Special Request

I'm posting this video at the special request of Rocklin's Grammy (my Mom) because she wanted to see him walking. Enjoy, Grammy (and anyone else who wants to see 15 seconds of my kid in action)!

25 things.

My friend Allison tagged me on Facebook, but since my blog is lacking lately, I thought I'd answer the tag here instead. The tag is to name 25 random things about me. So, here goes, in no particular order:

1. I can type about 85 wpm.
2. I have driven cross-country three different times, and broken down in the middle of nowhere on two of them.
3. I have to rock my feet back and forth when I'm going to sleep. (Poor Adam, the whole bed shakes).
4. I never finish my drink at the dinner table. I always leave a couple of swallows in the cup. Only at home though, I don't usually do it at restaurants. Don't ask me...I'm weird I guess.
5. I love frozen waffles. I could eat them two meals a day and be a happy camper.
6. I met my husband online.
7. I have known three of my Best Friends since the 7th grade, and we are all still really good friends today.
8. I love making lists. Grocery lists, to do lists..it doesn't matter what it is, if it can be listed, I list it.
9. I have at least 15 different lip glosses, but I never wear lip gloss. I always buy them thinking oh that is such a pretty color, and they just sit in the bottom of my purse.
10. I hate hot dogs. Who can honestly tell me exactly what is in a hot dog? My point, exactly. Nobody knows.
11. I once had a job as an Executive Assistant where all I did was play Wheel of Fortune online because my bosses were always out of town. In a matter of a month or two, I made over $4.5 million. I'm a nerd, I know. Too bad I couldn't cash in those online dollars for real ones!!
12. I have been peed on by a real life tiger at the zoo. To this day I stay far away from tigers!
13. I am very clumsy. I can't tell you the number of times I've stubbed my toes or ran into things or tripped over carpet. (Yes, it is possible to trip over carpet).
14. I love reality shows (The Bachelor, The Hills, The Biggest Loser, etc.) and can't get enough of Hollywood gossip (much to Adam's dismay).
15. I love to read! When I was a kid I would hide under my sheets after bedtime with a flashlight so I could read and not get in trouble for not going to sleep. To this day I love to have a good book (or two, or three...) on my nightstand.
16. I really want a daughter. I will be OK if my next baby is a boy, but I'd be SO excited if it was a girl! (And no, I'm not pregnant). I need an excuse to learn to make cute girly bows and things. If not, at least I have plenty of cute nieces!!
17. I love to travel. When I was single I'd jump at the chance to travel anywhere, especially somewhere I've never been. Some of my favorite trips have included: Hawaii, NYC for New Years Eve, Texas to play with my BFF's and San Francisco. I would still love to go to London, Seattle and any place that has those beach huts over the water - Fiji, etc.
18. I had to dress up like Chuckie for a birthday party once when I worked at Chuck E. Cheese. And in case you are wondering, the kids are mean to Chuckie! Hit, kick, etc. I wonder what they would have thought about Chuckie if I would have sucker punched them. hahaha. Ok, that was mean.
19. I can never have enough pens. Kind of like the lip gloss fetish, I guess. Whenever I'm getting ready to go somewhere, I always make sure to throw a pen in my purse or diaper bag, you know, just in case. I bet if I went right now and looked in my purse, I'd have at least 8 pens in there.
20. I've always wanted to work at Subway. About 98% of the time when I go to Subway, I want to ask, Can I just come back there and make the sandwich myself? They never seem to quite make it exactly how I would make it if I were behind the counter. You know, too much or too little mayo, the tomato cut from the end and not the middle, not spreading the tuna across all of the bread. Wow, I'd make one anal Sandwich Artist.
21. I love to make things. I like to think I'm pretty crafty, although my crafts and homemade goodies don't even compare to some of the amazing women I know! It's a fun outlet to me though, from buying the supplies to actually creating whatever it is my little head came up with (or copying someone else's design, which I'm very good at too).
22. I have a photographic memory. I'm not very good at remembering names, but generally I can tell you what someone was wearing in a heartbeat.
23. I don't like to have unpainted nails. This goes for fingers and toes.
24. I'm a coupon fanatic. I belong to a coupon club here in Arizona and I love it! I have saved crazy amounts of money using coupons. I find myself not buying or doing anything unless I have a coupon. (Of course, not everything has a coupon available, but if there is one out there, I find it!).
25. I have a FT (false tooth). It's the top, left, middle tooth. In high school this guy at my lunch table called me MT. MT stood for Mike Tyson, because of the FT. He thought he was so funny; I didn't.

