My Little Monkey

First snow...

2009-12-12T11:50:00.000-08:00

I don't have much time because I'm headed off to work, but I wanted to upload some pictures I took the other night of Mark and Jack making our first snowman together. Mark did most of the work, but Jack really enjoyed watching and try to help. Whenever we walk outside he says good morning to our "no-man"...he was very proud.

He was so happy to finally get outside!
Next to the bottom of the snowman...Rolling the middle, and a nice shot of the new house...
The finished product!
Mark says it's a tradition to go inside and have some hot chocolate after you make a snowman....Jack was all about continuing that tradition too....

Next to come...pictures from our visit with Santa today!! Jack had such a good time...he wasn't overly crazy about Santa, but he really liked Mrs. Claus and had WAY too much fun playing with his friend Ryan. Tomorrow we go to Grammy's house to have some cookies, so I'll have pictures from that too. Hope everyone is enjoying the snow!

Finally!!

2009-12-04T15:59:00.000-08:00

Since Mark already hacked into my account, I will take that as a hint to update our blog. I apologize for my laziness, but things have been pretty busy around here with two jobs and trying to make the house feel more like a home we have been worn right out. It doesn't help that my laptop is about to **** the bed and it takes me forever to get things done on here. But without further adieu here is what we have been up to....

we made our annual trip to the pumpkin patch...

painted our pumpkins...
dressed up as Spiderman...
played with our friends...
got messy!!
Stuffed our bellies...
got some exercise...
built a fort with Daddy...put up the Christmas tree...

and put presents under the tree...
and enjoying our beautiful new home!
Hope fully I can get back in the swing of things and keep everyone up to date more often...we all know how I am though!!

Somebody's gotta do this

2009-12-03T04:48:00.000-08:00

It's been a few months since anything has changed on this, so I (Mark) am taking a crack at blogging. I don't blame Danielle as we haven't had Internet access since September. Without further adieu, here's an update...

As I mentioned, we moved into the new house in late September. Jack immediately fell in love with his room. The first night we stayed here, he just had a mattress to sleep on. The next day, Gramps, Papa, and Daddy moved in his new big-boy bed, and it is big (and heavy). It's actually Uncle Justin's old bed that my dad had made for him back in the day. The bed is pretty tall, and Jack managed to fall out twice. After the second time, I told Danielle that she had to get the bar from her parents. Turns out that it is the same bar that Danielle used while growing up. Thank goodness that Danielle's mom keeps everything :)

From there, it's been a whirlwind of activity. Between unpacking and running around the North Country trying to find Internet access, we've barely had time to take a breath. We're finally getting settled in though, and our house is beginning to feel like a home. We've even had our Christmas tree up since the week of Thanksgiving.

I know I skipped a couple months there, and I know that there aren't any pictures, but hey, it's my first try, and I'm running late for work. I'll let Danielle fill in the blanks when she has time. Until then, happy holidays.

Our exciting news....

2009-08-24T18:12:00.000-07:00

Okay, I'm sure most of you know what the news is by now, but I'm sorry to keep the rest of you waiting. So here it is....

We have our house!!!

We still haven't paid for it, thanks to our wonderful appraiser who is taking her time and of course under appraised us...but that's another story. Mark and I are absolutely in love with it and it already feels like home for us. We can't wait to move in...but that will take quite a few more weeks...again, another long story.

I do have more pictures though...and more to come as the rest of the house gets completed!

The crane lifting our house...

There goes the front half...My dad holding the house up with just a hammer....

Our front door....Jack in the window running away (he thought I was going to leave him when he saw me outside)

The spare bathroom...
Our AWESOME kitchen...
Dining room...Our walk-in closet....

So there you have it...our brand new house! Very exciting stuff!!

Wedding!

2009-08-20T18:12:00.000-07:00

I realize I'm a few days late....but I have over 430 pictures of the wedding to go through that I haven't even scratched the surface of them!! Anyway, if you were not aware, Mark's mom got married on Saturday!! I was so graciously asked to be their photographer so of course I have lots of them to share with you! I, however, was very nervous about being their photographer...I didn't want to mess up my mother-in-laws pictures...so I asked Barbie to help. She, being the absolutely amazing person she is, offered to help and provide the cameras!! So, without further adieu, here are just SOME of the pictures taken of that beautiful day....

(the first few are edited but the rest are not...excuse the bad color in some of them...)

Coming down the aisle...
Vows...
Rings...

Newly married....
Obviously edited....I think this one is so cute =)

The wedding party...
Showing Jack where to run...
Jack and Kerrigan
Yummy...cake...
My dad, mom and Jack...Barbie made him laugh really hard!
First dance sung by Aunt Missy...
Justin...
Jack and daddy waving...
Jack and Grammy...
Locomotion...
Jack, my little dancing fool!
Getting ready for the garter toss...
Mark and I....(insert "awwwww" here)
Singing at the end of the day..
I know it's not much, so I'll try to post more another night. Oh...and I'll also try to post pictures of our other exciting news!! (I'm sure most of you know what it is....but I'll put the pictures up tomorrow night for everyone to see...and no, I'm not pregnant =) he he)

Hmmm....I guess a title would be good

2009-08-11T16:57:00.000-07:00

First things first....progress on the house. We now have part of our walls in the basement and maybe a floor? It was supposed to be poured today, but with the weather, I don't think it happened. Anyway, here's our driveway with a beautiful golf cart in it and the NYSEG guys across the road. We will soon have power!

Our walls....
We had quite the surprise on Friday. I woke up to see Jack not in his bed at 7 in the morning...very odd. Turns out he was with Grammy in her bed because he woke up a few times in the middle of the night crying...and I never heard him. Strike one on the day for Mommy. Next, I walk downstairs to see the couch open and someone sleeping on it. I assumed it was one of Cliff's girls, but as I looked closer I noticed it was the person who drives this truck....
Yep...Uncle Justin came home! Jack was SO excited to see him. He came up to surprise a couple of his friends and the only person who knew about it was Grammy. Mark was pretty excited to see him too, of course. Turns out Justin doesn't have to be back to work until after Grammy's wedding, so he'll be around all week. Jack is pretty happy about that.

Jack also got the chance to check out Justin's truck up close....he thoroughly enjoyed it.

What a big boy...
"Honk Honk"
Since Grammy's wedding is coming up on Saturday, I've been busy practicing taking all different kinds of pictures, just so I can be prepared. Barbie so graciously let me borrow her Canon 10D (SOOOOOOO much cooler than my camera! Thanks, Barbie!!) with a few of her lenses so I can be ready for the wedding and another wedding we have coming up at the end of August. So, here are a few of the pictures I've been busy taking:

Homemade playdough....I love making a mess!!

Playing outside with Kerrigan....
Yes, I of course photoshopped this one....I thought it looked pretty cool.

Check out the next blog....it'll have pictures from Grammy and Gramp's wedding!! Enjoy the beautiful weather this week!! (at least that's what we're supposed to have!)

More summer happenings....

2009-08-06T18:20:00.000-07:00

Lots happening and not much battery life left on the computer to explain everything, so of course I have lots of pictures for you to see what we have been doing.

Potty training is actually going well. We've had a few days now with no accidents, and Jack is getting much better at telling us when he has to go and holding it until he sits on the potty. He's very proud of himself every time he goes, and that seems to be the reward for him...just the excitement everyone shows when he uses the potty. We are still working on number 2, but we've had two success with that...so we'll take it.

