I wanna be a girl

I've seen other bloggers blog their conversations, let me attempt. This was our car ride home from my Aunt Jeanette's house on July 24th:

Lauren: I want to be a girl.

Me: Why do you want to be a girl?

Lauren: I don't want to be a boy, they do all the work.

Me: What kind of work do you think boys do?

Lauren: Well...Daddy mows the lawn and he fixes things.

Me: Moms do lots of work too..they cook, they vacuum, they do laundry.

Lauren: Well, MY dad does all of that stuff too, well 2 out of the 3 you said.

Me: Really now?

Lauren: Yeah, Dad cooks more than you do. See, boys do all the work!

Me: What do you WANT to do then?

Lauren: The girls job is to sit on the couch and relax. I want to be the girl.

Me (with Matt next to me grinning and me getting a little defensive and KNOWING that #1-I do A LOT around that house and #2-she hates SHOPPING): Well, I don't think it is that easy, girls do a lot of things....girls HAVE to go shopping! I buy all your clothes and shoes and toys.

Lauren: (After some thought) Daddy goes grocery shopping every week.

I guess I lost that battle. I was totally speechless. It is all true! Matt does so much for our family! Since he is at home at night with the kids, he does do a lot of the the family necessities. I sure am one lucky girl..who apparently just sits on the couch and relaxes, LOL. I wish it were that easy! Well, for now I will let her live in that fantasy, afterall a GIRL can dream.

Zander Jonathan Fitch

The baby is here! Here are some cute pics taken shortly before the birth!

My two sisters comparing tummies! Pregnant belly hasn't seen too much sun. LOL.

Cute belly and NO stretch marks! Wish I could have said the same thing for mine!

This is a picture taken by Sarah, I think this was at the hospital...right before being admitted.

Man, sometimes thing don't work out quite the way you plan...I have 20 vacation days left at work, so I thought that with my sister due to have her baby on July 29th...I would schedule some time at the end of the month, this way I could be there or allow my mom to be there without having to worry about babysitting my kids. WELL...July 15th Ashley went to work at 6am but she started having what she thought were cramps, she left work because she was not feeling well...she went to take a nap but her "cramps" were getting worse, she figured they might be contractions. My sister Sarah took her to the hospital around 7pm and come to find out, she was dialated to a 4. Much to everyone's shock she was admitted. They broke her water and the waiting began! Finally around 5am she was dialated to a 10 and after waiting 45 minutes for the doctor to get there, and after just 4 pushes he was out! (this is the story I got from Sarah). I wasn't present at the hospital. I had to work on Friday and I kept debating about whether or not I should be there with her for the actual labor. Anyway, here are some shots, taken by my mom:
Here is Ashley waiting, and being a champ! She had intended to try to deliver with no epidural and she held out for a really long time...much longer than I coulda!

Here are the eager soon-to-be parents. Ashley and Victor:

And here is the cute guy! He was born July 16 at 6:28 AM. He was 8 pounds 6 ounces and 19 inches long. He has a lot of dark hair and is so sweet!

He is a little chubby, ADORABLE!

Look at those chubby cheeks and those cute lips.

Here is the proud papa, Victor.

Here is my sister, a new mom!!


SO...I went to work that day. My mom told me that visiting later was a better idea because NO ONE had slept the night before. I left work early, something that I NEVER do...and Matt and me and the kiddos rushed to the hospital. Our timing ended up being horrible. Right before we got there, the nurse came in and whisked the baby away leaving everyone with some bad news. For some reason the baby's white blood cell count was really low. They were gonna give him an IV antibiodic and run a bunch of tests on him. When I got to the hospital, my poor sister was upset. I am sure that everything is just precautionary right now. But I could only imagine the feeling and fear when that happens to ya. She is one of the strongest and bravest people that I know. I am so proud of the fact that whatever obstacle that comes at her, she never lets it get her down.

