Two mini models

A couple weeks ago, Cory and I sat together in a dark auditorium while tears filled our eyes. But, no worries. It was in a good way. And, if you know Cory, you know how very, very rare it is that there would be tears anywhere near his eyeballs. 

But, see, for the third year in a row, Molly was participating in the JCCC student fashion show. (Other shows are here and here. You can see how much she's grown, and you'll probably start crying, too. Ok, maybe that's just me.)

Cory's mom is the head of the fashion merchandising department, so we've kind of got an inside track to the modeling world. The past two years, Molly's walked in the "Little Dresses for Africa" segment of the fashion show, donning dresses made by students for the charity that sends dresses to African girls.

This year, as she is the ripe old age of 5, Molly got to model in two different segments. One of the student designers was designing a bridal collection. And, who better to be a flower girl than Molly? (Seriously, she would be an adorable flower girl, but this might be her only shot. She's getting older and no one is getting married! Hint, hint.)

Molly was very excited to be in the fashion show, especially when she learned that she got to miss school for the noon show. (I was a little hesitant about letting her miss school because I am anal that way, but, because it was her first time of missing any school, Cory convinced me that it was probably ok.)

At the rehearsal the week before, Cory's mom asked if Charlotte would like to walk in the "Little Dresses for Africa" segment. I was sure there would be no way she would agree. And, she proved me right. At first. Then, Mommmom pulled out the dress she would wear. And, it had puppies on it (some of the 101 dalmations as a matter of fact). From that moment on, she was sold. I still wasn't certain she would actually walk on the stage, but we figured we'd let her try. 

Unfortunately, we'd already agreed to go to a fundraiser dinner that took place at the same exact time as the evening show, but Cory and I were still going to be able to make it to the noon show. No way was I missing my babies walk across the stage.

At rehearsal. Practicing their waves.

Charlotte and Molly with Mommom before the show.

Charlotte sat with Cory and I in the audience for most of the show. Then, Cory's mom came and got her to take her backstage for the Africa dresses. Molly stayed backstage the whole time and even managed a costume change. She's getting to be such a big girl.

Modeling Pro

Last Friday, Molly participated in her second (hear that? second) fashion show. Yes, call up Tyra right now, Molly's on her way to Top Model stardom. Ok, maybe she's not quite there, yet. I mean, I'm pretty sure they have height requirements, and being under 4-foot is probably a deal-breaker.

 Buuuut, she did walk across the stage all by herself. So, see, she's almost there!

Here's the deal, Cory's mom is the head of the Fashion Merchandising program at Johnson County Community College. And, every year, the students put on a fashion show as a way to showcase their designs. Molly participated last year for the first time. So, this year, she was a veteran at this runway walking thing. She got to walk in both the noon show and the 7 o'clock show. Unfortunately, Cory and I had already purchased tickets to an event on Friday night, so we only got to watch her in the noon show.

Cory picked her up early from preschool to take her for a run-through and to get her hair styled by the cosmetology students. Talk about a pretty cool reason to leave preschool. Molly absolutely adored having her hair done. And, really, who could blame her? I would have someone do my hair all the time if I could! Ah, the life of a model! Afterward, she kept saying, "Look, my hair is all curls, Mommy!" (Not sure what she thinks her hair normally looks like, if not all curls, but whatever.)

Model Behavior

Molly loves clothes. She especially loves dressing up. No joking, the girl goes through at least three to four outfits each day. I really don't mind it, except when they are all thrown in the clothes hamper. Then I end up doing the laundry of three preschoolers instead of one. That, I mind. Most of the time, when she dresses up, she's playing a princess. Sometimes she makes me the fairy godmother. Sometimes Charlotte is the godmother. Sometimes I'm the prince. But, Molly is pretty much always the princess. (Really, though, if you could dress up every day, wouldn't you choose to be the princess, too?) So much for that Cinderella Ate My Daughter book. We're already screwed on that front.

With all that said, I still never dreamed that my child would join the modeling world. Especially at the ripe old age of 3. But, well, stuff happens. Ok, before you all freak out about me turning into one of those stage moms from Toddlers & Tiaras, let me explain. Molly's grandma is the head of the Fashion Merchandising program at the local community college, and every spring the program puts on a fashion show as a way for the students to showcase their work. So, this is a true amateur show, and I'm not trying to get her an agent or book her jobs or anything crazy like that! But, when Joan (Cory's mom, Molly's grandma) knew of a place for a little girl in the show, she knew just the little girl who would be perfect. Our very own princess!

The dresses that needed to be modeled are actually part of a charity that the department signed up for. It is called Little Dresses for Africa, and through it, people sew simple dresses that are then sent to children in Africa. Kind of a perfect fit for the fashion program. Anyway, these were the dresses that needed models. Now, we were a little concerned about sending a 3-year-old out onto the runway by herself. So enters Emma.

Emma lives in Joan's neighborhood. She was turning 12, and for her 12th birthday party, she got to invite eight friends to go with her to the fashion show. (Man, that would've been the best party ever for my 12-year-old self!) Emma also got to surprise her friends and get up on stage to model. Luckily, she was an absolute sweetheart and was more than willing to take Molly under her wing. We showed up in the afternoon to practice, then came back for the 7 o'clock show.

We sat next to Emma and her friends so that she could take Molly by the hand when they needed to head backstage for their time. All of the girls were so sweet, and Molly even sat on Emma's lap the entire show. I don't know if Emma knew she was signing up for a 3-year-old groupie.

Molly with her new favorite person, Emma.

So, as you can imagine, the first time Molly went up on stage, she was a little nervous. I could tell by the finger in her mouth. She always does that when she's unsure about a situation. I guess I should just be glad it wasn't her nose.

Her dress was super cute with pictures of animals on it.

She started to wave by the time she got around to the other side of the stage.

So, after one time out on the stage, Molly apparently (I've been told - I wasn't actually backstage) started dancing and asking when she could go back out there. Luckily, she got a chance when she got to go back out for the finale. This is when all the models just walked in a line across the stage. I guess Molly had been watching all the other 'real' models with their strutting, prancing and sashaying. This must have made an impact on Molly, because on her second time around ...

Molly marched.

Now, to get the picture absolutely clear in your head, not only did she march (the exaggerated, stomping march of a 3-year-old), but she held up the entire line of models while doing so. That's right. My precious princess marched her way into modeling history. Or, at least, into Lafferty family lore. 

She did great. She can't stop talking about it. I won't be surprised if we now play princess fashion show around the house. The princess of our house got a chance to dress up and walk, wave and march in front of her very own huge, captive, applauding audience. And, I am one proud fairy godmother. 

Since the star of the show couldn't deign to take a picture with her parents, we took some with Charlotte instead.











Pictures of the actual show courtesy of Charlie Cloud. There is no way my camera could take pictures that good. I'm still working on convincing Cory we need a new camera. It's a long process.