi pace) and took 8th overall and 1st in my age group! I was very pleased with all of that. 

For winning my age group I won a flask of real Maple syrup and a bright fluorescent yellow hat (all the finishers got medals). Pretty cool!

Next weekend I am hoping to run a 5 miler on Cape Cod and after that (baby permitting) a Boston Marathon qualifier. We will see if I actually do the latter.