I won!

I wish the "I won" was in reference to winning the grand prize to the Gerber Generation photo contest. I pretty much gave up on winning the monthly prize because 1) I keep forgetting to vote and 2) I got tired of reminding people to vote. Really, I just want to win the college scholarship, which is part of the grand prize. Ahhh, college paid for before he turns 1. That would be amazing. Anyway, what I really won was a blog award! I didn't even know there were blog awards!

First, I would like to thank my parents. Without them, I wouldn't be here blogging today. I'd also like to thank my family and friends for reading my blog. Thank you to my baby for giving me cute pictures to post. Thank you to my husband who reads my blog and lets me know when I've misspelled something. And lastly, thank you to Losing Brownies who gave me this award! Go check out her blog!

Now that I've accepted the award I'm supposed to tell you 7 things about myself and then give the award to another blogger. This is going to be hard. Only 7 things?!

1. I miss being pregnant...sometimes.
My pregnancy with Blake was a breeze. I know, for some women pregnancy is 9 months of nausea, weight gain, and swelling. But for me, it wasn't that bad. I liked being pregnant. And my hair was pretty much amazing when I was pregnant.

2. I like thunderstorms...
when I'm safe inside. One year at Girls Camp I was trying to tie down our tent and lightning struck a tree that was a few feet behind me. It knocked me out for a second and when I came to I was on the ground looking at my sister who was standing across from me. She looked terrified and I yelled, "Get in the tent!" My feet were burning and I ended up going to the hospital because I had a splitting headache and was incredibly nauseous. The doctor at the hospital didn't really believe me when I told him the story, which was annoying. I left the hospital with a prescription for a UTI and a huge bruise on my bum. Needless to say, I left camp early. Now anytime I'm outside and hear thunder or see lightning, my first priority becomes finding a safe place to go. Sometimes this annoys Evan. But he's never been knocked out by lightning before.

3. I don't like having my fingernails painted.
Although I love the way my fingernails look after my sister-in-law gives me a manicure, I don't like having my nails painted. I feel like I have to be extra careful not to mess up the paint and when they start to chip I just pick at them until they look gross.

4. I started this blog when I was still in college...
and I love going back and reading my old posts. Here are a few of my favorites:
work
fear of flying
celebrity look-a-like
gym adventures
more gym adventures
cleaning up other people's trash
more fear of flying
even more fear of flying

5. I would rather clean a toilet than wash and dry dishes.
I just hate doing dishes. It always comes at the end of the day when I'm already tired.

6. I still don't have a dining table.
I've been looking for a table that we can sit together as a family and eat dinner. Usually dinner is eaten while standing in the kitchen or sitting on the couch. I don't know why it's taking so long for me to find one.

7. I still wear my maternity pants.
They are comfortable and still fit, so why not? Maybe I should be depressed by this fact. But, I know I don't look like I'm pregnant and all of my shirts cover the elastic band so it's not like anyone knows. (Until now. Great.)

So, now I get to bestow the versatile blogger award on those I deem worthy (said in British accent):

Living Life on the Road Less Traveled
Expat in Eire
Momma Go Round
Lindsay & Company

Wow, I've really let this award go to my head!

Cast your vote!

So I've never entered Blake into a photo contest, but I think he's just so darn cute that I had to do the Gerber Generation Photo Search. Monthly winners get a flip camera and the grand prize winner gets a...drum roll please...$25,000 college scholarship and could be in Gerber ads! And even though he is my child and I'm probably biased, I think he's cute enough to be in Gerber ads. So I need your help in the voting process. Voting for September starts today and ends on the last day of the month. Here's the step by step process to vote for Blake and help him win!

1. Right click and open the link in a new tab. (Click here)

2. Go to the bottom of the page and click on the button that says "Search Photos"

3. Type "Blake" in the first box and "Brooklyn" in the second box.

4. Click on the search button.

5. Look for this picture:

6. Click on Blake's picture and then click on the "vote" button.

7. You'll have to enter a valid email address because you have to validate your vote through your email. (If you have a junk email account, use this one. I wish there was a way to do it without entering your email, but I haven't found one. Sorry!)

8. Check your email and follow the instructions. The email went to my spam folder, so make sure to check your spam or junk folder. You have to click the link in your email in order for the vote to count!

9. This turned into way too many steps so now I'm afraid you'll be deterred from voting! I guess I could have combined some steps, so really it's only like 4 steps. If you still think that's too much to ask, then just take another look at the photo above and ask yourself how you could deprive that cutie of a college education! He may hit you up for money one day if you don't help him win the scholarship. And you won't have any excuse when he asks, "Well, did you vote for me everyday during September 2010 so I could win the Gerber Generation Photo Search? Oh, you didn't? Well I need 20 bucks."


Remember, you can vote once a day for the whole month. So if you find yourself with nothing to do, or even if you have a lot to do, just take 2 minutes to vote for Blake! Thanks for your help!