al's run/walk anniversary

today we walked the 5 mile al's run/walk for children's hospital. we also did this walk last year and it was much, much colder. we had maddie all bundled up and while we were walking to the starting line she sucked her thumb for the first time ever. i did a search for that picture on the blog for anyone who wanted to look back and realized that it was the first picture i ever posted to the blog and that today, september 20 is the one year anniversary of my first blog post! and 235 posts later, here we are.

back to the walk today. there were over 15,000 wheelchairs, runners, and walkers for the race today. it took us 5-1/2 minutes just to get to the starting line once the race began. we were near the middle of the pack and once we got going we couldn't see the end of the race or the leaders - it was just walkers as far as we could see. in the picture the entire road is covered in walkers. it is such a nice walk through downtown milwaukee and by the lakefront. and it is for such a great cause. it was really emotional for me to read the backs of every one's shirts because most of the walkers (if not all) are walking in memory of a child who has passed away, or in honor of one that is fighting, or celebrating a child that has survived. every now and then you will see a child identified as a children's patient. i was just so overwhelmed with gratitude that we have never had to know the struggles these families have faced and so inspired by the "mommies for maggie" who were walking together in support of one of the mom friends and "ethan almighty" who was riding on one of his team's shoulders. i had to stop reading the shirts because i kept crying. it is always nice to do something like this that puts my own problems in perspective. we are truly blessed.

madelyn realized today that her snack crackers were animal shaped. it kind of surprised me when she started to identify them with "baa", "cluck", "moo", etc. i had to take her word for it on some of them because i can't figure out what animal the cracker is supposed to be! recently she has learned to ask for "snacks" when she is hungry and we are not at home (sometimes when we are home). the funny thing about it is that is often sounds like she is saying "sex" and not "snacks". love.