Vivi's Rise to Stardom

First, let me apologize to my readers (all three of you--hi mom!) for my leave of absence. Between a teething baby and preparing for Christmas I have been a bit frazzled. However, we've resumed a semblance of normalcy and I'm dying to post some recent photos. First, my mom has been asking me for months to take some "formal" pictures of Vivian that she can frame next to her other grandchildren's school pictures. In an effort to recreate the "school picture," I dressed Vivian in my favorite dress and found a place to prop her up in a semi-sitting position (this happened to be our couch covered in my favorite yellow blanket that one of the girls in my Young Women's class made for her). While most of them were quite a disaster, a few of them turned out really well:

Also, recently some friends of ours hosted a navity pageant at their house and Vivi was cast as an angel. She looked absolutely adorable as did all of the shepherds, sheep, wisemen, and Mary and Joseph. During the nativity I was standing next to the daughter of some friends of ours who was an angel with Vivian. She was cracking me up. Amidst a chorus of "Angels We Have Heard On High" she informed me that she had a cough and runny nose (while simultaneously sniffling for effect). I said, "Oh no! I hope that goes away soon," to which she replied, "Ya, I've been praying to Heavenly Father that it will please be gone by Christmas." Needless to say my heart melted. The highlight of my conversations with this adorable little girl came at the end of the nativity pageant as she disappointedly said, "What? It's over? All I did was stand in this trough." I think she was waiting for a moment of spotlight that never came. So adorable. Next year I hope she'll make the perfect Mary and have her moment to shine. Anyway, here are the pictures: