from Cookie magazine
Model Mom
Durham and her son, Michael.
Rhea Durham has taken the past few years off from modeling to raise her two children. While holding down the fort, she shows off this season's prettiest pieces.
Model Rhea Durham is sailing through Act Two: being a mom. "I know people might read this and think, Ugh," she says, "but I love my life. It's hectic and stressful at times. But I'm really happy."
Honestly, who could blame her? With the birth of their son, Michael, early last year, Durham and her longtime love, actor Mark Wahlberg—already parents to 3-year-old Ella—now have two impossibly cute kids underfoot. And the tight-knit quartet might need to make room for a few additions. "I'd like two more," Durham reveals.
The Florida native moved to New York City at 16 to model. For the next seven years, her life was a nonstop blur of magazine covers, runway work, and ad campaigns for big-ticket brands, including Revlon, Christian Dior, and Tommy Hilfiger. But in 2001, she decided to pull up stakes and move to Los Angeles because, she says, "I needed a change. I wanted something similar to what I grew up with—the beach, a house, a car."
These days that car, as it is for most mothers of toddlers, is more like a shuttle, running Ella to and from preschool. "We don't have a nanny on the weekends—or on Wednesdays, so that's my day with the kids by myself," Durham says. "Mark is home sometimes, too, of course. But he also works a lot."
Together, she and Wahlberg are parenting in an admittedly conservative manner that's similar to the way they themselves were raised, but is also a reaction to the fast-paced fashion and movie worlds. "We talk about discipline and schools all the time now," Durham says. And she freely admits that self-doubt frequently rears its ugly head: "As a parent, you constantly have to be on your game. You're forming adults. Disciplining—staying consistent with it—is hard. There's always guilt involved: that you're not doing enough, that you're not up to par."
Still, Durham has learned to trust her maternal instincts. For instance, when Michael celebrated his first birthday, it was with an intimate Elmo-themed party. "I didn't hire someone dressed as Elmo, because I thought it might scare him," she says. "So it was just the four of us. But it was really cute." She's also learned to carve out couple time—usually for high-profile events like the Academy Awards or the season premiere of Entourage, which Wahlberg executive-produces. For the Oscars, she donned a jeweled Marchesa gown, but the jacket-and-jeans combo she wore to the Entourage bash is more her style. "That's the real me," she says.
Though Durham is now dipping her toes back into modeling, she says her globe-trotting days are behind her: "I love the traditions of family and home. Babies, kids, holidays—that's what I'm good at."