Avonlea's Second Birthday

On December 31, New Year's Eve, our sweet Avonlea turned two-years-old. This tired mama was recovering from a cold, a bit burnt out from holiday doings (see previous post), and overall uninclined to coordinate a big toddler-friendly activity in the middle of winter. And so, with an evite to family and a couple of Avonlea's playmates, I decided: breakfast. I can do breakfast.

And breakfast is really all I would have done if it weren't for the fabulous effort put forth by my new sister-in-law Mari to gussy our place up a bit. Both of us inspired by this pancake fete for a little girl's birthday, Mari went to work on our apartment, and I went to work in the kitchen.

We had Matt's favorite Jamie Oliver potatoes, bacon, and scrambled eggs...

and a pancake bar with three batters to choose from: whole grain, buttermilk, and red velvet. Plus blueberries and chocolate chips to drop in on the griddle.

Toppings included chopped hazelnuts, whipped cream, berry compote, butter, pure maple syrup, marmalade, and a lemon marscapone topping especially for the red velvet pancakes.

My wonderful sister Jessica showed up early, vacuumed my house, and steady rocked that griddle all morning, God bless her.

It's a good thing that I had Mari and Jessi's help, too, because family + a couple of friends = almost 30 people at a our place. Did I mention we have a tiny apartment? In the end, though, it felt cozy, not crowded.

And not because we put all the kids in Avonlea's crib, I promise.
Sweet Lilly here.

And Wesley, who later put "the moves" on Avonlea. Not that kind. Think WWF. I have a video, but can't figure out how to make iPhoto vids compatible with blogger. I could probably make that claim for nearly every post I do. (This is a cry for help. Anyone who knows how, feel free to chime in on the comments.)

The "Roddy" girls: Matt's brother's GF Melissa (in town from Minny), Mari, Heather, and Matt's cousin Lindsay

Avo's birthday "cake."
The sequence below is Avonlea blowing out her birthday candles. She LOVED everyone singing to her.

It's hard to believe that it's already been a year since Avonlea turned one and had chocolate for the first time!

Phew! We all survived, and I think Avonlea felt pretty special. Onto 2012 and having a two-year-old in the family!