Where in the world did the past two years go? I have had so much fun getting to know this feisty, fun, sweet, loving, tiny little girl! How did she get so big? Vivian Joy loves to get dressed up. She loves hats, shoes and jackets as well as fun socks and flower barrettes. She likes to spend her time rocking violently in the rocking chair, playing with baby dolls, building with blocks, driving cars (which she calls go’s) around making vrooming sounds, pretending to cook, loves to help me clean and adores looking at books. She’s usually dancing, singing, or coloring are generally what she’s doing in conjunction with her activities. She really is a joy. Her name Vivian which means lively or life fits her so well and her middle name “Joy” really fits how I feel about her. She brings me so much joy. Pink is her favorite color and it fits well with her ultra-feminine persona along with her golden curls and bright blue eyes. I love that she’s this way. It’s so darling and just the way she is.
Yes, the is the birthday sign I made last year. Julie brought some Chinese lanterns to use as decorations that she didn’t know what to do with.
Julie and I also had fun making our own ornaments out of paper for decorations.
Because Vivian loves panda bears, I decided to use my cuddly bear cake pan and make a panda with it. Of course when I started that idea I wasn’t even thinking about black frosting. The smile got crooked but once you touch black frosting against white it stains for good so there it had to stay. Oh well, It was pretty cute. Julie was a wiz at roses. I showed her once and she took off. She made the red ones and I made the pink ones. It was great to have help.
Here’s a photo Julie took of me after a whole day of frosting a cake. Not the best of me but it was nice to know that I didn’t look terrible.
Here’s the birthday girl all dressed up. When she saw those presents she knew exactly that they were to open.
Here she is waiting for her gifts in the birthday chair.
Vivian got a lot of books for her birthday and she wanted to look through them all.
The biggest hit of the evening was Vivian’s little people blocks palace set. This is a darling photo of Vivian and Kate playing with them together.
Lillian made me laugh when she came down for the party all dressed and ready in PJ’s! I guess she wanted to be comfortable. I would have worn the same thing if I had thought it would be okay. 
Jake visiting with the Wilhelmsen men.
The first moments of Vivian by her cake. At first she was wondering why I was putting a cake by her.
When we turned the cake to let her look she was so excited she wanted to hug it. I pretty much melted on the spot.
She got a little nervous once we lit the candles…I love her sidelong gaze.
When we told her to blow out the candles she knew what to do and pretty much dived at them and I had to grab her and hold her back a bit. Scared me. What’s with these fearless children of mine?
She looked pretty proud when we clapped for her after that.
I’m hoping Julie has some pictures of Vivian eating her cake because I got a little preoccupied with everything after that. She is such a sweet little girl. I’m so thankful that she joined our family two years ago. Even if it was a little sooner than I had expected. She’s a great addition to our family.