We've been trying to keep busy, but with this horrible weather we've been having we haven't had the chance to do too much except play in the house or do some shopping or visiting with family.

We were able to head to the fair when it was in PLattsburgh, but of course it rained the whole time. Jack still had fun.
Trying to pet the goats...

One big happy family.... lol
On one of the nicest days of the summer, we had a Jack and Jill party for Aimee and Jaramy at the beach...talk about lucking out with the weather!

The happy couple with the boys...Erika and I were so proud...we decorated the cake ourselves!
My little boy being a ham...
Playing frisbee...
Awww....this doesn't happen that often, that's why I needed a picture of it!
We also had a chance to do some blueberry "picking". I say that because Jack did more eating than picking, but we still had a great time!
Not too sure what he's doing here....
Handfulls at a time....
Enjoying his apple from Grammy. I know the picture is a little blurry, but I still love his face!
Oh yeah...and the big thing that has been going on is the construction of our new house! Very exciting stuff! The road to our house and Katy's house was started last week and they are now in the process of pouring our walls for our foundation. I don't have too many pictures because every time Mark goes down he forgets to take some. It's been hard getting down there with Jack's sleeping schedule and my work schedule, but Mark helps the guys out whenever he doesn't have to watch Jack. Anyway, he's just a few pictures of our hole in the ground....

We are hoping to be in by mid September, so I'll keep everyone posted. It's just exciting to finally see things happen...the banks were taking too long for our liking! Hope everyone is enjoying their summer!

Potty Training!

2009-07-19T16:57:00.000-07:00

I know, it's been a while...but I've got two words...potty training. Yes, for the past two and a half weeks we have been devoted to potty training Jack. The first couple days were rough...accident after accident, but now things are getting much better. We decided to go for it and get rid of the diapers completely, which has turned out to be the best way to do it. I like pull-ups for sleeping times, but as far as during the day, they are no different than diapers, cost more and end up leaking a lot more...if I have to clean up pee all day, I would rather just do it right away and be thankful that none got on me. So anyway, long story short, Jack is now able to tell us at least a few times a day when he has to pee and it gets better day by day.

So what else have we been doing the past two weeks?? Take a look....

Kasey at the 4th of July parade...
Some guy handed this to Jack...maybe he thought Jack pays the garbage bill...
Watching the fireworks...Newton is doing just fine in the new house...
Mark had a four day conference in Saratoga so Jack and I took a trip down for a little 'mini' vacation. On the first evening down we went to Saratoga State Park to see some geysers, go for a walk and play on the playground...
Walking to the geysers....yes, we let him go without pants....easier for the potty training
Yeah, his leg goes up when he throws...
The next day we went to the Saratoga Children's Museum. It was two floors full of things children can play with. Jack had a ball!

On the phone...
Pulling a bubble over himself...
Driving the fire truck...
Showing mommy where the circle is...
Making a 'pa-cake'

Then that night we headed out to Broadalbin to visit with baby Lucas, Danielle and Ray. Jack did very well with baby Lucas, tickining him and bringing him toys. There was only one incident where I had to put him in time out for being a little too rough, but Lucas didn't seem to mind. I think we'll wait a little while longer to have another baby.
Jack was so happy to see Dylan and Trystan too...he loves the two of them!
Seeing as the summer hasn't been the nicest, we haven't had a chance to get out too much. Jack is having fun playing with his new toys from his birthday and getting all the one on one attention while he's on the potty. And since that is going well, we'll hopefully be out doing more and sitting in the bathroom less....we'll see. For now, I leave you with a wonderful picture of my husband the one time we were able to get on the slip and slide....ha ha...enjoy!

Birthday weekend

2009-06-29T19:43:00.001-07:00

It's official....my little boy is now 2. People are asking more and more now when the second one is coming....ha ha...with my little monster, it won't be for a few more years, I'd like to enjoy more time with him first, it's gone by waaaayy too fast.

For his birthday party, Auntie Kim got him a sprinkler, which he got to use on Thursday night because it was so nice out. Needless to say...he LOVED it. He also got a chance to play in his new pool, after Grammy's kitties at his other one.

For his actual birthday on Friday, we decided to bring him strawberry picking, since he loves fruit so much and we really wanted some strawberries. Unfortunately it was the first day of picking, and the strawberries were still pretty small. He still had a great time and it was a beautiful day.

We then went out to lunch and Jack got to buy a birthday present with some money he got from his party. He decided he wanted a train, and since I didn't want to spend an arm and a leg on Thomas stuff, we got the Fisher Price train set....which he approved of and has played with quite a bit since we got it.

That night we went up to camp to visit with some family and celebrate more of his birthday. He was such a well behaved little man. He got to play with another little boy named Dylan and he got to ride on Noah's John Deere tractor...

After some dinner, cake and singing of songs, Jack wanted to walk around a little bit and then asked to watch tv before bed. So I brought him into Aunt Debbie's camper to see if someone was on so we could cuddle and relax before bed. Well, don't you know it but he walks away and runs right for the camper door to look out at everyone and the door wasn't latched. Needless to say, my kid fell about three feet down, face first onto a wooden deck. Did I ever feel like the worst mom in the world. I was two seconds behind him but obviously not close enough to stop him. This is what he now looks like....
Besides the obvious bumps and bruises on his head and nose, he came out of the fall with no other issues. We are very lucky. We of course called the doctor, motitored him over night (he even got to sleep in our bed, which we never do, because I was so worried about his breathing) but he woke up the next morning as happy as could be. What a trooper.

Being the bad mother I am, the next day I left early to go to Shannon's bridal shower with Erika and then spend the night at Aimee's house for a girls night. A much needed girls night at that. I had an absolutely wonderful time at Aimee's and even got to meet her geese....
And then got to watch Erika chase them off....
ha ha! What a great night, thanks girls!

The next day I was an even worse mother and didn't see my little boy until about 5 at night. Mark and I played softball in the morning and then went to watch Transformers with Keith and Erika. Don't listen to the bad reviews....that was an awesome movie! After the movie we made our way up to Norma and Larry's camp to pick up Jack and to see everyone at camp. Jack was again a wonderful little boy (mainly because he was outside all day) and he even played well with Ryan. Which if you know my child, you know he can be a little rough with other kid, but this time he was awesome. It helps that he and Ryan are only a few months apart and at the same energy level. At one point on the boat, Ryan took Jack to the ground and then hip checked him...so he kinda got a taste of his own medicine. Not that I want my kid to be taken down, but he can be so rough sometimes that it's okay if another child does the same thing back to him....anyway, I digress.

So here are some pictures from a beautiful evening on the boat with Ryan and his family.

All in all it was a very memorable weekend for us. Hope everyone else had a great weekend!

Relay and Birthday party...

2009-06-22T17:59:00.000-07:00

As I'm sure most of you knew, the Relay for Life was this past weekend, so needless to say, I am still recovering. Setup this year started on Wednesday, so Grammy and Gramps were at the Fairgrounds from Wednesday night to Saturday morning. They had an even longer weekend than we did. Mark was pretty busy himself, helping each night of the week and dedicating himself all day Friday and until cleanup was done on Saturday. I don't know how any of them do it without sleep. I took two little 'naps' that night because I knew I wouldn't make it to Saturday afternoon to drive Mark and myself home.

