This Auntie Crystal

You know what's happened since I last stopped by? I've become an aunt for the very first time. For an unwed 31 year old career gal, this is a pretty sweet deal. I can spoil my nephew, kiss his sweet fat cheeks, make him laugh, take oodles of photos and when he squawks I can hand him right back to his mama. I don't lose any sleep and I get to push the stroller at the mall.

Before you think I don't change any diapers, I do. It's been 20 years since I've changed a diaper and I'm happy to report it's not any worse than I remember. It's not any better either, but that's a different story.

My nephew showed up early. He's our sweet Easter boy, born on Easter Sunday and named after his great-grandfather. Jack laughs and smiles when I wipe up the barf from under his chin and lets his big sister, Holly (the boxer) lick his face whenever she pleases. He's the most wonderful thing I've ever seen in my life and every single day I feel so lucky to be his Auntie Crystal.

This summer I'm taking a staycation and spending the week with Jack and his mama at the pool. I can't wait to parade him around as if he's my own baby. He's shown me that when I actually have kids, I'll likely be super annoying because all I do is show people pictures and videos of Jack. Strangers even. "Look at my nephew! Have you ever seen such a handsome little guy?" Don't kid yourself, that's a rhetorical question. If you take more then 1 nanosecond to respond to that question you're risking your life around this P.A.N.K. - Professional Aunt No Kids. I'm thinking of getting tshirts made for myself. Probably business cards too. I was made for this gig.

This Is Where I Come From

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Well, a while back I blogged about my cousin Kate being on bed rest and her teensy baby girl Lily. This morning Kate delivered Lily via c section and she's five pounds and two ounces of gorgeous, hugely loved baby goodness. When I brought Gigi home (I know, she's not a real baby but she's my real baby) from the store she was three months old and weighed more than Lily weighs right now. It got me thinking...what does 5 pounds look like? I have handbags that weigh more than this sweet little angel, but that's largely because I'm a bag lady and I carry way too much junk with me. None of it is makeup though. You'd think I'd have mirrors and eyeshadow and all that jazz weighing me down, but it's lotions, glasses, 8 zillion loyalty cards, a huge key chain, tissue (always)and who knows what else. A bunch of crumpled receipts, a lint covered piece of gum. Not pretty stuff. Anyways, let's focus on family and new babies today. Both are blessings.

This is baby sister (Chandler) and I at her Confirmation. It was years ago, but I still love this picture of us. I was her Sponsor. When Jen was confirmed, Kate was her Sponsor. When I was confirmed, Chris was mine. My Aunt Sharon was his and so on. We're a close family :)


I've been thinking how confusing my family tree probably is to someone outside my family. Kate is my cousin, Lily is my second cousin. My Aunt Dolly is Kate's mom. My mom is/was Kate's aunt. Got it? Here's a picture of our family tree, with lovely illustrations by me. I'm like, a super great artist. I know :) Today I'm sharing my Mom's side of the family. Our family name is Lewis and we're from Cape Breton. Holla to all my East Coasters!!

That's a family of 41...unless I lost count. That's including spouses and second cousins. Some we've lost: Nanny and Papa, my Uncle Bob and my mom. She was the baby of the six Lewis children. Her name was Patricia but everyone called her "Mina." It's a family nickname that stuck. Here's my gorgeous Mama at a work function (looks like hard work, eh) in the 80s. Great bod. Chandler takes after her. Not me, I'm a lanky chick.


This is Erin, me, Chris and Jen dancing at Kate and Dave's wedding in 2008.


That's Zoe and Avery - daughters of Chris and Erin. Undoubtedly the two most gorgeous little girls on planet earth.

Anyways, that's just part of my huge family. My father comes from a big family (the Major clan)and when my mom remarried we were welcomed into yet an even bigger family of Fitzpatricks. If you've lost track, here's where I'm from: Mom (Patty Lewis) and Dad (Shane Major). They had ME (Crystal) and divorced. My mom remarried Phil Fitzpatrick - when I write about my dad, that's who I'm referring to - and together they had Devin and Chandler Fitzpatrick. I have another sister, Jenna Major, born to Shane and her mom, Roslyn. I love those two gals soooo much! I love Shane too, but our relationships has had its hardships. That's another post for another day though :)


This is Kate and my Unle Paul.



That's my sweet sweet Nanny with Jen at her engagement party in 2009. I still miss her every single day.


That's a lot to take in on a Saturday, but I feel so blessed to be surrounded by a huge, loving family that I just had to share.


This is a snapshot of all my first cousins and I at Jen and Stefan's wedding last June.


Me and my Aunt Sharon. I love her so much it makes my heart feel too big for my body.

This Is My Loving Family

I spent last night hanging out with my cousin Kate at Sunnybrook Hospital. She's having pregnancy complications and is on bedrest indefinitely. I scooted over to see her after work with two popsicles stashed in my purse. She's craving cold stuff right now.

Poor Kate is stuck in bed and on day five of her captivity (her words, not mine), she's already going nuts. I set up her wifi connection last night and we immediately hopped on Facebook. Then I added some sites I love to her favourites so she has lots of places to surf from her hospital bed while baby Lily cooks away in her belly.

Kate is 31 weeks pregnant, so if Lily stays put until her due date...Kate will need some serious entertaining. I told her about Pinterest and we got her signed up for an invitation. Then I showed her Etsy (gave her an excuse to shop - possibly a bad move). I told her to start following mroe people on Twitter since that always entertains me and now I'm looking for some help. I want to send Kate a list of sites that will make her smile, keep her brain occupied and provide an outlet for her creative energy. Where would you send her?

Kate and I are five years apart. My Aunt Dolly is Kate's mom and my mom's older sister (one of her older sisters). "Dolly" is one of my most favourite names ever. It's a family name for us :) Since Kate is going to be spending loads of time staying comfortable, my Aunt Dolly knew she needed the appropriate wardrobe and promptly bought her all new maternity clothes for her hospital vacation. As Kate puts it, there's no need to stay in a hospital gown all day and night. You might as well look cute :)

We're all praying for Lily and Kate. I pray that Lily waits as long as possible to join us in this world and I pray that Kate stays healthy, pain-free and sane. The last wish might be tough since she's facing potentially two months of this new lifestyle. If you could keep my sweeties in your thoughts, it would mean so much to me and my family.

So, if you could just add one teensy item to your list of things to do today, please leave a comment below with a website you think Kate would enjoy. I'll pass along the info :)



This is Kate and I at her wedding almost three years ago. Such a great day!