Little Miss Sweetheart Pageant...and the results are in!!!

Well, Laura Beth had her first beauty pageant today. It was just off of the Strawberry Plains exit at the Hampton Inn. It took us over an hour to get there because we dropped the other three kiddos off at Nana's. Laura Beth was asleep when we pulled in, but she woke up pretty happy. Everything started out ok at first, but the longer we were there the more impatient and wiggly she got. It appeared that there was an unexpectedly large turnout. Most of the other kids there had done at least one pageant before, so we were one of the few rookies. There was a whole lot of waiting in line, or waiting in a room to get into a line. Then you got very little time in front of the judges. The pageant also allowed a wardrobe change. We had a   "special outfit" and of course the "beauty" outfit/dress. They also required you to bring a photo off which they would judge for prettiest smile, hair, and eyes, and most photogenic. Of course, I forgot about the picture until the last minute so I had to go to Walgreens and print one off of the digital camera that I had cropped. Needless to say, our picture couldn't compete with the others. There were some really cute pictures. After the long, grueling morning trying to contain the little rascal and keep her out of everyone else's stuff, she finally falls asleep on my shoulder... right before the crowning ceremony! She wasn't the only one though, there was another sleeping beauty in line with us. The director started handing out the awards for all of the different categories, and I just kept feeling my heart sink more and more, as each of Laura Beth's awards went to other girls... all due to my terrible photography skills! However, near the end, she got an award for "best personality" which was kind of neat. She must get that from her daddy cause I think my personality is as dry as a bone! So I prepared myself to go home with a little sash and a participation trophy as we listened to the director name the 1st alternate and the Queen. There was one particular girl that got most of the other awards that were based on the picture, so I just had it in my mind that she would get queen, but she got 1st alternate. Who then would be Queen? I waited curiously as they called that last name. It was contestant #12....Laura Beth! I was so excited for her. I wanted to jump up and down and scream and holler, but she was asleep on my shoulder! It was so precious! They gently crowned her right there asleep on my shoulder. It was a magical little moment that made all the waiting and aggravation worth it. Now she has a pretty little crown to put on her shelf, along with her personality sash, queen sash, personality trophy, and queen trophy. She really racked up! Sadly, though, I felt a little sorry for a few of the other babies that didn't win any awards. Especially since this was our first pageant and we were clueless! When she won, it made her daddy so proud! Now he is not so skeptical about the pageants, he is actually looking forward to the next one. I think we might have a "pageant dad" on our hands! Based on this experience, I think there will probably be more pageants in our future, as long as Laura Beth is ok with it of course.