I'm a statistic.

Yes folks, I'm a statistic. I'm a statistic of this horrible economy. I got laid off yesterday from my perfect part-time, work-from-home job. For the past 9 months I've been working from home for a Recruiting company in the games (video games) industry. It was perfect!! I worked when I could (mostly while Rocklin was napping or playing on his own, and sometimes in the evenings). I was able to set my own schedule and got paid to put my skills to use. And then I got "temporarily laid-off" because of this crap economy we're currently in. Down-sized. Dang it!! I've begun looking for another way to bring income in while also being able to spend time with my sweet son. I know I've been blessed to this point to be able to spend my days with him and I hope and pray I can figure something else out now! Wish me luck. Or pray for me. Or both.

On another note, thanks to everyone who commented and left suggestions for my goal of monthly meal planning. I've started for March and am already so excited that for this entire week I don't even have to think about what to make for dinner...all I have to do is look at the calendar on the fridge!! For anyone who is interested, we're having pork chops and scalloped potatoes for dinner tomorrow. :) Oh, one more thing, for those who wanted me to report on how the fondant worked out for me since I bragged about trying it and making this incredible cake for Rocklin's first birthday...well...I didn't make it. I didn't even try. I really wanted to, but his birthday snuck up on me and before I know it I was making cupcakes and threw the fondant idea out the window!! I still want to try it, and when I do, I'll be sure to report how it worked out for me.

Monthly Meal Planning

I'm curious if anyone out there has tried (or currently uses) a monthly meal planning system. I think I want to try something new starting in March for planning out our meals. My hope is that this will take the headache out of grocery shopping and trying to figure out what is for dinner. I've been pretty good (well, fairly good) at making a list of meals each week, but I think I want to branch out and plan for a month at a time. Is this too much of a hassle? Anyone have any suggestions? Anyone tried this? I really watch the grocery ads and try as much as I can to plan around what is on sale that week (mostly with meat). Do I do one major grocery trip at the beginning of the month and then buy necessities and perishables each week? How do you do it?

Last weekend when I went grocery shopping, I came home (under budget) with plenty of groceries, but then realized that I bought dinner preparation items and didn't really have "snacky" or "quick" type of foods - everything needed to be made in advance. (This is no good for a husband left to his own devices for dinner when I have to run out at night. Just ask Adam who ate Rocklin's mac-n-cheese last week because there wasn't anything quick and easy that he could make). What kind of quick and easy type of foods and/or snacky foods do you buy? Any favorites?

Any suggestions/ideas/comments would be appreciated. If I am able to make this work for me, I'll be sure to do a post of what I find works. Thanks in advance!!

Bad, bad news...

They just opened a new store about a mile from my house. Crap.

*With a drive-thru. Double Crap.

Are you salivating? Because I am. Are you PMSing? Because I am.

Saturday Morning

Rocklin and Daddy just watching some Saturday morning cartoons. Sleepyhead and Bedhead!

Card Club

This past Friday I met up with my card club group again. We had a lot of fun sharing our creative juices. I just thought I'd share our cute creations:

Here is the card I made:And here are all the cards:

Another Video

Awhile back, Rocklin started making this funny face/sound effects. I have no idea where he picked it up, but it's really funny to watch! If you don't like the sound of snot going in and out of someones nose, then I recommend you don't watch. Gross, I know, but I figure this is probably one of many "boyish" things Rocklin will entertain us with over the years. Oh, and please excuse the mess of peas all over his face. It was lunchtime and we're working on self-feeding.

If you're getting bored of my Rocklin posts, sorry...we don't have a whole lot of exciting stuff going on around here. Maybe in the next little while I'll figure out something more entertaining to blog about then my child making snot noises, but for now, Enjoy.

The Faux-Hawk

Valentine's and Weekend Fun

I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day! Adam and I had a simple date - dinner and a movie - but we had a great time. My sister-in-law Katie watched Rocklin while we went out and she even offered to watch him overnight (what a gem!!!) but we decided not to do it this time because I wasn't sure how he'd do. We'll definitely have to take her up on that in the future!

