Final Days

I must say, I have never been so determined in my entire life! OK, I was pretty darned determined while in labour with Samantha, but that's a completely different type of determination. The determination I'm talking about is the "crazy-momma" determination. That drive inside every mom that will make you do things you would never do, except for your kid.

When I first heard about the Today's Parent Cover Contest, I was SO excited! Everyone thought that her custom cover I designed a few months ago was the real deal and that they were going to see her little smile on news stands across the country! So, I just knew I would be able to get the support I didn't to get her to be a finalist!

Well, we are into the final days of the contest and I am so nervous and so excited and so worried and so proud and so just everything!

I am nervous that I didn't get enough votes to get her on the so-called "short-list" of the competition and have the judges at least see her smile. I am excited to think that maybe, just maybe, she does have enough votes and that she will have a chance to be a finalist! I am worried that I may have irritated too many of my friends with the constant "Samantha's in a contest please vote" updates and private messages. But, I am proud of myself!

I am proud of myself for asking. And not just those people I talk to on a regular basis, I asked the people I hadn't spoken to in months, in years. Heck, I told random strangers in the grocery store (but only after the commented on how adorable Samantha was - 3 times).

Needless to say, I'm over the moon with the support that my friends and family have shown for Samantha! Thank you SO much to everyone and keep your fingers and your toes crossed that we are closer than I think and the judges are looking into her big brown eyes and loving that infectious grin of hers! Only time will tell...and so will my blog!

**Haven't voted yet? It's SO super easy!
Register your email here: http://todaysparent.upickem.net/engine/Registration.aspx?contestid=82902Confirm your email and then vote here: http://todaysparent.upickem.net/engine/Details.aspx?p=V&c=82902&s=32083603&i=1&sort=VOTES_DESC#SD

Day 102: Oops...

So, as I've quickly learned time has flown by with Samantha. I had this amazing day 99 post already written in my head, only to miss the day! Opps...

Well, that's certainly not going to stop me! This entire blog process has been absolutely amazing and I cannot wait for the day Samantha has a child of her own and I can pass my letters and stories and now this blog down to her. That being said, I can certainly wait quite awhile for that to happen and just live in the moment with her now.

Looking back, these last 102 days have shown me and taught me so much. Day 1 was all about trying to get Samantha to laugh every single day. Just the sound of her giggles could brighten even the most frustrating day. And trust me, as many of you know, there were many-a-frustrating days!

Next week, Samantha will be 10 months old and she has already taught me more in those short months, than in my entire life! She has taught me to laugh at life, to see the details in life and that time flies! But, the I think the most important thing I learned was that to laugh, you have to find the laughter in life! As simple as that sounds, it was hard to learn.

Looking back on all those hard, sleepless nights...I'm happy I got to cuddle my baby girl back to sleep. Funniest part, I'm sure that's all she wanted too.

Watching the videos of her laughing...I can see how something as simple as gravity and magnets can be absolutely hysterical.

And how a human face can be so amazing. With the smallest muscle movement, a facial expression comes to life and so do her giggles!

For those of you who have been following, and there more of you than I could have ever imagined, I hope that you have laughed along the way too and learned how to find the laughter in life! As for 99 Days of Laughter, well it does not stop here! Look for a post every week and watch Samantha and I discover the laughter in life!

Day 91: One Smart Cookie

The last few days have been so much fun with Samantha! We have been laughing and playing and exploring everything we can!

OH...did I mention she finally cut her first tooth! It's been about a week now, and that pearly white is sharp! My fingers have been bit a few times now...thankfully nothing else has been though. Certainly not looking forward to if when that happens!

For all the times I blamed teething for her not sleeping, being cranky and not smiling or laughing...she really did not fuss much at all as it came up. She became a little more clingy and a bit harder to get to sleep, but she still napped well and is still sleeping through the night!

Back to the fun though, Samantha has been babbling up a storm and after cruising with Cookie Grama's walker, has learned that everything is movable. She has been moving her activity table, her stroller, her high chair! If she's strong enough to move it...then it will move. It's so funny watching her do it though. She just doesn't look like she's big enough to be doing that yet. But what's new, she surprises me with something new everyday!

Today, while having fun at Nana's, she looked straight at her and said "Hhhh Nunu"! (Hi Nana) We figure "baba" means baby. She has Mum down pat and now we're working on Dada. She's such a smart cookie! Now we need to try and keep her from helping reorganize all the cupboards...

I'm also super excited to announce that Samantha is in a contest to be on the cover of Today's Parent magazine! You may remember our adventure with the modelling agency and how sketchy it was. I am so happy that this is a legitimate way to share her smile with the world! (cough cough...vote for her here...cough cough)

I also like that the contest is based on votes and judging. So, even if an entry has 300 votes, it doesn't necessarily mean they win the contest. It makes it seem a lot more fair to those of us stay-at-home moms that don't work in a huge corporate office with multiple email addresses.

Either way, I'm super excited to say that Samantha is #23 out of over 9700 entries! I think that gives us a pretty good shot! However, if you want to help increase our chances feel free to VOTE HERE (wink, wink). I'll keep you all posted on the contest status over the next month!