March For Babies

Matt, Leo, Drake and I would like to thank everybody who sponsored our walk in the March for Babies this year. It was a fantastic experience!

We started the day by tying on our shoes (in order from left to right: Matt's, mine, Drake's then Leo's).


Then we drove to downtown Phoenix, registered our team, and waited for Nana, Grandpa and Aunt Kena to arrive. As we started the walk, I put stickers on everybody that said we are walking on Team Drake and Team Leo. Here are Aunt Kena's stickers.


Then the walk started! The crowd was huge. I overheard somebody say that there were over 6,000 people participating. We were at the very back of the crowd.

Do you see Nana darting ahead, trying to win the race?

The boys started getting restless about half-way through the walk, so we took them out of the stroller for a bit.



They even walked in the March for Babies this year! What a drastic contrast to last year, when we did not participate in the MFB because the boys were still under house arrest to minimize their exposure to germs. (first Drake, then Leo)




At the end of the walk, there was a group of people congratulating and thanking everybody that crossed the finish line. They were also handing out flyers that had a long list of babies that did not survive prematurity, many of whom were twins or triplets. I cried when I read the names of all of those sweet, tiny babies.

Here's a photo of me trying to stop crying, while holding my precious, perfect boys.


And our entire little family:


After the finish line, there was a stage with live music and booths where different companies were giving away freebies.

Leo was instantly mesmorized by the music.


Until he spotted a curb that he just had to step over (with a little help from Daddy).







And then he toddled off to a new adventure...



Drake, the piglet, found a yummy piece of bread on the asphalt, that must have fallen out of somebody's freebie bag.



Matt, Drake, Leo and I had a wonderful time, and we plan on participating in many more Marches for Babies in the future. Thanks to the generous support from our family, we earned $210 that will go towards preventing prematurity and helping ensure the health of babies that are born too early. Thank you, thank you, thank you!