Rylie's Winning Smile

Sometime around mid-September, the project manager of the Pinoy Smile Research Project, Dr. Khristine G. Cariño, dropped by at one of my sites and left a comment asking if I would be interested in entering our kids in a smile contest. I was tickled because she said that my kids are cute (bragging lol). So I visited the site and inquired about the procedures for entering. Dr. Cariño was very kind to wrote me an email explaining the rules and regulations.

After submitting my kids' photos, I totally forgot about it. I was just reminded when she asked about the kid's date of birth and I asked her when the casting of votes would begin. She said that it started on October 5th (it was 10th when I inquired). I felt nervous because we were already 5 days behind on our campaign. I remained positive and refused to get discouraged.

I started inviting my friends on blogland. On the second day of my campaign, I was disappointed that some of the contestants had votes which climbed into the thousands. My husband laughed when he saw the results because he had warned me that this type of thing would probably happen. Because of the nature of the contest, he was certain there would be fraud committed by some of the contestants.

I was so happy on the third day of our campaign when Pinoy smiles announced they had detected fraud and adjusted the votes. I couldn't wait to tell my hubby that he was right and that good triumphed over evil. We realized that with the fraud detection, Rylie had a fair shot and a really good chance of winning this contest.

Thanks to the support of our friends, all over blogosphere, for the posts and ads they ran on their blogs to generate awareness and for the votes casted by everyone, including those who barely know us, Rylie was victorious. You guys made it possible for our daughter to have the winning pinoy smile for the month of October.

Rylie was born in the Year of the Wood Rooster. Anyone that knows Rylie can see the flashy peacock, strutting-her-stuff, type of personality that only roosters possess. Being of wood element, Rylie will expand and branch out into her world.

You can’t help but laugh when you have a conversation with this 4-year-old going on 20. Like a typical rooster, she analyzes everything and can argue like a great lawyer. I have to give thanks to her Filipino roots for providing her with a stunning type of exotic beauty. Her good looks will definitely put a razor’s edge on her sharp wit and determination.

Since the very beginning, Rylie has learned to be a fighter. Being faced with a certain death at birth (the umbilical cord was wrapped tightly around her neck), Rylie was determined to survive and with the will of God and the help of a great doctor, she made it into this world.

My demanding little rooster can be difficult to live with at times but when she smiles and tells you that she loves you, her difficult ways become transparent. Her future husband is in big trouble…lol.

Thank you all very much for making our princess the Smile of the month, October edition. May God bless you and the Pinoy Smile Community.

Here are the votes (total of 746) that made her victorious!

1. Brazil - 202
2. USA - 183
3. Philippines - 180
4. No IP - 25
5. Japan - 22
6. Malaysia - 19
7. India - 16
8. Korea - 15
9. Indonesia, Canada, and Sweden - 9
10. Australia - 8
11. China - 6
12. UAE, Germany, and Holland - 5 each
13. Thailand, Myanmar, and Israel - 3 each
14. France, Hongkong, Italy, Singapore, Romania - 2 each
15. Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Guam, Nepal, New Zealand, Mariana Island, Pakistan, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, and Taiwan - 1 each

Again, Thank you!