We did it!!!! Kinda....

Well, Luke and his daddy and I walked our first (of many, we hope!) March for Babies walk.  It was great!    It started off a little cool but Luke was really enjoying all the action!

We were so thankful to have wonderful friends to walk with us!  I can't believe we didn't get a group shot.  I was especially thankful to have friends there to lighten the mood when I 'd see a memorial sign or shirt that would knock the wind out of me.  Seeing a baby that was the same term as yours or weighed about the same -- or even scarier, both!-- that lived only about a week can literally leave you feeling like your heart has fallen to your feet.  But the families of these little angels were so hopeful, so proud to be walking with their little ones name on their shirts that it really put things in perspective.  And reinforced the goal of the fundraising for this walk.  Luke has had it relatively easy but there are SO many babies fighting after a rough start and SO many that have lost the battle.  It just breaks my heart.  (Whewwwwww...deep breaths......)

SO....

It was a slow pace...almost like a march starting out..


Hey look there's Shacie!!!

And there's Sharon and Brandon!!  (yes, I'm terrible.  That's as close as I can get to a team picture... FAIL)

But as the crowd thinned out, the pace seemed to pick up.  It was only five miles total, but our team's little ones (Luke and his buddy Ford) only made it about 3.  We took advantage of the turnaround when we realized Luke had flooded his diaper, Ford was in need of a nap and Luke was going to need a bottle in the next thirty minutes or so.  We power walked the turn around and headed back to the start/finish line.

Only to realize that my sweet baby gave up on his bottle and just crashed!!!  

But then....right after THIS picture..........

He woke up happy as a clam but ready for a diaper change!  He had a bottle on the bus back to our car and was such a good little boy.  We met the girls (Shacie and Sharon...that walked with us) for lunch at Mockingbird Station and headed home for a real nap. 

Kelsey and I were both so grateful that we were able to participate in such a meaningful event and  look forward to next year and beyond.  I think it will be so important for Luke to remain involved as he grows up--- not only because he can enjoy the events after the walk but to understand that it's important to pick a cause near and dear to your heart and support it like it's nobody's business! 

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU
to all of you who donated.
Luke--- and thousands of other babies like him--- are so grateful.  Anything that can be done to prevent, treat and understand prematurity is an absolute MUST in our book!

On another note, the weather here has been great!  We found out that the neighborhood pool - instead of waiting until Memorial Day weekend to open -- will open early this year on the first of May.  We can't wait to start swimming!  In the meantime, we thought we'd give the park a shot.  

Luke was a little unsure of the trade off....

And didn't like that his feet just dangled!

So, we moved on to the slide.

Since Luke seemed a little too serious for all these playground shaningans... we snapped a few more pics and headed home.  Where Luke focused on calculating the exact force of the pull of the earth's gravity and memorizing the table of elements.  Or something studious and verrrrry serious.

He's getting his two bottom teeth and although I really think he's trying to be tough about it, it's making for some tough times more than a tough little boy.  Hopefully I can snap a picture of the two bottom chompers soon but so far he's tries to eat the camera when we get that close!

Oooh - and we've got big plans this weekend!!!  Our friends JD and Jenny are coming to visit and bringing their little man Weston.  They moved to Kentucky from Dallas last summer and haven't been able to visit since then so Weston has grown up a ton and they haven't even met Luke!  We miss them so much and can't wait to get all the kids together!  And, as icing on the metaphorical cake, I'm taking a vacation day tomorrow so this is my Friday!   CAN. NOT. WAIT.  Hope you all have a great weekend.