It was of course, an awesome night. Hundreds of people showed up and it was probably the most memorable Relay to date in my opinion. The committee did an awesome job showcasing survivors this year and really making the event all about them.

Beginning of the survivor lap with the releasing of the doves....
Oh yeah, and my goofball sister....ha ha!

I am happy to say that Meme Brown was there once again as a three time survivor, and my wonderful friend Aimee's father also came. I'm so glad they were both able to make it.

Meme in the trolly during the Survivor lap:
Mr. Baker and his balloon....he looked so happy =)
It was such a great night, and although I'm exhausted, it was all worth it. To see more beautiful pictures of the Relay, check out Jason and Vanessa's blog at GreerCicarelli. They took some amazingly beautiful pictures....as always.

So after a crazy Friday night and sleepless Saturday, we had Jack's second birthday party on Sunday. I know, it was a crazy idea seeing as it was just after the Relay and it was Father's Day, but Justin was also up for the weekend and he missed Jack's first birthday, so we had to have the party on that day for him. We didn't want anything crazy for his second birthday though, just some close friends and family to help us celebrate. We got just that. Some wonderful people joined us for his party and we couldn't have asked for a nicer day.

Jack's birthday cake....made by Mel of course!
Mark being attacked by Kerrigan, Kasey and Jack
Jack and Kasey going after the glove and baseball from James and Avis....
CAKE!!

Of course I have more pictures, but blogger is being a pain in the butt, so check out my facebook account later in the week for the rest of the pictures.

Also a big CONGRATS to Danielle and Ray! Baby Taylor was born on Thursday June 18th around 6pm. It is a beautiful baby boy who they named Lucas (which was one of my name choices so of course I LOVE the name!) He is healthy, as is mom and from what I hear everyone is doing well. Congrats you guys!!

Isn't he adorable?!?!?!

Pictures are up!

2009-06-14T07:14:00.000-07:00

I have to make this kinda quick because we are heading out for a birthday party and going to Eat Dessert First at the Hospital but I wanted to let everyone know that Jack's two year pictures are up! Jason and Vanessa did a FABULOUS job! Click on the picture to see them:

Potty, pictures and party

2009-06-07T17:53:00.000-07:00

Okay, so the potty thing in the title, is not quite as exciting as you may think it would be, but I still have to share. Mark and I decided to try potty training Jack this summer. We are by no means expecting it to happen because we aren't going to push it until he's fully ready and we don't want to stress ourselves out, but he has been telling us when he poops (sometimes) and notices when he pees (again, just sometimes) so we'll give it a try this summer.

Well, the other day Jack had a horrible diaper rash. I won't go into details but his two year molars are coming in and it's HORRIBLE when he teethes. So I had his diaper off for a while and his potty out. I sat him on the potty and bribed him with candy to go pee in the potty, not on the floor. He stayed on the potty for a while and really wanted the candy...so what does he do...pee! We made a huge deal out of it and gave him the candy. He then proceeded to sit back down and pee again five minutes later. That kid really wanted candy. He pointed to the pee and then asked for candy. Crazy kid. I think once we actually try to potty train it won't be so bad...he may take to it quickly if we bribe him. I figure I'll give it a shot and really focus on it more when I am done work, we'll see how it goes.

As for the pictures, I actually don't have any to post, but we had some family pictures done by Jason and Vanessa, Greer and Cicarelli, and as always they did an amazing job! They got so many shots of Jack and he did so good for them. He for some reason, did not want to stop throwing rocks in the water though, so we got more than a few pictures of him throwing rocks. There was also an incident with Jack throwing a rock at the water and it accidentally hit Jason while he was trying to get a picture of him. I just hope they still want to take his pictures of him after that! Take a look at their blog to see just some of the pictures they took. If anyone is looking for a photographer, I HIGHLY recommend them...they are wonderful to work with and take amazing pictures!

Now on to the party....as most of you know, Jack turns the big TWO at the end of the month. We have already been experiencing first hand what the "two" stage is all about, but we'd like all of you to join us for a birthday party to celebrate this wonderful year. His party will be on June 20th at noon. We'll be having hamburgers and hot dogs, volleyball, and of course cake! Uncle Justin will actually be joining us this year, which is the main reason we are having it on Father's Day, so he can be with us. I made the invites myself on photoshop, which I'm pretty proud of:

Hopefully you can make it! Enjoy your week everyone and enjoy the beautiful weather!

Big move....

2009-05-24T18:07:00.000-07:00

Well, it's official, we no longer live in Cumberland Head =( Actually, we haven't lived there in about a week and a half....I'm just horrible at updating everyone. We moved the Tuesday after Mother's Day because that was the only day that seemed to work for everyone and Mark and I were pretty stressed out living out of boxes and just waiting to move that we just decided to do it. It's been a big adjustment, but Jack has been doing wonderful. We had a couple tough days behavior wise with him at first, but he's doing great now. We're hoping that we only have to be here for the summer and can be into our new house in September.

Since we've been here we've been pretty busy. Unpacking everything, setting the house up so it's comfortable for everyone, visiting with family and friends and trying to take time to relax. Jack has even made a new friend next door, Kerrigan. She is the cutest red head you've ever seen and is so good with Jack. Papa would be so proud of Jack...he and Kerrigan were golfing the other night at her house.

His form isn't the best, but he really seemed to like it.

This weekend we were busier than we usually are, a trip to Great Escape and a day at camp....all things that Jack LOVED.

Yesterday we went to the Great Escape with Keith, Erika, Kasey, Aimee and Jaramy. Of course on the way down in the morning, it began raining and was pretty chilly, but it warmed up and ended up being a great afternoon. Jack and Kasey got to go on lots of rides and play in the water park, eat ice cream, meet Scrappy-Do and Tweety Bird and watch all the grown ups go on rides. They had such a good time.

Mommy, Jack and Kasey on a bus ride....
Jack on an airplane ride ALL BY HIMSELF!!
A big happy family....Kasey, Jaramy, Jack and myself with ScrappyJack and Kasey with Tweety...
Jack playing in the water...
Jack and Kasey plaiying in the water park...Jack passed out around 4...he was one tired little man...

We also went to camp today to celebrate Grandma B's birthday, but I haven't uploaded those pictures onto my computer yet....so I'll have those shortly. As crazy as things have been around here, Jack has been a pretty well bahaved little boy. Hope everyone is doing well!

Happy Mother's Day!!

2009-05-09T19:36:00.001-07:00

I realize that yet again, I am a bad blogger. I've been in a funk lately and can't seem to kick it. I'll try to do better once things start to settle down around here.

We may be moving this week or next weekend...so hopefully after that I'll update everyone on the big move and how things are going with the house!

Since I don't have much time to write, I'll just add a few pictures to keep everyone happy. Jack's been quite the busy boy lately and it seems we have hit our terrible twos early...fun, fun. I'm thinking he's feeling the stress that Mark and I are feeling, so it's making him a little on edge.

Terrorizing the cat...
Playing in puddles...Playing on the playground and mommy trying a new shot....
Running to mommy after chasing the birds...Mommy was playing around with Photoshop....I LOVE this picture of him!
Last but not least, Happy Mother's Day to all the mommy's or mommy's to be out there! May your children be more well behaved than mine! ha ha!

Easter, Biodome and Park...oh my

2009-04-15T17:03:00.000-07:00

Just to warn everyone...this may be a long blog with lots of pictures...enjoy!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter full of candy and yummy, yummy food. I know we did!