Any thoughts and prayers that you could spare for this little baby would be much appreciated. I am not sure who is out there reading my blog (this all may just be my personal journal)... but if anyone is...please say an extra prayer if you can. I will keep you updated as I get more information. Hopefully on my next visit I can actually hold the little guy, not just peek at him through the window.

Kindergarten no more (sniffle sniffle)

Lauren's last day of Kindergarten was on Friday July 2. I cried TWICE that day! My little baby is not a baby anymore. I mean obviously she hasn't been a baby for a while-but there is just something SO MATURE about my daughter being a FIRST GRADER now. Oh gee!

Well, the day BEFORE her last day, she got to go on a field trip and I got to be a chaperone. Here is a shot of her with her two best girlfriends in her class, Morgan is on the left and Bailey is in the center. They are such sweet girls. I am sad they won't be in the same class next year. Morgan is going to Dual Immersion and Bailey will stay on B track while Lauren is moving to D track. I hope that they still stay friend anyway.

So, on the trip to Hollywood Connections-I was assigned to Lauren and her two friends AND an Asian boy named Wilson. After I took a picture of the girls, he asked me to take a picture of him. Um, okay. Lauren was a good sport and even slung an arm around the little silly boy.


I apologize these shots didn't really turn out very well. BUT, on her last day of school there was an award assembly. Lauren's best friend Christie (girl in the center) who lives in our circle and is one year older than Lauren got a special award...NO tardies and NO absences = AMAZING!!! She is such a sweet, smart girl. I hope that they are friends forever and that she can be a good influence on Lauren like my friends were to me when I was growing up.

Lauren also got two awards...Outstanding Academic Achievement and Outstanding Citizenship. It must be hard to get because not many kids earned these. I was so dang proud of her. Her teacher's comments on the report card was "I have enjoyed having Lauren in class. She has excelled at Reading, Mathematics and making friends". I am hoping she got the best of Matt (Math) and the best of me (Reading) and her own strength (making friends).

Jamie was totally bored during the assembly. I gave him a Jolly Rancher to entertain him. He also entertained himself by making weird faces at me. LOL!

Here is a shot of her class sorta wandering around.

Here is Lauren and her teacher Mrs. Berry. She has been so great with Lauren, she is patient, she controls her class, she is clean and keeps the class organized. I think it takes a special person to hang out with a couple of dozen of 5 year olds all day. She is VERY special and Lauren has just loved her.

Here are some shots of other class members. Morgan, Guillermo-the boy that she has had a crush on all year, and Angel (who I think had a crush on her).

Here are the four of them again.
I have to insert something here. When I showed my dad the picture of Lauren's "boyfriend", my dad said to her that he looked like he had big ears. Lauren was quiet for a minute, then responded "that's because he is a good listener". I thought that was too funny and too cute. I hope that she always tries to see the positive in people.


Okay and I stole this blog post idea from a friend of mine who is an awesome blogger, Rachel Norris. She also has a kindergartner..(our list of similarities is quite long but that is another story) and she did this on her blog and I warned her I was coppying. ANYWAY-here are some pictures of Lauren on her FIRST day of school as well as her LAST day. The first day pictures are in the pink and the last day is in the blue shorts. Do you see the difference?

Pictures in front of the fireplace. Did she grow?




























She got to go to IHOP on her first AND last day. Lauren with her dad on her last day of school is too cute! What a special dad she has to be there for her on all her special days.

A baby face....
























Pictures on the porch both days:
























Is she photogenic or what?
























Maybe I am biased but I think that I am just the luckiest mamma there is to have this little girl in my life. She continually makes me cry with pride. She is sweet, smart, funny, cute, and loving. She loves to chat, to sing, to dance, and to play with friends. She loves animals, bugs, television, and video/computer games. I am glad to also brag that she is independent, reliable, AND that she is great in school and did well in all subjects. That is her...my Kindergarten graduate, my pride, my joy...my daughter-Lauren SuzAnne Lovato.