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

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!

Day 87: Hoppy Easter

I love holidays! I love them even more now that I have my own family to share them with and I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family. I have a daughter who loves me and needs me, but is so independent and has her own amazing little personality. I have a husband who loves me and would do anything for his family.

This holiday particularly hit home with me. Maybe it's because we were surrounded by our friends and family all weekend. But I think it is because Samantha is a little bit older than she was at Christmas (my all time favorite holiday) and we were really able to have fun with her this weekend. There was the Easter Party, we did a Harlem Shake video (video to come!), Desiree turned 3 and we enjoyed 3 meals with our family!

The best part though, was watching Samantha show off her new found skills to everyone! She was crawling everywhere, teaching Cookie Grama (93 years young) how to use her walker, babbling up a storm and completely showing off her new found skills to anyone who would watch.

I just love this girl and can't wait to watch her become the amazing woman I know she will be! Happy Easter Samantha, Mommy loves you SO much!

Day 82: Best of Friends

OK, this sleep training thing has gone amazing! Samantha has slept through the entire night 2 nights in a row; without the 11pm feed! I am feeling so much better, sleeping so much more and feel like a completely different mommy! Now, I'm just trying to perfect her daily schedule with meals vs nursing (this kid eats like a horse) and I think we'll be ready for a real life outside of the house!

This morning I made the first attempt at that life outside of the house, since momstown had a fun Barbie Music & Movement event happening. After, actually getting sleep the last 2 nights, I felt brave enough to invite my 3 year old niece along too. Everyone thought I was crazy for trying to take care of both a 9 month old and 3 year old and I was starting to think the same thing! But surprisingly, everything went amazing! She helped me get Samantha ready for the event, give her breakfast and even change her bum. I was so impressed that Desiree used her listening ears all day and even helped to play with Samantha when I had to take a few pictures or help make the punch (complete with adult supervision, of course).

Watching Samantha and Desiree laugh and play together was really refreshing and really makes me think that we could have a second child and I would be OK. That being said, I'm not about to jump on the baby wagon for at least a few more years. But today gave me the hope that Samantha will help with baby #2 in the same way Desiree did today and the courage that I can be a great mother to 2 children! What a great family we have and what an amazing family we will be when Samantha has a younger sibling!

My favorite moment today, with the exception of all the girls playing with the life size barbie box, happened at the very end of the event. While I was helping to clean up, the two of them sat on the floor together and played. Samantha was holding onto Desiree's balloon while Desiree was making funny noises and faces. Samantha was laughing and giggling and bouncing away while she did it! Unfortunately, I didn't catch the best parts on video and the balloon took off to the ceiling (which I did catch by the way in one big leap), but watching the two of them together is just SO cute! They will certainly be best of friends when Samantha is old enough and big enough for them to play together.

 

Day 79: Sleeping Beauty

I have to say, I was one proud mama today! It all started last week, when we started a new bedtime routine. If you've been following 99 Days of Laughter, you will know all about the frustrations and difficulties we've been having trying to not only sleep longer than 3 hours, but to sleep through the night.

After venting my frustrations out to my friend, she kindly offered me some advice on what she was doing with her baby girl, who is not only a few months younger than Samantha but sleeping through the night! It seems like even though my girl had been getting a good 2 hour nap in the mornings, she was still over-tired. I know how I feel when I'm over-tired, it's almost impossible to sleep, I can only imagine it being even harder for Samantha.

That first night, was SO hard! We moved bedtime up by a full hour and she woke up only a few hours later...I did not go in until 11pm to nurse her. Now, I have to say, I am really not an advocate for the "cry it out" method. I have always been the type to go running to her the moment she starts to cry. So, thankfully, Josh was there to literally hold my hand as I listened to her whine and whimper for 15 minutes and cry for 5 more. Then a miracle happened...she was quiet! She was quiet for another 45 minutes until I went in to nurse her at 11pm.

But, the hardest part happened at some time around 1 in the morning. She woke up! I knew, that if Samantha was anything like her mommy, we were going to have to do this cold turkey. So, being that it had been less than 2 hours after being fed, I knew her waking was becoming more of a habit than a necessity. So, I curled up into a ball on the basement couch I hugged the baby monitor and listened to her whine and whimper for about 30 minutes...then cry and cry and cry for about 15 minutes more.

It was absolutely gut-wrenching hearing her cry and knowing that in less than 30 seconds she could be in my arms being comforted by her mommy! But then it was QUIET! I am quickly realizing that although crying is hard, sleeplessness is much harder! She did not wake again again until 7:15 in the morning!

Now, it has been almost a week of this new sleep routine. Luckily, Samantha hasn't been sick and we've been pretty much house bound with no where to go. This has made it possible for her to take naps in her crib at the same times and I'm sure that has helped to get the routine straightened out.

Needless to say, we are on night 6 and she is pretty much on a schedule now and able to put herself to sleep! Woo Hoo! We are both SO much happier and laughing SO much more together! Now if only I could train myself to fall asleep at a decent hour!

So, if anyone's interested our routine goes something like this:

7:00am - Daddy goes in bright and cheery to wake our Sleeping Beauty and change her diaper. Then I nurse her while he gets ready for work and we head downstairs to play and say goodbye
8:30am-9:30am - Time to go down for a nap (time depends on how she slept, generally closer to 9:30)
10:45am - Time to get up Sleepy Head. I try not to let her sleep past this time or it seems to reflect afternoon nap
1:00pm - Quiet time. I put Samantha in her crib with the lights off. She will either sleep or babble away to the rocking chair for an hour.
3:30pm-4:30pm - If she didn't sleep by 2pm, she will generally nap around this time until I wake her up at 5:30pm
7:00pm- Bedtime! Quiet time, story time, bottle and bed. She usually will play and babble for 30 min, but is usually asleep by 8pm on her own.
11:00pm - Goodnight nurse before I go to sleep!

***Please keep in mind, I am not a sleep consultant and that all babies are different. Also, growth spurts, milestones, illness, travel, etc can all throw off your babies sleep patterns.***