We woke up Sunday morning (actually got to sleep in until 7:30, how exciting!) and Jack immediately started looking for eggs around the living room. The Easter Bunny left them out in the open for him to find...which was very nice of him. Jack is pretty smart though and started shaking the eggs to see if something was in them and as soon as he heard a noise he brought it to me and said "open" just to get the candy. He's got his mommy's sweet tooth. He put most of the eggs in his basket by himself, with some encouragement to put them in their instead of trying to open them and eat them.
The Easter Bunny also brought him some playdoh and a basketball hoop, which he was very excited about. Lately he's been all about playing basketball, and it seems the Easter Bunny heard him loud and clear. Hopefully he doesn't get mommy or daddy's skills when it comes to playing.... After we played basketball for a little while, we headed up to Grammy's house to get ready for Easter dinner. Jack was of course his terrible two self and gave everyone a run for their money while we were trying to get dinner ready, but as soon as he took a nap and ate, he was better. He also got a chance to finally meet baby Hunter....which he was very excited about. He may be a rough kid, but he is so good with babies. He kept giving Hunter kisses and playing with him...he can be a good kid when he wants to be.

So after a long day we headed home to rest because we knew the rest of the week would be crazy. We've started packing up a lot of our stuff and crossing our fingers that nothing falls through with selling the house. We've also got word back from Tom Maggy (the guy who is building our new house) and he came back with an awesome price, so we're in the process of getting the new house up and going within the next few weeks. We probably won't be moved in until August, but we've got a lot to take care of before that.

I really wanted to take a break from all the packing, so we decided to head up to the Biodome in Montreal for a change of pace. We were going to go to Lake George to go to the indoor water park, but of course they were all booked up. Not a big deal, it would have cost a lot more to do that anyway.

Jack woke up pretty cranky today, so I had a funny feeling it was going to be a rough day. He enjoyed most of the animals at the Biodome, but he seemed to enjoy chasing other children, climbing up stairs and running away from Mommy more. *sigh* I love my child.

After the Biodome we decided to take Jack to the park, seeing as it was so nice out and he was still full of energy...even with a 45 minute nap. I used the opportunity to brush up on my photography. I've been slacking a little with taking pictures and I really need to get back into it. I was pretty proud of some of my pictures. All of them have no editing done to them, I'll do that later. Oh, and of course Jack had a great time playing.

He looks like such a big boy...=(
on the swings...This one is my favorite...Heading to the slide...Shoe tying break...Going down the slide all by himself!Walking up the stairs...
Playing with Mommy...Walking to daddy getting ready to go home...
As much as I hate the fact that my child has now hit the "terrible two" stage, I seem to love him more and more everyday. However, I am more willing to give him to anyone who wants to babysit. Just let me know =)

Enjoy the warm weather!

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T05:55:00.000-07:00

After hours and hours of coloring eggs....
making a mess.....
searching long and hard for hidden eggs...finally finding some....
and getting to enjoy the chocolate within....Jack would like to wish everyone a Happy Easter!

Yeah, we've had a busy week again. Jack seemed to enjoy himself though as we did a lot for him. Have a great Easter everyone!

Jesus is coming....hide the eggs!

First Relay and Albany Trip

2009-04-04T18:02:00.000-07:00

I know, I know....I am a bad blogger. We've still got a few things to finish up in the house, I've been extremely tired lately and it's the beginning of the month, which means all of my paperwork is due, so I've been slacking again on the blog. My sincere apologies for those waiting to see more pictures of Jack.

Last weekend we had quite the crazy weekend. On Friday it was the Plattsburgh State Relay For Life, the first Relay of the season. We of course brought Jack to see Grammy and Gramps and to support the college. Jack had a great time chasing all the soccer balls and hackie sacks that the college kids were kicking around. He also enjoyed just walking around the track.....

The next morning we took off around 9:00 am to head down to Albany. We had to drop Grammy off with Uncle George because they were heading down to Florida to visit with Aunt Missy. (HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AUNT MISSY!!) Grammy and Jack both fell asleep in the car on me. I was driving them and Mark was with Justin in his big truck. Oh yeah, Uncle Justin came up to visit in his "bi ruck" for a few days. Jack really liked having his uncle around and was very close to saying Justin. So anyway, I was pretty bored in the car, but it went by fast.

We got down to Albany, switched Mark and Grammy around, took some pictures of Jack in the "bi ruck" and then headed over to visit with Aunt Donna, Tasha, Dylan and Trystan, Danielle, Ray and baby Taylor.

Jack had a mixed up schedule on Saturday and only slept for about an hour in the morning, so he was full of energy when we got to Aunt Donna's house. He had so much fun hanging out with Dylan and Trystan and threw a fit when it was time to go to bed. By the end of the weekend he was crying for them when they left the room. They were so great with Jack, too. It was a little bit of a break for Mark and I because we had the two of them to entertain Jack.

On Sunday we headed over to Chuck-E-Cheese for a few hours. All Jack wanted to do was play ski-ball and basketball...nothing else. He kept stealing balls from other people and walking away with them. It was the funniest thing, but also very wrong. He barely ate lunch because he was having so much fun running around and just taking everything in. Needless to say, he slept very well on the way home.

He's got his father's form...ha ha
A roller coaster ride that didn't even phase him...Putting the coins in the slotTrying to play ski-ball
We are such cheaters....We had a great weekend catching up with Aunt Donna and Tasha, thanks for making us feel at home and letting us relax. We always have such a wonderful time with your family.

This week has been a little bit on the quiet side, but I have just been dragging lately. Hopefully I'll find some energy to get through this next week....it's gonna be another busy one. Meeting with the man who is building our house, Relay for Life benefit dinner, Easter Egg hunt on Saturday and then Easter. Throw in some shopping, cooking, cleaning and packing in there and you've got another crazy week. Wish us luck!

Long overdue...

2009-03-25T18:50:00.000-07:00

Well, it seems as though life has gotten a little crazy and my blogging has taken a back seat for a while. I apologize for that, but you'll soon understand why.

Mark and I finally put our house on the market on March 16th (Monday). We were both pretty excited, but figured it would take a while before we got any bites. Well, that morning that our Realtor put it on the market, we got a call an hour later to do a showing. Thank-goodness our house was clean. So for a few days in a row we had showings. We also had three more scheduled for the past weekend and this past Tuesday. We were pretty excited that people were interested in our house.

Mark told me the Monday we put the house on the market we would have it sold by Friday. In this slump, I told him he was crazy. Friday came, we were as always busy cleaning and looking at potential new houses (oh yeah, we are building a house on my parents land, in case I forgot to mention) and we got a chance to go out to dinner just the three of us. It was way past due. Then, on Friday night around 7:40 we got a call from our Realtor saying that we had an offer on the house. You have got to be fricken kidding me. So he came over around 8:15 that night, showed us the offer and left us to think about it. It was way too low for our liking, so we waited to see if we had any more bites and then put in a counter offer on Monday afternoon. By Monday evening the house was under contract. Just like that....we sold our house.

I'll be honest with you, I'm a little sad about it. This was our first house we purchased, we've put so much work into it, we had Jack here, and so many other experiences and now we have to leave in a little over a month. I'm really excited to be building a brand new house....but a little piece of me wants to cry every time I think about it.

So for now we're trying to find a house we like and in our price range, packing, taking care of work related things, Relay is starting to get into full swing and trying to stay calm amidst the craziness.

