It's a Boy!

First things first, yes, Heather is pregnant with a baby boy!  She is 20 weeks along and we are super excited.  We just found out the gender this past week.  It was a fun ultrasound, our son was curled into a ball and would not straighten out so the tech could measure his length.  She even tried poking Heather's belly and rubbing vigorously with the ultrasound receiver/emitter (whatever its called).  He was unmoved. They were able to estimate his weight and I'm proud to say that he is exactly average!  I know with our genes there isn't much chance of that continuing throughout his life but I can hope.

Heather is still working in Raleigh as an RD at a retirement community/nursing home.  She enjoys getting to know her patients and her coworkers.  It has been a little difficult because most of her patients are at the end of their lives and Heather has seen several pass away.  It makes her sad and wish she could do more but she takes comfort in knowing that death is not the end.

I recently scheduled my preliminary oral defense for November 3rd.  I'm pretty stoked because 1) I might get an increased stipend once I finish it, 2) it puts me in a position to finish my degree quicker than average.  I have one paper in the works and in the next week or two I should finish up a study that will provide enough data to write a second paper.

On Wednesday Heather's parents drove up to our house on their way to our niece's wedding in Washington D.C.  We rode up there with them on Thursday, the ceremony was on Friday morning.  I had never been to the Washington D.C. temple before.  It is really beautiful.  We say the lights come on Thursday night while we walked the grounds, it was impressive. I love the peace the temple brings into my life.

At the Washington D.C. temple.