Happy Father's Day

Erica and I were Daddy's girls no doubt about it! The three of us were best friends! I miss my Dad a lot and I wish that I saw him more often. He was a great dad! He could make me laugh until I pee...in fact I think years of being tourtured by "The Claw" is the reason I am still so ticklish! Whenever I would start to fan my eyes to keep from crying he would say, "Come here boo." I'd crawl over and just let it all out while he would rub my back. He wasn't afraid of getting puked on. Erica and I always would lay on his bed to talk. When he'd come in we'd scream and giggle and hid under the covers,even in our twenties, and he'd always pretend he was mashing lumps out of his bed. He watched New Kids on the Block videos and Nsync concerts with us and we've even catch him singing along some times. :) I always knew the stories he'd tell and the jokes he would make. He used to sing a song my Grandpa sang to him, "Once upon a time in a nursery rhyme, three little kids got lost." When we'd ask him to finish he always said, "I can't, that's all my dad knew." LOL

Now with Sam's first Father's day I wanted to do something special, that he'd never forget. So I scheduled an appointment at this special ultrasound place to find out the sex of the baby. We were planning on going for their 3D ultrasound when I was further along anyway. So when I consulted my Dr....Meghan, she said she was worried he might want to be there so I text some of my guy friends. They all agreed they would want to be there. After talking it through I decided on having the doctor write the sex in an envelope and letting Sam tell me. Sam went off to the library to study and I drove all the way to Newport and got the ultrasound. The baby was being shy always turning away from the camera and crossing it's legs. After she made the ultrasound DVD she tried again to find the sex. She made me walk around, lay on my right side, jiggled my belly, lay on my left side. Finally, she got a good shot and she then verified from a few different angles.

I drove home and picked up a few things to put in with my surprize. Sam of course knew I'd give it to him right away so he was ready for it. When he got to the bottom I had wrapped the packet from the doctor. I said, "Before you open this I want to explain." I told him what I had done and that the envelope contained the baby's sex. His face light up and I have never seen him so excited! It was great and I watched as he went through it. "Ok here's a CD, here's an ad, a picture, a.....AHHHHHHHH!" He was yelling so much and I was like, "What?! What is it?!" "A son, we're having a son!" I started bawling because I had never seen him so happy! It was the best and then we watched the ultrasound DVD. It was one of the best days of my life! It was such a perfect moment and I will never forget it!




His name will be Samuel James Rivera. James is my Dad's middle name. We are thrilled! My mom has to return all the girl clothes she already got. :) I am on my way to Babies 'R' Us to pick out stuff for my baby boy on the way!

Cabin Fever or Murder Plot

I have told a few of you about Sam's crazy study schedule this year and how the time away from school tends to send him off the deep end. Well, last time it actually sent him to the dollar store to buy loads of random crap. ie A variety of medications, alarms for the doors, lasers to annoy the bird, and the plastic cone on my desk that says "Excellent Work"!

Today I get a text that he had gotten four pairs of jeans, a pair of shorts, a dvd for our nephew, and a video game for $40. Where? At Goodwill. All day I wondered why he would randomly go to Good Will. Cleaning out the closet...no way. Then it hit me, his cabin fever is back! He is taking a month off to study for his CA medical test and rest from school before he starts work. Well, at least it's clothes and not more junk. No big deal.

When I came home there was a strange feeling in the air and I walked further into the kitchen trying to figure out what was amiss. I saw power tools and the tv area was all moved around. I saw what is pictured above. What in the heck is that? I went up stairs, more power tools, more trash. Then Sam explained. Today was the switch to digital so when he tried it out channel seven (The channel the NBA Finals are on) didn't come in. With a crazy look in his eye he told me how he researched antennas on the Internet and found a video showing how to build one of wire hangers. We didn't have any wired hangers so that is why he went to Good Will. When he asked the cashier for hangers he saw a "Jeans for $5." And know you know...the rest of the story. So what do you think? Should I get him out of the house or just stay on his good side?

PS That instrument of death is now on our mantel between the two pictures we displayed at our reception. I am sure you ladies can imagine the look I gave him when he put in there. Just a few more weeks until he's working.

Jacaranda Trees

I never paid much attention to trees until I went to Utah on my mission and there was a severe lack of trees compared to North Carolina. I was not used to the open spaces. I used to tell people that in North Carolina you could see until the trees started. Anyway, now I always pay attention to the trees around me. I am in California so I mostly see Palm trees which have to be one of the ugliest trees on earth! They look like toilet bowl brushes!! Also in California are the trees like the picture above. This is the Jacaranda tree and it is now one of my favorite trees.

The few streets I take to work and around town are all dirty and have trash on them. There is graffiti but not much natural color. During my drive I see these Jacaranda trees and they totally brighten my day! Remember the black and white movie Pleasantville? Things started turning colors so they really stood out. That is how these trees are for me. It's flowers are bluish purple and look like little bells. I love that when I come out of work the entryway has these bells scattered all over it. I love that they are all over the ground around the trees. They stand out as if everything else was black and white. They make me happy and make me think of silly fairy tale things and happily ever afters.