Mr Ern wins the lottery!

Y'all know my Dad, Mr Ern! He is hard working and easy going. When referring to my Dad or before telling a story I usually say, "Bless his heart, he is such a bumpkin." LOL He is the classic country boy from the bayou. Growing up my Dad would pay bills at the kitchen table where he also would clip coupons. I never gave much thought to how hard it must have been raising two girls for him. I loved every minute of it! I loved coming and going through my teenage years with my Dad faithfully guarding his post...the couch! I loved letting the dishes pile up until he got mad enough to yell about it. I loved hearing his Cajun music blare when he was working on something in the garage. I loved yelling over the banister for him to go to bed when he'd fallen asleep and the TV was still on full blast after midnight. I even loved coming all the way downstairs to get him the remote that had ended up on the far side of the couch.

Anyway, my Dad used to grumble to himself as he paid bills and it is seriously one of my favorite memories of him. You'd repeatedly hear, "Aww sh** and Son of a bi***! The best was when he got something in the mail from Publisher's Clearing House because here is what you'd hear, "You lying sack of sh**!" If you were ever close enough to ask him what was wrong he'd tell you he was "gonna kick Ed Mcmahon's butt if he don't hand over my million dollars!" Well sadly he never got his million dollars.

Since Erica and I moved to Utah and then I got married and moved to California my Dad has been saying he needs to win the lottery so he can afford to come see us. Now that I am pregnant he keeps telling the guys at his work he has to win so he can go see his Grandbaby. Well, it came time to plan the trip and still no luck. They bought tickets to come visit the first week in December. I cannot wait to see him and to watch him hold Sammy.

I called him on Saturday and told him the update from the week by week book like I always do and he got all fired up talking about what he heard on the Glenn Beck show like he always does. Then he goes, "Oh I almost forgot to tell you, I finally won the lottery." That's right folks, Mr Ern had a $500 ticket which covers his $480 plane tickets to California. He didn't seem all that surprised because...as he said, "Well, I been tellin the boys at work I had to win the lottery to come see my Grandbaby." LOL

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!

Mr Ern with no beard!?!?!

What is the world coming to?!?! My Dad has not shaved his beard in 21 years! That's right folks, that smooth as a baby's butt skin you are seeing for the first time hasn't seen the sun since 1987. He had to shave it for work to take an equipment test that involves a mask. Sigh, he looks like his Dad. HOWEVER, what he doesn't look like is MY DAD!! I refuse to accept this! Where's my Daddy, I WANT MY DADDY!!! Sorry, minor panic attack. People are telling him he looks younger. I hate it, I hate it, I hate it! So I am taking a poll so I can tell him. I need feedback from Meghan G, the Newcomers including Lacey C, and the Draughons including Megan B. Tell me what you think and add in what you were doing in 1987 just for a stroll down memory lane.