Welcome to Annika's birthday party...

Here is the birthday girl!

Compared to a year ago: (she's wearing pretty much the same thing)

Annika's best friends were in attendance:

Ezra

Mom

and Dad.

Every princess needs a royal table setting

and a crown (that I totally copied from nienie)

Here was the spread. It was dinner fit for a two year old. (I copied this too)

I think she was excited.

I made Ezra his own party crown so he wouldn't feel left out.

Annika likes her birthdays.

I took a billion photos of her. I just thought she looked so beautiful.

Singing Happy Birthday...

and blowing out the candles. Which she did it all on her own.

I had high hopes for this cake. I thought about Annika's birthday a lot but really didn't prepare much. However, I did spend a lot of time trying to figure out what the perfect cake would be for her, since that is usually the centerpiece of the occasion. I ended up making one from scratch with a recipe that was called The Perfect Chocolate Cake. So although it doesn't look all that great, it tasted really good.

Look how dignified Annika ate her cake this year. It's a little different than last year...

Here she is on her first birthday. She didn't even use her hands. She just dove her face in!

In case you were wondering, Annika got this kitchen set for her birthday. Both of the kids love it a lot.

The end. Until next year.