Dedication and Persistance

Well, thankfully, the voting portion of the contest to be on the cover of Today's Parent Magazine came to a close last night and now it's time for the judges to decide who the final four will be! Glad I'm not in their seats, it's going to be a hard decision!

This contest certainly brought out the competitive side of me as well as the proud mommy side. Together those two sides made for one interesting month! 

I have to first say a HUGE thank you to all of my friends and family who voted, tried to vote and even helped to spread the word on the contest. There is no way I could have gotten 220 votes on my own. I am so thankful and grateful to have you folks in our lives. Even if Samantha doesn't make final four, I am so humbled to know that so many people cared enough to take time out of their own lives to vote!

As any crazy-mother, like myself, would, I did everything in my power to conjure as many votes as I could! I "spammed" every single person I knew on Facebook and Twitter...at least 3 times. In fact, Facebook actually thought I was a robot because I was private messaging so many people! I told complete strangers about the contest and I even reached out to every personal and business network that would listen. 

Curiously enough, other moms that I know, actually became upset with me asking for votes, since their child was also in the competition, yet would not speak to me about it...not even a simple message. Instead, they complained about their issue to others I know. I hope that they can understand that I was simply doing the same thing they were, reaching out to friends, family and acquaintances in hopes of getting a few more votes. And I really hope that this does not influence our friendship.

With my dedication and persistence, Samantha ended the voting period 23 out of 9779 entries! Maybe, I was wrong in asking everyone to vote, but that was the basis of the contest. I will not apologize for that. I do apologize, however, to those people who I literally asked every week to vote and hope that they understand that this is just one of those occasions where a mother would do anything for her child. 

Thankfully, I can return to normal mommy-mode and resume normal Facebook, Twitter and 99 Days of Laughter updates! Such as Samantha playing "peek-a-boo" with me this morning, which I have generously uploaded below for your enjoyment and laughter! 

*We now return to our regular scheduled programming* 

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