As you can see, it has been a little wild around here, but it's all worth it. We will be living up in Rouses Point for about 5-6 months while our land dries, we get the foundation in and the house is being built. It'll be a huge change, but Grammy and Gramps have a room for Mark and I and a room for Jack. We couldn't ask for anything better.

Speaking of Jack....he's been a wonderful child lately. He just goes with the flow, has a few melt downs along the way but heck, he's almost 2. He has really enjoyed the nice weather and wants to be outside every second. When we can't get out, he enjoys penguin bowling...or his version of it.

He's also been into some heavy lifting....
And of course all of that hard work means he has to take a nap...

I know what you are thinking Jack..."Mama, why do you take such silly pictures of me?"...
Because he is just too darn cute....
Enjoy the nice weather everyone. We'll be in Albany in the weekend visiting with Aunt Donna, Tasha, Dylan, Trystan, Danielle, Ray and baby Taylor...and we can't wait. Tallman's be prepared...my son is a wild one!!

Playdate and more

2009-03-15T17:55:00.000-07:00

So as always, things have been crazy around here. A little crazier than normal, I'd say. Our house will officially be on the market tomorrow afternoon. Our Realtor came to take pictures today, do measurements and get the final papers signed and the house will be put in the MLS system tomorrow. I'm a little nervous about how quickly it will sell, but we'll see.

So while finishing up IEP's, cleaning the house and packing, Jack and I had a playdate on Thursday. I say Jack and I because Jack got to play with Gage and I got to play with some camera's that Gage's mommy, Barbie brought over. Barbie and I have been friends since 5th grade and she asked me to assist her in shooting a wedding at the end of August, so I figured I might as well start practicing with the camera's I'm going to use and I've been wanting to get together with her for a while, so it worked out perfect.

Gage and Jack were getting along great at first, until my kid decided to tickle Gage (which they were both laughing about) and then he proceeded to pull him down to the ground. UGH.....only my kid. I quickly pulled him off of Gage because no child should have to be tackled to the ground when being hugged. Well, Jack attempted to hug him two more times throughout the night and both times brought him to the floor. My kid is a lover...just a little too lovey sometimes. Gage was a great sport about it though...he got a little upset, got a hug from his Mommy and then was back to playing. Thanks, Gage!

Barbie showed me her awesome camera's and I can honestly say I feel like a moron when it comes to cameras. I thought I knew a lot after working at Sears for what....5 years...and having my own SLR, but holy crapola, she has got a lot of great stuff for her camera's that I have got to learn to use. Makes me want to go out and buy a new lens and external flash =) We didn't do too much shooting because I was more interested in what some of the buttons did and we talked about what was going to be done during the wedding, but we did get a few cute shots of our boys.

This is when I turned the TV off....I thought Gage was going to kill me...
They had enough of the camera in their face...
Jack trying to kiss Gage...
His confused expression....
His newest trick....putting something on his head and saying "achoo"
It was a great night and I had a lot of fun, I just hope Gage wants to play with Jack again. My kid can be a little too much for any toddler to handle....he's just too "hands on"...if that makes sense. At least he'll make a good husband....he'll always be hugging his wife.

With all the packing, painting, cleaning, and working we haven't had much time for anything else. The house is looking good though....although a lot of it is packed up right now. We're hoping to be out of here by the summer, but I think that's wishful thinking. We'll let everyone know how it goes.

Have a great week and I hope everyone enjoyed the weather this weekend. I know we did!

Mean parents....

2009-03-08T18:01:00.000-07:00

The last couple sets of pictures I've taken of Jack happen to be ones that he may hate us for later. I thought everyone would get a kick out of them.

With Gramp's goofy hat...
No pants, pulled up socks and Elmo slippers....we are so mean....
Things have, as always, been a little hectic around here. Mark and I have decided to put our house on the market and find something bigger so we are fixing up some little things here and there to make our house ready to sell. My dad has land that we've decided to build a house on so we've also been trying to find a house as well as fix ours up and get our work done in the meantime. Of course it's still the busy time of year for me and I'm still trying to get my blood levels up (and of course Iron count...yes, I am a mess) so needless to say I am exhausted lately. It will all be worth it though when we can finally move into a bigger house.

Not much more has been going on around here...everyone is adjusting without Marble. It's a little strange not having to put a dog out, but I know she's much happier right now. Newton has also been very lovey lately, which is out of sorts for him.

Hope everyone has a great week and enjoy the nice weather we've been having, you never know when it'll change again.

A good dog....

2009-03-02T14:20:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to let everyone know that we unfortunately had to put Marble to sleep today. It has been about two months now where she has had difficulty walking and has not been able to jump up on the couch (her favorite spot!). We have been hoping that with the help of some medication it would all get better...as it usually does. This time however, medication did not work and she kept getting worse.

For the past week it has been very difficulty for Marble to walk and she began losing control of her bladder. We were really just playing it day by day and hoping she would bounce back. Saturday night we came home to her unable to move at all and in obvious pain. She hasn't been eating or drinking much and has been loosing a lot of weight. Yesterday we decided that it was time she be put down because she was in so much pain. I slept next to her on the couch last night just petting her to help her calm down. She would bark if she moved the wrong way because it hurt so much. I didn't have the strength to bring her to the vet, besides she is Mark's dog and I know how much he wanted to be there with her when something happened. So Mark and his mom took her around 2 this afternoon. She went peacefully and was no longer in pain.

She was a wonderful dog who was loved by many and will be missed terribly. She lived a good, long life (15 1/2 years) and always had the energy of a puppy. We know that she is no longer in pain anymore and she's up with her buddy Missy in heaven.

With the only cat she ever got along with, Newton...
Marble and MissyAt the new house...
Getting cozy in the bassinetHer favorite place to be...
We love you and will miss you Marble, you were a great dog.

Crazy week...of course

2009-02-23T18:51:00.000-08:00

I'll have to make this quick because I'm a little on the sleepy side and should get to bed.

Vacation went by WAY too quick as it always does, but we still thoroughly enjoyed it. I've been feeling a little under the weather for quite a few weeks now, so I finally decided to go to the doctors. Looks like it's just an upper respiratory infection so I'm on some nasty antibiotics to help clear it up. I'm just glad Jack hasn't gotten it yet.

Jack was great during the whole break, and Mark and I both really enjoyed spending more time with him. He's now starting to put two words together when he talks, sing his ABC's (his version of them anyway) and he's playing by himself a lot more than he used to....which is great for all of us. He's just a great kid all around =)

Last Friday, Mark and I went down to Albany for a Relay for Life fundraiser...a Gaudy Galla. The point was to dress up as crazy as you could. Joan and I thought we were dressing pretty Gaudy in old bridesmaid dresses, crazy earrings and necklaces and 80's style hair, but we were actually too nice for this event. It was pretty interesting to see what people found to wear. This was the first time I was more than 30 minutes away from Jack. Needless to say, it was a rough night for me. Jack was of course fine. His Mammy, Papa and Auntie Kim stayed at the house with him so he could at least be home. Didn't seem to help much, because he woke up in the middle of the night asking for mama. Made me smile a little knowing my little boy loves me that much =)

On another exciting note, the pictures from Katy's wedding are up on the photographers website. Click here to see them. They are beautiful! Jack was quite the camera hog and I look horrible....but Katy and Ryan look awesome! I think I'm going to have Jason and Vanessa do our next family pictures. I just love their work.

