Gangsta Baby

Yesterday I was snapping a few photos of Sydney and caught this expression. I find it hilarious - she's like a little gansta baby...I can just imagine her saying 'peace out.'

Tree

The grandparents and great-grandparents on the Stevens side purchased a tree for us to plant in honor of Sydney's birth and dedication. I'm so excited about this gift - it will be so cool to see the tree grow with her and look back in 20 or so years and remember this special time in our lives. Our backyard is pretty void of landscaping so this has provided a great impetus to get something going on back there. For now, just the tree has been planted but hopefully before fall escapes us we can create a small kidney shaped berm around it.

We chose a Shamrock Linden

Me supervising...
Nice job Eric!

Why Do I Even Bother?

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. So, obviously I'm insane because I repeatedly try to make desserts for social events and FAIL MISERABLY EVERY TIME. My tenacious mediocrity when it comes to cooking should serve as a warning for my baking skills - and yet I continue to try new things. I only have two or three dessert recipes that I've made successfully and if the occasion calls for something different, I'm up a creek.
We're having a bon fire with our Bible study tonight and Eric said we'd bring dessert...so I looked through my recipes (I have half a binder full of them that I've torn out of magazines) and thought that the Rocky Road Cookie Sandwiches from Rachael Ray looked easy and yummy. It was a snap to throw them together, the only thing I was missing was almonds (I figure they are optional) and I didn't have any parchment paper to put on the baking sheet. So I sprayed some Pam on the sheet and put them into the oven for the appropriate 12 minutes. The result? Well, see for yourself.

Does that look at ALL like the picture?!?!

So now Eric is making cookies because I'm so done for the day. And I'm sure they'll turn out wonderful like everything he does. I swear, this guy can do anything...how annoying.

10 Years

Saturday, September 19th is my 10 year high school reunion. 10 years. I’m ignoring the reality of how old that makes me. I had no desire to attend such an event for a long time, but thanks to Facebook I’ve reconnected with old friends and connected with several people I didn’t even know that well back then and it makes going much more appealing. And yet, I still have some apprehension about attending and until I read this article my mom sent me I didn’t quite know why. (http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/family/57337247.html?elr=KArksUUUoDEy3LGDiO7aiU)
Like the writer, I think I fear people won’t see how much I’ve changed – how different I am now. It’s not that I was so horrible back then, but I think everyone has this need to feel like they’ve evolved, developed into someone better, more mature. But as I reflect on my high school self, I realize that many of my “less mature” traits are still very much a part of me, just tempered slightly. In high school I was very passionate about silly things like Harrison Ford and the Minnesota Vikings…now I find the same passion is fueling an HGTV addiction and a compulsive need to check Facebook every five minutes. In high school I looked at things in a rather extreme way – black and white, right and wrong. And, honestly, I still look at things that way; I’ve just learned to keep my mouth shut around people I disagree with.
I’ll end with a quote from one of my favorite movies:
Marcella: You know, when you started getting invited to your ten year high school reunion, time is catching up.
Martin Blank: Are you talking about a sense of my own mortality or a fear of death?
Marcella: Well, I never really thought about it quite like that.
Martin Blank: Did you go to yours?
Marcella: Yes, I did. It was just as if everyone had swelled.

Bath Time

At first Sydney wasn't too keen on baths. She used to cry through the whole thing but she's gradually transitioned from crying to squawking and now mostly just sits there and looks around. Well, on Monday we gave her a bath and either she was in a really good mood or she's finally figured out they are not so bad because she got really smiley at the end.

Smiles

Sydney will be 7 weeks old on Saturday and she's getting more and more alert and responsive to her surroundings - including us! We can't get her to do this all the time, but we've caught her on video smiling a couple times and I thought I'd post below.