If you happen to read all 25 things, thanks. It took me forever to come up with all those. (you try it...it's hard to do!). Anyway, since this is a "tag", I tag the following people: Sarah Y., Angie, Keira and anyone of my blog readers that needs something to blog about like I did! And if you happen to do the tag, leave a comment so I can go and read your 25 things. Happy Monday!

Couch

I haven't posted anything new lately because quite frankly there really hasn't been anything going on around here. Rocklin's had a fever the past few days so we've just been chillin at home trying to kick the fever. Today he just seemed miserable and wouldn't nap so I got out his new big boy couch and let him watch some cartoons on it. That is a big treat for him, because I generally don't let him watch TV during the day. I'm not necessarily opposed to it, but he usually doesn't seem that interested in it, so I figure I will wait and try not to create a habit of watching too much TV at such a young age. Anyway, here are a couple of pictures of him on his Cars couch watching Go, Diego, Go! (And he looks pretty stoked to be watching cartoons and not really sick, however don't be fooled...it didn't really last that long).

Birthday Video

There isn't anything too exciting in this video...just Rocklin eating his birthday cupcake. However, toward the middle of the video, check out Sydney in the background trying to lick the chocolate frosting off of her bottom lip - too funny!

Party Time!!

Tonight we had a small get-together to celebrate Rocklin's first birthday. We had a great time!! Poor Rocklin was in desperate need of a nap (which you'll notice in the pictures of him trying to eat his cupcake), but overall I think he had a lot of fun! Here are some fun pictures from the party...

The Birthday Boy

Messy boy!!

Garrett enjoying his cupcake.

Dillion and sweet baby London.

I think this is my favorite picture! I am not sure he was diggin the hat quite as much as Mommy.

Garrett and Rocklin sitting on Rock's new "Cars" couch. It even folds into a bed with an attached sleeping bag. Pretty cool! I think he's going to love his new big boy couch!

(Thanks John & Crystal!!)

Presents!

Rocklin makes this crazy face every time we tell him to smile for the camera.

A close-up of the "smile face"

Mommy & Rock with his fun new toy from his cousins Maryn, Brynna and Lauryn

Crystal & John. They were SO sweet in letting us have the party at their beautiful home. (Crystal is 21 weeks pregnant with their first baby - a boy. We are SO excited for them!!)

Brad grubbin...and showing off his new goatee.

This last picture has nothing to do with his birthday, but Rocklin and I went to the Zoo the other day and had the best time! The weather was perfect. Rocklin especially liked the orangutans...and he liked imitating the sounds they made!

Happy Thursday

Happy Birthday Rocklin!!

Today my baby boy turns ONE. I can't even believe one year ago today that I was in the hospital waiting to meet my new little guy! Even though Rocklin was born about 5 weeks early, he has been really healthy and to date has had no medical problems (which we are very thankful for). Rocklin is the sweetest little boy and Adam and I are so proud to be his parents. The first year has been so fun! It has been a joy watching Rock grow and learn.

Rocklin has quite the little personality now and is pretty much always a happy little guy. He is in to pretty much everything these days, discovering and exploring every chance he gets. He can walk now, which he learned over the Christmas holiday. He loves books and is starting to have a thing for stuffed animals. He's got the most beautiful blonde hair with cute curls at the drape of his neck! He loves playing with other little kids and I think he will be a little social butterfly once he can talk. He can say Mama and for now that's it, but Adam's trying hard to get a Dada out of him.