Here are a few left over pictures from the wedding and a cute one of Jack with a cheerio on his nose. What a kid!!

Kim and Kenna
Erika eating her flowers...
Jack just waking up from his 20 minute nap...
My goofy kid...

Katy's Wedding!!

2009-02-15T18:44:00.000-08:00

Well, the weekend finally came where one of my little sisters got married. Okay, so she got married a year and a half ago, but that didn't really count because it was a shot-gun wedding before Ryan headed over to Iraq. Seeing as both of them always wanted a big wedding with family and friends, they planned theirs for this past weekend.

Friday after work we had the rehearsal and then some pizza and cookies at my house with the girls before the big day. Jack was of course, just as I thought, very intrigued by the baptismal font in the church and got himself soaking wet...even his mittens. That's my kid.

Saturday was the big day and I thought it went off without a hitch...well, except for Kim getting her cell phone stolen in the morning and her being a LITTLE late for her hair appointment. Worked out okay though and all of us were pretty much on time. Does it matter that the photographers got there before us and we had to frantically get dressed and do make-up? Nope, cause Katy was smart and left us plenty of time to get pictures done and then get to the church. We even had time to stop at an undisclosed location to take some beautiful pictures out in the snow. God bless the photographers for getting out in the cold weather, laying down in the snow and putting up with us girls. They were fabulous!

As for Jack, he took a 20 minute nap the whole day and believe it or not he was fantastic. He woke up just before he had to walk down the aisle (with Kim and myself because he would not go alone) and was for the most part pretty good during the ceremony. It was only about 30 minutes because there was not a full mass, but it was beautiful.

At the reception, Jack cut a rug and was a dancing fool. The video Mark got is a little blurry because it's from his phone, but that's Jack dancing and my dad starts dancing with him. He was a riot!

It was a wonderful day, but of course it went by way too fast. I have a few pictures from my camera, but I was too busy to take a lot. I'll post the ones I got and then give you the link for Katy's photographer's website. There are a few pictures of Katy up on their blog and in a few weeks they will have the rest of them up on their web page. I'll let you know when they are up so you can take a look at my beautiful sister and our little monkey.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day!!

In the Limo on the way to the church....
Jack just woke up...
Ryan with Katy's flowers....Us girls and Rusty...Jack on the dance floor...
Here is the link to Greer Cicarelli Photography
More pictures of the big day to come, I promise!

Weekend without Daddy and a very busy week...

2009-02-11T18:05:00.000-08:00

Well, this past weekend Jack and I got to hang out just the two of us without Daddy. He had to go to Albany for a night for a Relay meeting. Jack and I hung out with Auntie Kim, Mammy and Papa on Friday night for dinner and then Saturday went to swimming lessons, had lunch together and then came home while mommy did some cleaning. Jack was very happy when his daddy came home though, mainly because he brought him some balloons. As for Sunday it was another day at home just the three of us, so Jack's room got cleaned and I went through his clothes again. It feels like this kid is always growing and I always have to go through his clothes. Good thing we have lots of hand me downs!

This week has been quite a busy week already, and it's only going to get worse. Tomorrow night is the kick-off meeting for the Relay, so I've been helping Mark and Grammy get things together for that. Friday we have Katy's rehearsal and then dinner at my house and then Saturday is Katy's wedding. All three of us have a role in the wedding (I'm the matron of honor, Jack is the ring bearer and Mark is doing a reading) so we have some pretty big duties for the wedding. Mark and I have been trying to get our work done for the tail end of the week because we have a lot going on. It should be a fun weekend....provided my son doesn't try to jump in the baptismal fountain during Katy and Ryan's ceremony. I'll let you know how he does =)

Of course I have some pictures to show you from this week. Although I haven't had time to take a lot, I've still got a few. Jack enjoys getting into things lately, one would be his hamper and the other would be his diaper box. He is a strange child....but I think you all knew that.

Reading books in his hamper...
Diaper box time...
Cheese!!
We are mean parents...making him get out all by himself
Have a great weekend!!

Jack's newest video

2009-02-03T10:34:00.000-08:00

I realize I don't post a lot of videos....mainly because I don't have a camcorder and my camera that I take the videos on takes up a lot of battery juice. This one however, is my new favorite video of Jack. We are teaching him the difference between happy and sad. He says "ad" when someone is sad and now he's starting to act happy and sad. I don't get the best facial expressions, but it's still too darn cute not to share. Oh yeah, and that's him saying "Cheese" at the beginning. What a ham.

Snow day and Birthday

2009-01-31T13:56:00.000-08:00

As most of you are aware, we got quite a bit of snow this week so Mark ended up having the whole day off. I went and saw one of my kids and ran a few errands in Plattsburgh before it got too bad. Ended up being a nice day at home, just the three of us. Jack has been out in the snow once before, but he wasn't overly thrilled about it, but I decided to take him out on Wednesday anyway. He woke up from his nap in a pretty good mood, so we got all dressed up and just went out into the backyard.

He soon started to really enjoy himself outside and gave me a hard time when it was time to head inside. His newest thing....eating the snow. Oh well, I guess all kids go through it.

The next day was my birthday, and of course I had the busiest day of the week. It turned out great though, and thank-you to everybody for the birthday wishes and presents. Mark invited both of our families over for pizza and ice cream cake, which he told me about an hour before everyone got there. That would be why he went on a cleaning rampage the night before =)

I wasn't expecting much for my birthday, seeing as we are just getting back on our feet financially now, but Mark surprised me with something I have wanted for a very long time.....A Wii!! Finally!! He had all of our families go in on it together and my sisters got me a Raving Rabbids game for it. I was beyond surprised, but very happy. I warned Mark this year that he had to make up for last year. All I got was last year was a "Happy Birthday" at 3:30 in the afternoon, when I was picking him up from work and we had driven all the way to Rouses Point together in the morning. Needless to say he didn't have a lot to top. I was very happy this year, all I asked for was a Happy Birthday in the morning (which he did) and I got one thing I have wanted, plus it was a great evening with our families.

Jack has been up to quite a bit this week. Words keep coming out left and right (of course not all of them make sense) but he is just so much fun to listen to and watch. His newest thing is of course bowling on the Wii (at least he thinks he is bowling). Here are a few pictures Mark took of him the other day when he woke up from his nap. He is such a boy....

Yes, that's right, he's holding his manhood. What a kid. Have a great weekend and go Steelers!!

Weekend Update

2009-01-25T17:28:00.000-08:00

This will be a quick update because I'm a little on the tired side...it's been a long weekend.

My poor little boy has been pretty sick this week. He has one of his two year molars coming in and he caught a cold that I had last weekend so he was in pretty rough shape. Poor baby had to go on the nebulizer again for a couple days, didn't eat much and was really cuddly for most of the week. It breaks my heart to see him like that.

He didn't take long to recover though, and was feeling much better by this weekend. Yesterday (Saturday) he had his swim lessons and then spent the rest of the day with Grammy. Mark and I did some shopping and then headed to Lake Placid for dinner at The Whiteface Lodge. Grammy got us a gift certificate to use for our anniversary, but we never had a chance to get down there to use it, so we used it for my birthday. I have never been to a restaurant where they check your coat and they have a sommelier, so needless to say it was a pretty fancy place. We had a very nice meal, one that was much overdue.

