March For Babies!

Today was the big March of Dimes, March for Babies and other than an upset Katie and crappy weather all went well!

A special THANK YOU to the following people who helped us reach our goal of raising $500!!! You ROCK!!

Grandma and Grandpa Sylvanus
Grandma and Grandpa Burt
Great-Grandma Lucia
Aunt Christy Burt
Shannon and Rob Rush
The Marquis Family
The Becker Family
The Gerber Family
The Oosterveen Family
Kim, Andy, Sam and TJ
Kristin Lepley
Mr. and Mrs. Lauer


All of the pictures from this post were taken before Katie was confined to her stroller, which I believe now was the downfall of the morning, that and the cold. The temperature on my car when we left the park was 48 degrees and of course it poured last night so everything was wet, which in turn made it more attractive to Katie.(She's a splasher!) She did enjoy meeting the Penn State Nittany Lion and playing with the Gymboree ladies, one was blowing bubbles for Katie and the little boy below and then they brought out the big guns , the parachute and BALLS!! Of course Katie had to sit in the middle of the parachute the whole time so she had an audience all around her.(Oh and she soaked in all of the water from the ground too, she was wet from the butt down to her ankles!) At one point there were maracas too, and she loved them but didn't want to shake them herself, I think she thought we were shaking them for her to dance!

Once my Mom and I noticed that Katie was getting a bit fussy we decided to head out on the walk early, a couple other smart Mom's had made that decision too so we jumped on the bandwagon. Of course five minutes into the race the goldfish and juice weren't cutting it and she started an all out screamfest, if you have ever heard her scream you know how lovely it sounds! Mom and I tried picking up the pace and singing to her but she wasn't buying it so about half way through the walk we bailed. As soon as we got to the car I took off her wet clothing and placed a nice warm adult-size sweatshirt over her cold legs and she stoped crying and put her thumb right in her mouth! We have now been home for about 30 minutes and she is fast asleep in her crib; I guess she was cold, wet and tired!

What really matters is that we raised $500!!! for the March of Dimes and in the end that was what this day was all about. We did see Claudia, Katie's favorite NICU nurse, and a bunch of other NICU graduates and looking at that group of crazy kids it's hard to believe that they too were once hooked up to machines and had to fight just to breathe. It seems like so long ago that we were worried about our little baby that was born too soon but today we walked so that someday it might be a distant memory for all of us, for every parent and for every family that has had to endure the ups and downs of having a preemie.

Thank you again from our family, we couldn't have done it with out you!!!