Will you help our Monkey win her first award?

One morning, earlier this month, I was playing on the living room floor with the Monkey, listening to the news in the background, and trying to caffeinate myself out of a haze when I heard something about the "America's Most Photogenic Baby" contest. "What is this?", I thought...so I decided to look into it. Turns out that every year, there is a national photo contest to find America's most photogenic baby! The best thing about this contest (and the main reason that I entered Sophi) is that it was created to benefit The Children's Miracle Network for Shands Jacksonville and Wolfson Children's Hospital. I've always had a heart for giving but when it comes down to children, especially since becoming a mother, I'm all in.

So on the day of the contest, I bought Sophi a dress, made a matching hair bow, and we were off to have some pictures taken. At the check-in, we were informed that I could enter her in up to 4 categories (Beautiful, Comical, Fashionable, & Precious). The photographer was so great with Sophi. At first, she just sat there staring at his flash but he was able to finally get her comfortable enough to move (that and I had her chasing my keys around). All in all, I think he took 50-something pictures and then it was time for me to pick how many pictures and what categories to enter her into. While I could have entered them all (of course, I am her biggest fan!), I picked two pictures and entered her into the most beautiful and the most precious. Which ones did I enter, you ask? Here they are:

Most Beautiful

Most Precious

Gorgeous, right? Ok so anyway, down to the part where I ask for your help! The judging goes like this: For each category there is a judge's vote. These judges are from various talent agencies around Jacksonville and they will pick the winner in each category. The winner gets title of Jacksonville's Most Beautiful or Precious or whatever baby and then gets to move on and try for America's Most Beautiful. There is also a voter's choice award. This is where you guys come in to play. Sophi needs your votes!! Each vote is a donation to The Children's Miracle Network in the amount of $.50. That's it! Just 50 cents! You can "vote" as many times as you'd like. Now I am not one to EVER ask for money. As a matter of fact, I have been sitting on this since early January because I hate asking. But the fact is, it's for a REALLY good cause. So here's what I want to do: I am going to add all of the links to the contest below and also give you all my paypal address. If any of you feel like helping our little Monkey win the voter's choice award, that's great! If not, it's no big deal. We appreciate your love and support and know that times are tough for a lot of us right now. If you do decide to help, we will need your donations no later than this Sunday (Feb. 5th). The money has to be turned in by the 11th and it will take a few days to trasfer funds from paypal to our bank account. She's waking up from her not-so-nap (a whopping 25 minutes) so I need to jump off but if you have any questions, Facebook me OR send an e-mail. My e-mail is the same as my paypal address. Thank you all SO much!


Links:
America's Most Photogenic Baby Contest
About Children's Miracle Network
Sponsorship Form
PayPal address: kammi.killeen@gmail.com

Tantrums

Lately, Sophi has been throwing a lot of temper tantrums. This is a concern for me, I think, because of her age. Is it typical for an 11 month old baby to have at least 4 tantrums a day where she will literally throw herself onto the ground, lock her entire body up, arch her back and start screaming like she's possessed? She does it any time I try to remove her from doing something that she isn't supposed to be doing or any time I dare to try and change her diaper or get her dressed. I'm at a total loss. One day last week, I tried to remove her from climbing up under a console table in our living room. I went to pick her up and as soon as I did, she pitched herself backwards in a fit and slammed her head into the metal foot of the table. Scared. The. Crap. Out of me. I have no idea what to do about these tantrums. I refuse to spank at this age. I firmly believe that a child does not understand discipline until around age 2. I've heard to just ignore her but how do I ignore her when she throws the fit while I'm holding her? I try "loving her through them" by holding her and trying to calm her down but the longer I do this, the more tantrums she seems to throw. I talked with Mitch about it last night and I think we are going to try to ignore them as best as we can by just not reacting to them. Hopefully this strategy works. If her tantrums are this bad now, what will they be like a year from now?? I told my mom that I totally blame her for this. The whole "one day you'll have one that's twice as bad as you" curse stuck for me! ;)

Starting Back Simple

When Sophi was a newborn, she would sleep on me all of the time. I used to get so much joy from watching her while she would sleep. The way her legs and arms would twitch ever so slightly, the way her eye lids softly flutter or her lips perch like she was nursing away. I always wondered what exactly she was dreaming, if she was actually dreaming. It has been (what seems like) forever since I've watched her sleep like that. Probably 7 or so months. She will be a year old in just a few weeks and today she gave me a gift greater than I could have wished for, something that I had no idea how much I missed. Today, my baby fell asleep in my arms and I got to watch all of her little infant sleep movements, possibly for the last time. I got to hold her for nearly an hour and even though my arm was aching and my back was slightly uncomfortable, I was so happy just being there with my girl. It made me realize that maybe I need to breathe in every single one of the moments between now and February 4th because before I know it, my baby will be a one year old. I am so sad but so happy at the same time. Even though sometimes she makes me feel like I'm going to lose my mind, I marvel in her accomplishments and I'm deeply moved by the quiet moments that we will share. She is endlessly fascinating. She is my greatest love. My greatest accomplishment. My angel.