Happy Birthday, little man. We love you so much and are so blessed to have you in our family!! We are going to have a little get together with some close friends this weekend, so I will be sure to post pictures from his party afterwards.

Adam and Rocklin - right after he was born. Rocklin was SO tiny, with a birth weight of 5 lbs. 3 oz. He's since made up for his small size and is about 21 lbs. right now.

Rocklin about two days old with his Grammy Jody.

Rocklin all dressed up to finally go home. (That was the scariest car ride of my life!!!)

This picture makes me laugh because his little bird legs were so teeny!!

Here's Rocklin at one year. So happy and so playful. I love you, son!

Me...

...minus 7 inches of hair.

Thanks, G-ma Linda & G-pa Ron!

Rocklin wanted to shout out and say thanks to Grandma Linda and Grandpa Ron for the fun book he got from them for Christmas. (We were a little late in picking up the presents from them, so we just got them today). Thanks!! Rocklin loves his new nursery rhyme book!

It's that time again...

Well, the new year has arrived. I love this time of year because it gives me a chance to reflect on the past year and the changes I want to make in the new year to come. In no particular order, here are some things I've committed myself to in 2009:

1. No more coke (and by coke I mean Dr. Pepper, Sunkist and Sprite...my three liquid downfalls).

2. Shape up and loose a few lbs. (see #1) This includes getting more exercise then just walking up the stairs to my second story apartment.

3. Be aggressive about getting out of debt - see photo below for proof. Yes, that is me shredding one of our credit cards. We shred every single card we had. Ouch. Hello, cash.

4. Read my scriptures more often.

5. Be a better wife (aka - iron more of Adam's shirts so he doesn't have to).

6. Read books with Rocklin more often.

7. Birkmeyer baby #2. Don't worry folks, this is in no way an announcement, but hopefully later this year we'll have something to announce.

8. New year = new do. Hairdo, that is. I've decided I'm tired of fixing my hair and then having it end up in a ponytail day after day. What am I, 12? So this is the look I'm going for come this weekend at the salon: (wish me luck folks, I've never really been one for short hair on me...)

That just about wraps it up for me. None of these goals are really anything new for me, other than the hair, oh, and the no coke thing, but nothing that can't be attained. I hope everyone else has taken the time to write down a few things you hope to better yourself as well.

Happy 2009!!

Moab Trip

As I mentioned in my last post, the second half of our Christmas vacation, we went to Moab with my family and stayed in a cool house that my parents rented for three nights. It was a lot of fun! If you've never been to Moab, UT, I'd recommend it. There is so much to see! We took a ton of pictures, and I have uploaded a bunch here to share. Enjoy!

Rocklin in the car while we're waiting for the hikers to get back from a hike. He looks like such a big boy here!

Part of Arches National Park. Adam zoomed in on this picture, and if you look closely, the specs toward the bottom are people. That gives you an idea of how HUGE these arches are!

It was so cold and I didn't have any gloves for Rocklin, so Gramps let him borrow his. A little big, but they did the trick!

Daniel posing in Mom's pink scarf. Real cute, Daniel!

One of the beautiful views! Adam had Rocklin the whole time in the baby carrier. Talk about a workout - hiking with a twenty pound baby on your chest!

Adam, Daniel and Kevin - crazy boys, you won't catch me up on those rocks so high up!! The drop on the other side went waaaaaaay down.

Family photo-op.

Mom & Dad (or Grammy & Gramps as Rocklin knows them).

The Boys. (Except Adam and Justin...we missed you Justin!)

Daniel & Kevin

Daddy, Rock and the big ol' gloves!

Me & Mom

Beautiful view!!

Rock just chillin with Daddy.

Adam

Kevin

Daniel and Adam sharing a moment.

Another family photo.

On our way home, we stopped to see the Monticello temple. It was beautiful with the snow glistening all around; it was literally sparkling like glitter. (However, no amount of money could ever make me want to live in this much snow, ever!!)

A house in Monticello buried in snow. All of the houses looked like this - buried!

Thanks again, Mom and Dad. We had a WONDERFUL time!