Photo Editing and Videos

I have been meaning to post a few videos of Jack for a while now, I've just been a little lazy...what else is new? We've had a pretty quiet week. Jack has been teething so he's been up a lot at night. He's also had a fever and been pretty cranky. Fun, Fun. He did get a ride on his Papa's lawnmower tonight which he thoroughly enjoyed. He's also had a few older girls stop by to play with him the past few nights (he truly is his uncle Justin, going for the older women). They are cute girls, it's just a little too early for me to be answering the door and having girls ask to play with Jack...but I digress.

I have been doing a little bit of photo editing with Photoshop lately so I'll post some of those pictures today. Keep in mind, I have never attempted any editing before so this is all new to me.

The first ones are the originals followed by the edit that I did....again, please bare with me, this is my first attempt at most.

Jack up close and personal....then an edit on his skin. Not my favorite, but this is just practice.

Jack's baptism....background is lightened, faces are not as red and Jack's white is not washed out...I was proud of that.

Jack and Grammy....subtle differences, but one is brighter and people are taken out of the background.

The Kane family before and after....

Jack on the swing...


Kasey on the horse....

I know most of them are still a little grainy....I'm trying to tweak that. Photoshop is much more confusing than I ever imagined, but I enjoy learning how to use it. Maybe one day I'll be good at it.


And last but not least...Jack watching the Backyardigans. It's really only the theme song that he loves and dances too, but it is adorable none the less.

A rundown of the week...

Jack has had quite the fun week, at least I think he has. Mark was off working in his classroom a lot this week to get everything set for the start of the school year and he has also been helping my dad with his new house, so Jack and I have been together a lot.

Monday we visited daddy at work and Jack got to push around a cart, pull down books and play with markers. Always a fun time. Tuesday we stayed at home and played outside a little bit. Mark also took him to the park in the afternoon because I was exhausted. Jack played with two older kids there who didn't seem to understand why they couldn't make the merry-go-round spin fast with Jack on it. Mark explained it to them...what a nice guy.

Wednesday I was feeling more energized so Jack and I went to the hospital to feed the ducks. He, of course, loved it and kept pointing at the ducks. He attempted to throw some bread, but it only made it about 6 inches in front of him. It was still a valiant effort. We then headed off to the Child Care Council for play group. I wasn't sure how he would do seeing as he hasn't been around a large group of kids in a few months. He stayed pretty close to me, always making sure I was there, but went off and played with quite a few other children. He really enjoyed playing with a little girl named Kayla and even gave her a hug. Now, the thing with Jack is he loves to give hugs to any kid he sees. Most of the time however, the other kids don't want Jack's hugs. I always feel so bad for him because he loves giving hugs so much but other kids his age don't appreciate them. Kayla on the other hand, LOVED his hugs and hugged him right back. Such a Kodak moment that of course I did not have my camera for. What else is new? After play group I took Jack to Walmart hoping to have lunch with him but he decided to take a nap instead. Poor peanut was passed out in my arms for about 10 minutes in Walmart.

Looking at the ducks when we first got to the hospital...


"Feeding" the ducks...

He has his daddy's eyes...(oh, and that's a llama behind him)
Then, on Thursday we went to see Daddy and Papa working on the house and then off to TJMaxx to do some shopping for Mommy. Again, he was an absolute angel playing with toys while I shopped for about an hour. If you've ever been in the toy department at TJMaxx you know why I was there for an hour.

Finally to end our week we took a drive down to Albany with Mammy and Auntie Kim. Auntie Kim has been very sick lately and also has had some issues with her neck and shoulder (on top of everything else this poor girl has going on....but that's another story). So we went to see a neurologist to see if anything is going on with her spine. After two hours in the waiting room he pretty much told her to get an MRI. Thank-goodness Jack was well behaved the whole time or I would have been a very upset mommy. We then went to get some lunch and walk around the mall for a little bit.

