March for Babies 2012

We had a great walk this year Marching for Babies! We have been talking for a couple of weeks about our “big walk” we had planned and the quads were super excited. After a long night of preparations, the 6am alarm sounded and we were up and ready to hit the road! It started off a bit chilly this morning, low 50s, but the Texas temps rose to a beautiful 70+ degrees – perfection! A (sunny) shot of the 6 of us after arriving at the walk… We had a great team join us this year. Some returning from previous years as well as several new friends proud to join our Family Team! Below Aunt Bethany with another seasoned walker, Mr. Levi!

The Tew triplets joined us!

Miss sweet Isabella taking it easy at the beginning of her very first March for Babies walk… look at that precious face!

We had some new friends join us too, who drove all the way from Oklahoma just to walk! A family of FIVE girls (can you imagine?!) Triplet sisters Hannah, Nikole & Isabella and their big sisters Lauren & Makenzie!

Our lil’ people. Brody, Kylee, Baxlyn & Korbin.  We had our first furry friend join us this year as well, meet Diamond!   

 

Just a few of our walkers, all smiles on this beautiful day!

Gotta love these Step 2 choo choo wagons. With quadruplets, a walk like this would be nearly impossible. Our train is getting heavy day after day as these babies grow but it truly is a lifesaver. Luckily we had several strong dads along who pulled the weight all day!

  Strong Dads and a strong Korbin, that is. Big Man wanted to pull when we gave them a chance to stretch their legs. 

Don’t know how many pics I have of these two tag teaming over their little lives. One pulling while the other pushes. My lil’ 2lb 10oz miracle pushing away! …and when the little ones we not riding, you can bet Diamond took advantage of the extra seats in the wagons!Collette & Leah :] 

Sweet little…. err… ummm… ok I can’t tell these girls apart. With two being  identical and one being right there close beside, I can’t tell who is who, but they’re all dolls! (Side Note. Identicals totally fascinate me as does their mother’s ability to tell them apart instantly!)

Below - Our Path of Hope sign this year. This particular picture was taken when Brody, Baxlyn, Kylee & Korbin were 7 weeks old (about 36 weeks gestation). After dressing them in their cute matching outfits the nurses helped mobilize the boys over to the girls so they could I could get a picture of them all together. I will NEVER EVER forget the moment this picture was taken. Against the nurses wishes, I stood on a chair above Baxlyn’s crib where they all were laying to get a good shot of them from above. It was that second, while looking down, that I realized this was the first time I had seen them all side by side. Absolutely hit me like a ton of bricks. “Oh my gosh. Look at them. There are four of them…and they are all mine. Pinch me. Hard.” It will always be one of my favorite pictures for that reason. The sign tells everyone walking their gestational age at birth (28w5d) as well as their birth weights (3lbs, 2lb10oz, 2lb7oz, 2lb11oz).  Along the 5 mile walk the signs are there reminding people of why they’re walking. Many signs in Honor of babies  many in Memory of babies who lost their fight. I was covered in goosebumps time and time again after seeing some of the pictures and stats (some weighing just ounces at birth) of some of these tiny blessings. Miracles for sure. Bret and I are so thankful and so blessed that our sign reads “In Honor Of:” This time of year, for us, is a celebration. For many parents, it’s a reminder of their deepest loss but yet the come and walk year after year.  One thing in common is that we all walk in hopes to raise more awareness and support so that other families don’t have to go through what ours did. 

Our team gathered around our sign…

 

A rare shot of yours truly. I tend to stay behind the camera so I thought I’d show proof these babies do have a Mama ;) I felt great today and luckily this lil’ growing baby number 5 didn’t phase my energy level a bit! At 12 weeks with the quads, I couldn’t get out of bed without being sick, much less would I have been able to complete a 5 mile walk. It feels good to feel good!

I failed to get a close up of our awesome shirts at the walk but here’s a still shot from home. Our friend (and lil’ Levi’s Dad) Mason, who designed our last two year’s shirts, came up with something new this year and we all loved it! Another super special thanks to Prosper Marketing for donating our team shirts this year. Our first year walking we attempted to make our own shirts, they were cute but didn’t last many washes after the walk. Prosper Marketing has offered us GREAT quality shirts we are able to wear time and time again, allowing us to show our love to the March of Dimes year round! Last but not least we thank YOU! We set a high goal this year of $1000 and thanks to all of you, we surpassed it by hundreds. The donations you so graciously gave will help support research that will ultimately give more babies a better shot at life when the picture perfect birth doesn’t happen. I know I speak on behalf of MANY when I say THANK YOU!

My Broman on Ashley’s shoulders. Incredibly thankful this dude is here to walk today. I walked a small part of the path alone, reflecting on the rough start of this little boy’s life and trying to imagine how different things would be if we had lost him like they said we might. You can bet he (and they all) got and extra special squeeze from their Mama today.

We had a total of 14 kids ages 6 and under and all 14 did great. With a few legs stretches and lots of snacks they were smooth sailing! Makenzie hitchin’ a ride with the quads! …and her lil’ sis Lauren taking advantage of her Mommy’s shoulders!    Seriously….such a cool dog who enjoyed every minute of the day!

Love this one of Levi gettin’ his flirt on with one of the triplets!

  Sweet Kylee and her fake smile. I promise she has upper teeth ;)

This had to have been the best picture of the day. The sweet 18 month old trio couldn’t quite make it the last mile. They tried, bless their hearts, but after a long stretch of bobbling heads, they all gave up. You have got to love the little bit in the red wagon…. girl was wiped out! We kept trying to prop her like her sisters but this was clearly her way of sleeping! Hilarious!

  

Sweet Isabella, such a happy baby, who enjoyed her long walk!Like every year, after our first potty break for all of the littles, we quickly fell to the back of the line. We walked and strolled and rolled and wheeled ourselves across the finish line dead last, once again, but proud to have completed our walk!       We made it!   

Thanks again to all of you who supported us in different ways! We hope our team will continue to grow each year as we strive to raise awareness! Now… this Mama is off for some much needed Zzzzs!