Running with Baby on the Mind!

My friend Shannon and I ran in the ING RockNRoll Philadelphia Half Marathon yesterday. It was a beautiful day, and we were really looking forward to it! I just wanted to share a few adoption related race things:

1) The last half marathon we ran together in...our first...was last November. During almost the entire race we chatted about our families possibly pursuing adoption. We were both in the pre-adoption / research mode. It's amazing to think that not even a year later we are both just waiting for our referrals!

2) Both of our families had T-shirts designed and made to sell as fundraisers. We decided it might be a neat idea to somehow combine our shirts into a dual so that we could "Run for our Babies" publicly.  My mom...the ever so talented seamstress...did a great job! She cut the backs of both of our shirts off, and sewed them together, all while making them a little more runner friendly.

3) When we were about to cross the starting line, I looked up, and there was the Russian flag! I immediately got goose bumps and felt like I could just take off! What an energy rush! Check it out in the photo!  ...maybe that's why I was all smiles...oh wait, it was probably our fans who came out to support us in their adoption t-shirt gear! :) 

4) As we trying to meet up with our family after the race, we were listening to the winners being announced... the guy who won was from Ethiopia! Shannon, of course, not missing a beat...not even after 13.1 miles, said, "That's going to be my son some day!" I love it!  To keep up with the photo trend, check out the VERY beginning of the race, when the elite runners, in corral 1, took off- the guy in the green tank top in the center was the winner!

5) During the race, I kept trying to lose myself in a daydream, to take away the dreading thoughts like, "How much longer, etc?" So, I kept trying to picture walking up to the orphanage for the first time, and reaching my arms out to hold our baby for the first time. There were actually a few times when I was choking back tears. It definitely helped get me through...I kept thinking, "We're coming, baby! We're almost there!"

Well, that about sums up my race day/adoption thoughts. Pretty neat, huh! BUT, I have one last thing to post...

THE CRIB IS TOGETHER IN THE ROOM!!!

Thanks to our wonderful friends, Anthony and Teena who are letting us borrow their crib, and to Darren (& Lori, and Caden of course) who helped us put it together tonight. It almost brought immediate tears to my eyes to walk up to the room and see a crib! Please disregard the walls- they only have primer on them right now....one step at a time. :)

Here's to hoping a post sometime in the near future is to report a referral call!!!!