Now, hopefully you have made it this far because I have a very interesting story to tell you about our mall walk. We all know that Mr. Jack is a pretty cute kid, right? (The correct answer here would be yes) Well, we are in CVS getting a drink and snack for the road. A very nice lady in front of us begins waving at Jack, saying "HI", laughing and commenting on how cute he is. We have him say "thank-you" and comment about how he is going to be a class clown because he loves making people laugh. She agrees and continues to ohh and ahh over how cute he is. She checks out as I bring Jack to the side of the register to get out of the way. This super nice lady on her way out then says to me "I'm sure he has a piggy bank or savings account, just put this in there for him." and hands him a $5. I of course insist that she does not need to give him any money. She insists and says "He is just so cute and funny, put this in his piggy bank." I am baffled and say thank-you and then she walks out. Just yesterday I was saying that there were no nice people left in this world. Well, kind lady in the CVS in Albany, you are a very kind soul, the nicest of people I have met in a very long time. Thank-you.

As you can see it has been a very busy week for all of us. I unfortunately do not have that many pictures this week, but I'll scrounge up a few. Have a great weekend!!

Poor peanut....his skin broke out after he had peanut butter....don't worry, he doesn't have an allergy though, just sensitive skin.

Enjoying some Yogo's...

Play Date

It's been a while since Jack has seen his buddy, Kasey, who has been gone to the beach and staying very busy with his mommy and daddy. Well, last Saturday, Jack and Kasey had the chance to get together and play....if that's really what you want to call it.

We got to the Kane's and Kasey was taking his nap so Jack played with all of his toys while we visited with Keith and Erika. Kasey woke up and then Jack went down for a nap for about an hour. We then had dinner, played some Wii, and since we were in good ol' R.P. we decided to head over to Geno's for some ice cream. We put the boys in Kasey's wagon and headed out.

Now if you all know our little monkey, you know he is very social. Almost the whole walk to Geno's Jack was trying to tickle Kasey's feet, pull on his arms and various other things. Kasey is old enough now to not care so much for the tickling and tugging, but he was still a good sport about it.

Both boys got some ice cream and then we took them to the playground at the Civic Center. They got to run all around, swing, go down slides and watch Mark get stuck in a tunnel (see picture below....hilarious!). They were having a great time.

Jack and Kasey running away...
Kasey on the horse...
Kasey coming down the slide all by himself!



Jack on the swing...
Keith chasing Kasey...
Mark getting stuck in the tunnel....ha ha ha
We took both boys home, put them in their jammies and then sent them to bed. Shannon and Cyle then came over and we all played a card game; Phase 10. We had a good time and Mark ended up winning. The guy is pretty horrible at card games and asks a million and one questions yet he still ends up winning...go figure. We ended up leaving a little before midnight (I know, I was up until midnight...crazy!). It was a fun play date for all involved (even Mark and I) and I hope we can get these boys together again soon.

Here are a few more pictures from the night. Enjoy!


Jack's scary face...

Family picture...
Kasey playing "Lego Star Wars"...
Erika with Mark's shades....

Busy week

We have had quite the busy week and today was the first day we've actually been home in a while. I know it was a beautiful day, but part of me just wanted to stay inside and relax. Jack seemed to want to do the same thing ...all he did was sleep and sit on Mommy today. That's just fine with me =)

Uncle Justin came up for a few days to visit. We thought he would be up Monday morning so we headed up to Grammy's house after Jack's morning nap. Turns out Justin couldn't get on the road as early as he would have hoped so he got to R.P. around 6. Jack wasn't really too sure about him at first, but he finally warmed up to his uncle Justin as he always does.

We spent the next three days visiting with Meme and Pepe Brown (see picture below of Jack with Pepe on the lawnmower...SO CUTE!), some of Grammy's family, a few of uncle Justin's friends and Pepe Brown and Candie. Jack of course had a grand time with everyone and was a terrific little boy.



