Run, baby, run!

Okay, sorry for the delay folks! I thought I would have time to write more on Thursday night but things got a little busy with my pre-natal pilates class and then watching the Clemson-Temple game! And last night all I did after work was eat dinner and go to bed early so that I could rest up for the big race today... more about that in a minute. First the ultrasound pics I promised. I apologize for the poor quality... we couldn't install the scanner software on our new computer so I ended up having to just take a picture of each picture! They're a little blurry but you can still get the general idea.

Profile of his face (top of his head is on the left side and you can see the spine on the lower right):

A front view of his face (this one is kind of difficult to tell what's what, but the top of the head is on the right side, the chin on the left and you can see a mouth, nose and eyes in between):

And last but not least, proof that it's indeed a boy (look for the little arrow):

Let me just say that I LOVE ultrasounds! What incredible technology! I couldn't believe how much they could see. It seemed like the measured every little organ and bone in his body. It was really amazing! They were even able to calculate his current weight, which is 13 ounces! They said that would put him in the 73rd percentile for 20 weeks. Too neat! I was just glad to see that everything was the right size and shape and there were no apparent problems! And of course, I'm really happy to know that it's a BOY! Even though I really thought it was a girl, I actually wanted a boy. I'm thinking that since I've always wanted a boy, I probably talked myself into thinking it was a girl just so I wouldn't be disappointed or something. Not that disappointed is the right word, because I think every parent would tell you that of course they're happy with either one and I'm sure that's true! I just always hoped we would bring a boy into my all-girl family!

Anyways, about the big RACE! Today Eric and I (and little Ries) ran in the Baltimore Marathon! We were each a member of a 4-person relay team so we actually only ran 6.1 miles. Eric ran with his 2 sisters and a friend, and I ran with 3 coworkers from my office. The day started out really cold (37 degrees!) but the sky was so clear and you really couldn't ask for better running weather! We ran the first leg of the relay together, which climbed from the lowest point in the race to the highest! I was a little worried about the hills but they ended up being pretty gradual. I just focused on the (sometimes) awesome scenery of downtown Baltimore and we talked to each other as much as possible. My goal was to finish in less than an hour, since we usually run 10K's in about 50 minutes. We ended up finishing in 55 minutes so I was really happy about that! I probably feel worse now than I did then, but it was definitely worth it! Now I can tell little Ries that he ran in his first race at age 20 weeks! Here are some pics of our relay teams:

My team's name was "Designed to Run" (since we work in the Design and Construction department). And yes, I don't have my race number on anymore... it was right on my belly and kept getting in the way!:

Eric's team: