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.

Ashley's Shower!

The month of June has been SOOO crazy! At work..with family stuff...and just..LIFE! It is great, but I just kinda want to be BORED for just a second. I have scheduled some time off of work at the end of July...maybe that will be the time to relax. For now, no such luck!

On June 19th we had a baby shower for my sister Ashley..and for my soon to be nephew..JONATHAN ZANDER CONTRATTO. I am 9 years older than my sister, and have for most of my life felt like a second mome more than a sister. BUT for the last few years we have become really good friends. Even though this pregancy wasn't exactly planned, I am excited that we will be mothers together. I sorta thought that on this side, my kids wouldn't have cousins their age..but YIPEE..Jamie will have a buddy on this side. We are all excited to see thier friendship!

Okay. My mom is just plain amazing. Everything she cooks is delicious, her planning is perfection and her hospitality is unmatched. She is my HERO! I am so thankful that she helped me with the cooking portion of the party!! She really thought of every detail. They brought so much stuff. The meat, the buns, a green salad, 2 pasta salads, chips, drinks, ice, coolers, the cake! WOAH! My other little sister Sarah helped with the party favors. They turned out super cute...they were little shoes made from a styrofoam cups. The cake (which I talked my mom into buying instead of making because she was doing so much) was DELICIOUS and pretty.

Here are my two cute sisters! I am so lucky to have them. OH..and I must mention...these pictures were all my moms as once again I was too busy to take pictures...DOH! I did have my camera in my pocket the whole time though..that is a step!

And just look at her pregnant belly! My pregnant belly was very lumpy..but hers is smooth and cute and round...and not any stretch marks yet!

This was my first time meeting Victor's mom...Victoria. And one of his many sisters, Emily.

Here is the mother of my niece...(I guess that is what you would call her). Kasey Beynon. She is just like family. We don't get to see her very often, so it was great to see her.

Here is my niece, Alysia (who I still call Poopie), and Ashley, and Alysia's girlfriend Katie.

Here are my cute grandparents...my dad's parents. We call them Pa-Pa and Ma Ma (pronounced Meh-Meh). Their first language is Spanish, so they speak English with a bit of an accent..it is so cute, I love it. They are SOO funny, always cracking jokes...one that still 10 years later always makes Matt smile.

Here is the dad-to-be, Victor and my niece Poopie.

I am glad my mom snapped a pic of me or you might not have believed I was there! I was thrilled to see my old neighbors come to the party. Here is my second mom, Stephanie...and one of my childhood best friends (we were stuck to each other like glue for the first 16 years of my life) Heather..and her FOURTH daughter.

My dad is one of SEVEN kids. He has 2 brothers and 4 sisters. Here is the baby of the family, Lorraine and her hubby, Uncle Ben.

Here is one of the other sisters, Jeanette and Lorraine too. Maybe I am biased, but I love my aunts, they are so cute and so sweet. This picture may not show it, but they are SOO short and petite. I am just over five foot three and I am like a giant on this side of the family.

Okay, this has to be one of my favorite pictures! My cute hubby, my cute dad, and my cute son..who recently created this big old cheeser picture face that he is sporting in this shot. What is up with that?

Matt's Dad and his wife Tina also came to the shower! Yipee! Matt was generous enough to go into work early so he could be off early so he could barbeque all day! I was glad that Leo was there to help keep Matt company during his hours of cooking! I was also excited to have Tina meet most of MY extended family for the first time.

Here is Poopie's little sister, Abbie. Lauren and her hit it off and became best friends. Abbie was a sweet, polite, well-behaved little girl. Lauren afterwards informed me that they are SOO much alike because #1 they are both six years old and #2 they both HATE Dora. Great, they had discussions on all that is important. LOL.

Here are the parents-to-be opening presents. They got so much awesome and much needed stuff.

Here is the fun memory game that we played.

Here is a shot of the guests in my house. In the middle of the picture is one of my cousins, Patrice. She and I are the closest in age (1 year apart) and she was the cousin I hung out with most often during all family parties. She is very close to my grandparents and tshe sees them often, so I am grateful for that. They live in Clearfield so I don't get to see them as much as I would like.

Here is Sarah and her boyfriend Collin...in thier first picture together, awww.