It was also time for Jack to get another haircut so he got his second haircut this week too. He looks more and more like a little boy every day. He also got a chance to meet his new babysitter today. I've been going back and forth about who I would want watching him. My sister Kim's friend's mother (got that?) is watching two other little boys this fall and offered to watch Jack also. She is a super nice lady with a huge house and the two other boys are just a little older than Jack so I know he'll have some good playmates. We went and met her today and Jack just loved it there. She has all sorts of toys for them to play with and a lot of room for him to run. It put me a little more at ease today meeting her and seeing where he is going to be when mommy and daddy can't be with him. It's going to be very hard to go back to work in a few weeks but at least I know he'll be in good hands.

I didn't have a chance to take too many pictures this week (I know...very odd) but below are a few of Jack tonight after his bath with his robe on. You can kind of see his new haircut but not that well with his hood on. I'll try to post better ones later.


Signing "please" because he wanted some of my drink...

Going for my camera...

I leave you with his goofy face picture...

Camping Weekend

We have had quite the fun and busy weekend. On Saturday we went to Mark's friends house for their annual party. We went really early and didn't get to see as many people as possible, but Mark got to catch up with a few of his friends and Jack got to play outside. We then tried to find someone who would be home that night so we could go visit with them and decided to head up to see Mark's mom, Cliff and some of Cliff's family in Chateguay Lake.

Cliff's aunt Norma and uncle Larry have a beautiful camp on the lake and a pontoon boat that all of us were able to go out on. Jack also had a playmate, Ryan, who is only three months older than him. We went out on the boat as soon as we got there around 6 because the sun was out and since that only happens once a week we figured we'd better take advantage of it. Jack wasn't overly excited about wearing a life jacket, but he soon got used to it and began really enjoying the boat.

Looking at the ducks with Ryan...
Driving with Larry...
Jack and Grammy....

We also stopped at a little beach where the boys could get out and play in the sand and water. Jack had a chance to take the life jacket off, which he was very excited about, and played in the water. Again, he loved it and seemed to really be enjoying himself. He had so much fun that I think he forgot about dinner and didn't eat until about 8:00. This meant he and Ryan stayed up WAY past their bedtimes and didn't get to bed until 9:30. You'd think with them going to bed so late they would wake up later, but no, both of them were up by 6:15. Needless to say I am exhausted tonight.

So today we went out on the boat again, had two wonderful meals, played, and took a couple naps. Jack really enjoyed playing with Ryan and being somewhere new. I'll post a few more pictures of our weekend below.

I apologize for not being as witty as I usually am, my mind is half-asleep right now. Hopefully the next post I'll be back to my old self.

We just found out Uncle Justin is coming home tomorrow for a few days so I'll make sure to take lots of pictures of him and Jack together and update you on his visit with us. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Jack on the beach...


Family picture on the beach...
Jack and mommy in the morning...
Heading back to camp...

Franklin County Fair

For the second year in a row we decided to head up to Malone to check out the Franklin County Fair. Mark went regularly as a child and enjoyed it far more than the Clinton County Fair so we thought Jack might also enjoy it. What's not to love about goats, cows, horses, poop, carnies and rednecks?

As soon as we arrived we went into the 4H building. Inside there is a giant "sandbox" of sorts with corn kernels in it along with some trucks and shovels. I decided to put Jack in the corn to see how he liked it. At first he wasn't too sure but he soon figured out he could throw the corn and that just made his day.




We then took a walk to see some horses, goats, cows and eventually some ducks, chickens and roosters. Jack seemed thoroughly amused by all of the animals except for the poultry kind. I think the roosters were a little too loud for him. He had quite the grip on my arm and when I put him down to take a picture of a peacock he would not let go.

Jack then enjoyed some pulled pork for dinner along with some poutine and an apple with caramel. That's right, I said an apple with caramel not a "caramel apple". Apparently up in Malone they like to slice their apples and put caramel on them... *tisk, tisk*, Malone, that is NOT how you make a caramel apple. Jack seemed none the wiser and enjoyed the apple anyways.