On Sunday, I again had a busy day getting ready for Katy's bridal shower. We had a really nice party for Katy up at Joan's house in the afternoon and Katy got some great stuff for her house.

Jack also enjoyed himself eating all of the munchies we had. We didn't end up leaving Joan's until about 5:15, so I was just able to do some laundry and play with Jack for a little bit before he headed off to bed. This weekend just seemed to fly by.

I of course have to leave you with one more picture. Jack loves playing with his boots and putting things in them lately. His newest thing to do....

Yep...that's his sippy cup. What a strange little boy.

We have another busy week ahead of us again, but what else is new. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Swimming and more....

2009-01-20T16:46:00.000-08:00

As promised, I took a few pictures of Jack at swim lessons on Saturday. He is starting to love the pool more and more and Mark and I are just glad he's not afraid of the water anymore. He kicks his feet like a big boy and loves going down a little slide they have set up for them. (You'll see it in the pictures)

Just coming up from being dunked...
Going down the slide...
Coming out of the pool to get on the slide...

We had a pretty busy and fun weekend. On Friday we got together with a few of our friends from high school, Keith and Erika, Aimee and Jaramy and Andy and Danielle. We headed to Koto for dinner, where I enjoyed a long overdue drink and had some great conversation. We then went and bowled a few games and of course the boys beat the girls all three games. I did alright, but I'm very sad to say that Mark beat all of us in the first game. (this is the guy who usually bowls a 33). It was a wonderful, much needed evening away from the kids. I love Jack to death and he means more to me than anything, but I also love having adult evenings. He and Auntie Kim had a great night playing and watching Diego, but he did get a scratch while she was playing with him....so we just deducted some of her pay =)

Saturday was swimming lessons followed by a dress fitting for me and Mark took Jack to McDonalds for lunch and to play at the play place. Jack is very unfamiliar with McDonalds (this is only the second time I think he's been there) so he was very excited to play. He did manage to eat all of his hamburger and apple dippers though...hungry little man. That night we then headed up to Grammy's house for dinner and some Wii. We ended up spending the night because it was late and we were going to have lunch there the next day, so instead of wasting gas we just stayed there. It works out great for Mark and I though because Grammy and Gramps get Jack in the morning and let us sleep in. I love staying the night up there =)

Mark and I also had the day off on Monday, so we got caught up on some work and also visited with Meme and Pepe Brown (Mark's dad and Kandie). Jack enjoyed running around and eating home made donuts. He also has been getting a little stuffy so Kandie checked his lungs and it just sounds like he may have some upper respiratory things going on Nothing new....every time this little man gets a cold it's all in his lungs and it sounds like he is a heavy smoker. So out came the Nebulizer and he's been on treatments the past two days. I'm at the point where I want to test him for asthma because he always has such a hard time breathing, especially when he is sick or runs around too much. Oh well....we just will have to baby him for the next few days...nothing new.

Last thing, my sister Katy informed me that for some reason my blog only allowed comments from people who have an account. I have since changed that so anyone can leave comments on here. So feel free to comment away or make requests for certain pictures. I have several thousands of Jack to share =)

Okay, this really is the last thing....Jack on Saturday on Gramp's tractor. Obviously not a happy boy (it was nap time and he was WAY over tired.)

Wow...two days in a row!!

2009-01-13T17:21:00.000-08:00

I'm sure this is a surprise to everyone....but I'm actually posting two days in a row! The only thing is, this will be a quick update on me (don't worry, I throw a few pictures of Jack in too!).

Some of you may know, but I have been at my doctors a few times now since Thanksgiving due to some issues I've been having. Not to get into too much detail, but I've been seeing my girly doctor, not my family doctor. I've had some blood work done and I had to have an ultrasound today. I have been very nervous about this visit because I was just waiting for bad news. Turns out it's not as bad as I thought. I have polycystic ovary syndrome. Sounds a little more confusing than it actually is. What this means is I don't produce enough of a female hormone and too much of a male hormone. Actually more embarassing than anything. I am also anemic, which means I have to take iron (fun, fun) and I am on a hormone right now to try to even things out. Apparently about 1 in 10 women have this, so it's pretty common. The only downfall....it may be difficult for me to get pregnant again. None of my doctors are even sure how I conceived Jack without any problems. I guess he was just meant to be =)

So when people say that a baby changes everything....they aren't kidding. I have had a clear bill of health since I was born, so finding out I have some problems with my reproductive organs is a little bit of a blow...but the outcome could have been much worse.

Well, enough about boring ol' me, this is Jack's blog and not mine. I hope everyone is having a great week and I'll be sure to post some pictures of Jack at swimming lessons on Saturday.

I leave you with some warm wishes from Jack....with all this freaken cold weather, I figured we could all use a little warmth...even if it is just a picture..

My bad...

2009-01-12T16:59:00.000-08:00

I have been a very bad blogger. I realize I haven't updated since just after Christmas, so I apologize to anyone who has been wondering how our little monkey is.

We had a wonderful New Years with some great friends, games and of course Karaoke. Long story short, Erika and I make a wonderful duet! I unfortunately do not have any pictures of that night. Not only have I been slacking with the blog, but I have also been picture slacking. I need to get my butt in gear. I'd have to say though, aside from my picture and blog slacking, this year has started off much better than last year. I can only hope that it will continue to get better, it can't get any worse.

Of course not long after New Years Mark and I both headed back to work. This is the main reason I haven't been blogging...quarterlies are due for me and Mark is busy with his lesson plans and getting his classroom in order. Things are going well for both of us at work, we both enjoy what we do and I am just very thankful we both have jobs and are able to play our bills.

Jack started his swim lessons the other day and to Mark's and my surprise, he actually enjoyed himself. At first he wanted nothing to do with the pool, but by the end he wanted to get back in. Again, no pictures though. I know, I know....I'm a bad mommy. I did however get a few pictures of his lovely hair after swimming...he definitely is going to have hair like his mommy.
Other than us getting back to work, not much has been happening. Jack is enjoying all his new Christmas toys and is really beginning to talk a lot more lately. His newest word is "bad" and he usually uses it with Marble. Thanks, daddy for teaching him that one. Hopefully I'll have some new pictures from swimming this weekend but for now I leave you with a few of Jack and the toy he was "playing" with this afternoon.

The face of an *innocent* child...

Christmas Memories

2008-12-30T17:31:00.000-08:00

Well, Christmas has come and gone, and despite our financial hardships we managed to make it through and Jack got more toys than we could have ever imagined. We started off at Mark's dad's house Christmas Eve in the afternoon and spent a few hours there. Jack got lots of blocks and a wagon to put them in, a John Deere 4-wheeler (one that he has to move himself...get those legs going!), a super cute outfit and an Elmo which he LOVED. It was so much fun watching him open presents. He wanted to play with every single toy he got, but that was expected.

Opening his blocks...
After Pepe's house we headed off to church. We have been bad Catholics and have not been to church in a while and I really wanted to go, so off we went. I've come out of that experience knowing that it will be a long time again before we go to church with a toddler....especially Jack. He was so tired but refused to fall asleep so we ended up going through a boat load of puffs, some teddy grams and a few trips up and down some stairs in the back. Jack did play with his buddy Alek from gym tots for a little bit to keep him busy, but that was short lived. I managed to listen to about 5 minutes of mass throughout the ordeal. Oh well....we'll try again when he is a little older.

