Friday, May 1, 2009

In our shoes

"And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two." -Matthew 5:41
(or in our case, 6!)




We marched, and we froze. We celebrated life, and we walked to support a dream- that one day all babies will be born healthy.

Once again, we were overwhelmed by many who walked with us this past weekend. This was our biggest team yet - we had 45 walkers! The night before I frantically searched the city for yellow visors, and bought 40 thinking it would be MORE than enough. Little did I know that friends, family, and colleagues (who are included in the two prior categories) would come in an outpouring of support.

Not many people will sacrifice their time and walk 6 miles with you on a Saturday, and we are blown away by the selflessness of those who did. A HUGE THANK YOU!

Thank you to all who sponsored us on this walk. We raised over $1,000! Your generosity goes to help such an important cause,and we can only hope that you will see the benefits of your efforts.

OK, enough of the fluffy, fuzzy stuff. Here are some pics from the day:
Faith greets her GrandMary before the walk.

My Brother and his NEW fiancee. :) Y'up that's right, Faith's favorite friend is going to be her cousin!

Apparently in Colorado, when the forecasters say it' going to be in the 50's, that includes a 30 degree deficit. Needless to say, we were not prepared for the cold. As least we had semi-appropriate "just in case" attire for Faith, for you never know the weekend will bring in this state! Weather aside, Faith had her daddy to keep her toasty.




Representing Faith's "RN Team" (cute, Beth!) is one of Faith's primary nurses who took care of her at Children's.





Faith and her entourage: Ms. Beattie's middle school girl's club (from the school we teach at)walked for Faith for the second year. They even made special "Hope for Faith" shirts, with butterflies on the back. (Kristin, you know I am your biggest fan, and I can only hope that one day Faith will have a teacher who is a dedicated to their students as you are!)



In what can only be a result of one's body trying to preserve itself from the bitter cold, Faith fell asleep went into hypothermic shock . OK, I know that's a little dramatic but it was a bit odd (and a little too ordinary) that our over stimulated baby reacted to the chaos by falling asleep...maybe she just saves the head banging/meltdowns for doctors offices and home. :)


Brian just finished reading the book, "Into Thin Air" and was a little too familiar with frozen, dead bodies...so when she did fall into a comatose sleep we were constantly checking her to make sure there was still a pulse. It's not often we see our little girl sleeping so peacefully. :)
Hmmm...not sure if there was a pulse in this picture...perhaps her eyelids were frozen open? At least her pursed lips don't require breathing. (And no, we did not dress her in shorts, her baby jeans are just causing some major wedgie action. Speaking of dress, no, our 21 pound child (yes, she is still 21 pounds and wears size 12 month clothes) did not balloon as a result of her hypothermia- she's just really, really layered). And now that I am justifying my child's wardrobe over the Internet, I will stop talking. :)



Joking aside, I cannot tell you how impressed we were by Faith's behavior. Yes, she wanted to be carried for half the walk, but she was very interactive and alert- something we don't see a lot of when we are in public.



Thanks for the outpowering of support - whether you walked, donated, or are along for the ride on our journey of Faith. :)


Jen & CO.




2 comments:

Alicia said...

Wow, I am so glad you guys had such a great turnout! I LOVE the pic of Faith and her GrandMary. So sweet!

Here's a thought (that I'm sure you have already thought of in your MANY late nights up with Faith), what temperature do you keep your house at night? From the looks of things, Faith may be just like Marissa and be very comfortable when it is chilly. Maybe she was able to sleep so peacefully and was able to avoid a "meltdown" because it was so cold. Maybe she is too warm when it is time to go to sleep for the night? Marissa is weird like that. She will stand on the vents when the air conditioning is on (much to her parent's chagrin!) She does best when we keep her pj's as light as possible as well as very few blankets.

Have a great weekend! Oh, congrats to Josh and his new fiance. How exciting!!

Alicia

Jen said...

I'm so happy you had such a great turn out. That is so AWESOME!!

Thanks for showing us the pictures of the weekend. I like the one where Faith is in her car seat. She is just so cute!

Hope things are going well for you all.