The main reason we went up tonight was because they had bull riding at the Grandstand. Mark thought this would be an interesting event for Jack to watch seeing as he has a true love for animals. I agreed, so next on our agenda was to head over to the Grandstand. We found a seat an hour before the show and Jack made friends with everyone around us, even a nice older gentleman named Bob whom he continued to tickle and say "HI" to. Bob was a trooper and even allowed Jack to hit him with spoons.

So the show begins and the MC announces that it is time for the children to come out into the ring. Children? I was very confused. He continues to announce that these children are all going to have the chance to ride a sheep. WHAT?? Are you serious??? These children's parents actually signed waivers for their child to ride a sheep for 6 seconds to win a prize. I have to say this is the most redneck thing I have ever heard of in my entire life. Seriously....these children were riding stomach down on the sheep, hanging on to their necks and attempting to not fall off. The first little boy to go out was probably about 3 years old, no joke, and of course fell off within 1 second of the sheep being released from the gate. Of course the little guy began to cry and if I can remember correctly, limped over to his mom and dad. Mark then preceded to ask me if I could see Jack doing that. I said "maybe at 8 or 9 years old, but never that young." Minutes later the MC came on and said this event was only for children 6 and under. ARE YOU FRICKEN KIDDING ME?!?!?! 6 years old riding a sheep like a bull. I am just beyond words by this point, sit back and pray that none of those kids get hurt and wonder why these little boys mommies are not running out there faster after their child falls straight on their head from falling off of a sheep. UGH



So besides my shock at the children riding sheep, it was all around a nice evening. Jack seemed to really enjoy himself and that's what matters the most. We left around 8:30 just before a storm came rolling in and around 8:45 our little monkey was passed out.

I leave you with a picture of Jack nice and comfy in his stroller walking around the fair....

First Post

Since a lot of people I know have started their own blogs, I have decided to dive in and give this blog writing a shot. My life is rather on the boring side, however, so I have dedicated this blog to my little monkey...Jack! He always seems to keep Mark and I on our toes and is always doing something new so who better to write about than him! This is also a nice way to keep family and friends involved in Jack's life and view pictures and videos of him. We all know how much we like to take pictures of him =)

We've had a pretty fun and relaxing summer so far. Mark and I have both enjoyed having it off with Jack, but there are some days where we just about lose our minds. We've also been able to visit with Uncle Justin once this summer. Jack hasn't seen him since February, so really he had no idea who he was. Jack quickly warmed up to his Uncle Justin and was very sad to have to leave him again. Hopefully he will be home again soon to visit.

We took another road trip to Oneida, NY to visit with my cousin and her twins who turned a year old on July 16th. Jack loves other babies so he was as content as could be. The twins got nice and messy, got lots of presents and none of them got to bed on time. It seems as though having three babies in one room may not be the best idea. Next time we'll know to put Jack somewhere else! It was a great trip and I hope to see them all again soon.

We've also had lots of play dates with Jack's friend Kasey. It seems as though the two of them are really starting to like each other....but did they really have a choice?

I am also very proud to say that Jack's pacifier is no more! We got rid of it shortly after he turned 13 months old and I could not be any happier. I'm sure if he had a say in it he'd still have it in his crib. He's done so well falling asleep without it. We only had one night of crying (which really was only about 45 minutes of on and off crying) and that's it. Mark and I were prepared for the worst but it turns out he did far better than we ever imagined.

So I leave my first post with some pictures taken of Jack this summer. We've all had quite a bit of fun and a big part of me really is not looking forward to the fall.


Strawberry picking...


On the golf cart at camp...he loved that thing!



"Reading" a map on the way to see Uncle Justin...


With Uncle Justin and his BIG truck...


Hanging out with Kasey....


Enjoying a lollipop at the parade...


Sam and Alex's birthday party....




And last but not least.....



Yes, that is a diaper on his head.... he'll probably be very upset with us when he gets older, but for now it's pretty funny!!