Adam got me this adorable purse for Valentine's Day. Doesn't he have good taste?? (a.k.a. I picked out the purse, purchased it, brought it home and showed Adam what he got me...LOL).

Also this weekend, one of my little brothers, Adam, and his girlfriend, Amanda, came into town. It was fun to spend time with them. Amanda does hair, so she was kind enough to give Rocklin his first official haircut! He looks like such a little boy now. Rocklin was tired and was not in the mood to sit still, but Amanda did a great job regardless. We took a couple pictures and you can see that Rocklin was over it. haa!

Getting ready...got my raisins to help me be still! (Rocklin LOVES raisins).

All done! Mom will have to post my picture when she actually fixes my hair, but even all wet it already looks better than before! Thanks again, Amanda for cutting my hair!

I Won!

I rarely win stuff. I occasionally enter contests online and on other folk's blogs, but I never win. But today, I won! A while back I entered this contest on Arizona Mama called "New Year, New You." And today I found out I was the Grand Prize Winner! So stoked. Here's what I won (taken from their blog):

Kristen Birkmeyer won our Grand Prize Package valued at over $600:
A Fitness assessment, nutrition consultation, cardio assessment and 5 personal training sessions from Fitness Defined.

A 3 hour session with a mother/daughter team who can help you finally achieve work/life balance. They will organize your life with integrity, confidentially...and always a bit of fun! Dependable Divas

A Custom facial or massage from Fuchsia Spa.

Wahooooo!! Good way to start my Monday. :)

Now you see it, now you don't

So we did end up taking Rocklin to get his hair cut this weekend, however, we went to this cute little kids haircutting place and they wanted $17 to cut his hair! Call me cheap, but there was no way I was going to pay that, plus tip, just to cut off a small amount of hair. So when we got home, we took matters into our own hands. Especially with the rat tail...

Before:

After:

He still needs the top and sides trimmed, but it already looks a lot better than it did before.

(Oh, and someone asked if that is a picture of Adam when he was younger - the kid with the mullet in the last post - and while that is hilarious, I'm sad to say no, that is just a random picture I found on Google Images.)

Mullet-mainia

As Rocklin's mother, I've decided it's time he needs a hair cut. Too bad Adam doesn't agree with me!! Adam says he's living through Rocklin on having a full head of hair. haha!! He does have great hair, especially for a one year old, however it's beginning to get a bit unmanageable. If we wet it and comb it, then it looks kind of "Guido." If we don't wet it and comb it, then it looks like he's got major bedhead. I feel like we're headed towards this:

Hopefully come Monday, I'll have a new picture up with Rocklin's new, fresh locks. Otherwise, I'm thinking of buying him this:

Playdates

Rocklin and I have had some fun playdates this week, so I thought I'd share some pictures. At the beginning of the week, we went to the zoo with Tonya, Gavin and Garrett. We got a season pass to the zoo and it's been really fun going to see all the animals (especially since the weather has been so beautiful lately, and it's good exercise for me!!). Rocklin's favorite part of the zoo are the orangutans. He laughs whenever we go see them and always makes these loud, squealy noises. This time we also got to see the elephants up close, too.

Then today, we met up with Valarie, Sydney and London at the mall and let the kids play in the little play area (aka Germ Central) and Rocklin loved it!! I've never taken him there before, but I think it might be his new favorite hang out. Afterwards, we took the kids upstairs and let them ride the carousal. I think Rocklin wasn't too sure about it...as you can see in the second picture, he was clinging on to me by the end. But we had a fun time - thanks Valarie and girls!!

No, No!

Seriously, someone help me here. How do you teach a one year old discipline? We have our trash can sitting out against the wall and it's just the right height for Rocklin to open and stick his little hands in and see what treasures he can pull out. When he started doing it I'd say no, no with a firm voice and he'd look me at me like oh, I must be doing something I shouldn't and he'd stop. Now, however, it's become a game for him. When I tell him no, no...he LAUGHS at me and keep digging. Am I already losing the discipline battle? Does he just not understand what NO means yet? Check out the video...see, I wasn't kidding! (and notice the HA-HA, Mom tone in his laugh!!!):