Here is a shot of the gang..from left to right, my cute mom, my Aunt Lorraine, my cousin Melissa, Ashley, Kasey, my neice Poopie, my Dad, and my Grandma.

And here is the fearsome foursome...Collin, Victor, Ashley and Sarah.

All in all, I think it turned out well. Originally it was just going to be a girl thing, BUT...Ashley wanted the whole family to come and I sort of panicked...but I got excited because my dads family hadn't seen my house so it was great to show my house off. It was a lot of work to get the house cleaned...so I enlisted the help of one of my best friends, Beth, to come help me...I paid her for her time as I worked her like a dog...(oh yeah, I am big time now-paying someone to clean my house-booyah). I had a great time visiting with the guests. I am glad that I had so much help from my parents, from Matt, from Beth, even from the kiddos. It was a great time, but I was EXHAUSTED afterwards! Congrats Ashley! I can't wait to meet ZANDER!

Things you don't see every day (the Ethan post)

Today was a day that was a bit unusual, but a great unusual.

I was off of work and I spent all day with my kiddos. Sometimes it is hard to be a full-time working mom...but the good part about it is that I really appreciate the time that I get to spend with them. Usually on my days off I don't go to my parents house because it is their day off too..so I hate to bug them on their kid-free day. They love my kids to death and love to watch them and I hope to keep it that way so I make sure the kids go over there no more than 4 times per week. BUT today was different. We are planning on having my little sister, Ashley's shower this Saturday so we had some details to discuss. It was nice though, as well, to get a glimpse of how my kiddos spend their NORMAL day. They were SOOOO good at my mom and dads, they ate their entire lunch, they didn't fight, they didn't cry-not even ONCE, either of them!! I was shocked and amazed! They checked on me frequently, to shower me with hugs and kisses. When I shared my thoughts with my mom she said "They are always good for us"...such a relief!!

My parents live by the 49th Street Galleria/Fun Dome/Pet Center (whatever you call it)..and when we pulled up to my parent's house we were shocked to see one of the storage builidings for the Galleria ON FIRE!!! We had a great view of the heroic firefighters putting out the blaze. Here is a blurry pic I was able to snap (finally a camera at the right time-just for you Misty and Christy!).


Okay...so here is what I meant this post to be about. I am very proud to announce that I became an aunt for the 4th time over on JUNE 15th. Matt's sister Kristen and her husband Dave had an adorable baby boy weighing 6 pounds 14 ounces and was 19 inches long. Since I had to work on the 15th and it was WAAAYY to busy for me to use the "Emergency PTO" that I had originally scheduled. (I have CRIED every single day that I have worked in the month of June-but that is a whole other post). Anyway, Wednesday I was finally able to go to the hospital to meet the little guy!

Here are my cute kiddos and the proud papa David. I guess the hospitals have this new rule that little kids can't go back into the room to see the babies. The kids were way bummed out that they had to wait to meet little Ethan, but they were well behaved in the waiting room while Matt and I took turns. What a cute little bunch!

Kristen has had a hard time getting sleep in the hospital. She went to the hospital the night of June 14, and she really hasn't slept since! She is so organized and in control of everything so that I can imagine that all the "unknowns" that come along with childbirth and motherhood are really throwing her for a loop. Luckily, she still let me snap a pic! She still looks beautiful. Here is the new mamma, little Ethan, and ME!

Oh my! Look at my hot hubby in this picture! He looks so handsome (if I do say so myself)! He is always afraid of "breaking" a newborn, but he was a sport and held Ethan for a minute so I could get a good picture. AWWW..two of the best looking boys in the planet!!

Look at his tiny little body! Although he is bigger than Jamie was, I can't even imagine my kiddos EVER being that little. He didn't like being unwrapped and he really didn't like my cold hands, but still he didn't make a peep the whole time I was there.

And look at that handsome head and nice fuzzy hair!! Here he is...Ethan David Boothe! What a little stud. I can't wait to see him again!

I ended my nice day off with a delicious dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory with my little family. The server asked me if there was a special occassion and I was like "Yeah, being able to have dinner with my family". It was nice, very nice. It is the simple things that we all really need to appreciate for sure..and for the simple things in my life, I am very grateful.