Then we were off to Aunt Debbie's for Christmas dinner with Mark's family. Jack ended up sleeping there for about an hour despite all the noise. He woke up very cranky...

But eventually calmed down and started playing with everybody and being his normal self. He even tried to steal a toy from baby Noah. (Mark's cousin's grandson). Guess we know what we have to get him for his birthday...

Around 9:30....WAY past his bedtime...we headed home. The next morning Santa brought a few more toys for him to play with. Santa decided not to wrap up his new drumset....bad idea, Santa. All Jack wanted to do was play. It took us about an hour to get through 5 more presents because he kept going back to his drums. At least we know he liked them!!

We did manage to get him to open his K'Nex Elmo, which he loved...
And for some reason he really loved his toothbrush and toothpaste. At least he's got good hygeine.

Mark and I got each other a few things....I got three new pairs of pants (which I badly needed) and Mark got a new dress shirt, tie, Scrubs season 7 and a flash drive. The best part of it all was of course watching Jack open all his presents.

After our family Christmas we headed up to Montreal to spend Christmas with my family. It's the only time of year I get to see my Aunt's and Uncle's on my mom's side and my grandmother. We always have a great time up there and stuff ourselves silly with fabulous food. Jack loved going up and down the stairs to the playroom in the basement and kept us all busy chasing him. He also really liked their piano and Mammy tried to teach him how to play....he was more interested in doing it his way. So after all the running around, Mark and I had both of our immediate families over for a Lasagna dinner and opening of presents. Jack got royally spoiled by both families and Mark and I spent three days trying to find places for all of his toys to go. Some of his favories so far are his Elmo Live from Uncle Justin, a tent from Mammy and Papa, his tool bench from Auntie Katy and Uncle Ryan and his Diego backpack from Grammy. Those are the toys he seems to look for every day and play with more than once. I think he has more toys than he knows what to do with. This was our living room the next morning....lovely, isn't it?

That wasn't even half of the toys....Mark and I had put some away already. We have now found a place for everything, thank-goodness.

It was all around a wonderful Christmas. It was a little hard for me to get into the Christmas spirit this year, but I had to keep reminding myself that at least we are able to give our son a few presents, we have food on our table and bills are paid. It took a little extra work on my part, but it was possible.

On a side note...Jack had his 18 month check up today. He is 28 pounds 14 ounces (80%) and 35 inches tall (95+%) We have a tall kid. Everything checks out great and he is talking far more than most kids his age (so our pedi says). He is also showing some typical behaviors (hitting, tantruming) which we both knew was typical but talked to our pedi about anyway. Now we don't have to go back until he is two. I just can't believe that my little boy is growing up so fast.

If you have made it this far....thank-you. I am off to bed to rest up for tomorrow. A night full of friends, food and games. I can't wait. Have a safe and happy New Year everybody!

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-26T07:30:00.000-08:00

I am again a little late with the holiday wishes. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. We had a busy, yet very enjoyable Christmas filled with several family gatherings and a living room full of toys.

We started it off with a Christmas party last weekend with some of Gramps' family and a visit from Santa. I have tons of pictures of that day, so I just put them in a slide show for everyone to view. It starts off with us making cookies at Grammy's house, then the party with Santa and the last picture is from Grandma Joan's Christmas party.

When I have a free minute I'll make sure to post about our Christmas. It's been a long week and we have to head out to the mall now to exchange some things and look for some after Christmas sales.

Visits with Santa

2008-12-15T16:56:00.000-08:00

Well, it's official, Jack does not like Santa. We took him Saturday morning up to Begor's in Mooers to see Santa and Mrs. Clause. He had no problems with Mrs. Clause, I think it's because she slightly resembled Grammy, but he cried every time we tried to bring him near Santa. He did have a good time hanging out with Ryan (they met this summer at camp) and a few other little girls, Sophia and Olivia, whose parents are friends of Grammys.

At least he wasn't crying....but he still isn't happy.
He seemed much more comfortable with Mrs. Clause...I also got a few cute pictures of him while we were there. He had a great time running around and playing with the other kids. He also got to color a little bit with daddy, eat a candy cane and a cookie, and he got a movie from Santa. Mark and I also got a chance to meet a few friends of Grammy's that we have been meaning to get together with and I got to see a few kids that used to be in my classroom. It was a pretty fun morning.

Playing in the racks of clothes...
This is what happens when Jack gets a hold of my camera...
We attempted to bribe Jack with a soda that Santa had, but that still didn't work...
After that he passed right out and then later in the evening he went and had his picture taken with Kasey. I was working my last night at the studio (YEAH!) and did Keith, Erika and Kasey's pictures as their Christmas present. I wanted to try to get a picture of the two of them together, so we attempted it. It turned out pretty cute, but Jack wanted no part of it. Kasey was a great sport through the whole picture experience and we got some pretty cute ones of him. The rest of my night was a little hectic because I started getting a little sick and didn't end up leaving until an hour after we close. Grammy and Gramps took Jack for the night so Mark and I could go shopping for him on Sunday. I ended up catching Jack's stomach bug and was a mess all night and all day Sunday. I still got out and went shopping though...although it was pretty rough.

We are both feeling much better today, but neither of us is really eating much. It's a good thing for me to not eat, but I worry about my little man not eating much. He still is full of energy, no fever and making enough wet and dirty diapers though, so I don't think I need to worry too much.

Today Jack's day care provider took him to have breakfast with Santa at Duke's Diner in Plattsburgh. I figured this is his third encounter with Santa and it would probably go smoother...wrong again. Of course he cried and would not sit on Santa's lap. Oh well, maybe when he gets older we can get a picture of him smiling.

I'll leave you with a picture of Jack near our tree playing with his Santa he got last year. He is a little blurry, but it's still a cute picture.

Brownies!

2008-12-12T17:58:00.000-08:00

I have been trying to let Jack try to help with some of the baking and cooking lately; i.e. mixing or placing toppings on pizza. He brings a chair up to the counter, takes his spoon (or cheese) and starts copying me. He loves helping and I'm an advocate for having children help with a lot of household things, of course all of them being safe things. So the other night I was in the mood for chocolate, but the only thing we had were low fat brownies. It has been a while since I made brownies, so I decided to go for it. Jack of course brought his chair over and starting stirring away. After everything was mixed well, I poured them into the pan and let Jack lick the spoon. The licking of the spoon turned into dipping the spoon in the bowl and making a mess all over...see pictures below.

Don't worry, low fat brownies do not require anything but water, so he wasn't exposed to any raw eggs. He absolutely loved being able to dip the spoon in the bowl and of course getting chocolate on the spoon was an added bonus. We had to take it away though because it was getting all over him and the floor. This is what happened after we took the bowl away...

Thought everyone would get a kick out of those pictures. Anyway, our monkey has had the 24 hour stomach bug and resting with Grammy all day. Lucky lady. He seems much better tonight and has been playing for quite a while at Mammy and Papa's. He was tired though, and just passed out about 20 minutes ago.

Tomorrow is a big day for us...we go see Santa and Mrs. Clause up at Begor's Supply in Mooers. The owners are Gramps' Aunt and Uncle, so we are going to visit with them and some other friends and family. Look for lots of pictures of that =) We also have pictures to take of him and Kasey (and auntie Erika and uncle Keith) and one of Jack alone (I forgot to order the 10x13 for our living room and I need more wallets for x-mas cards). So he needs his beauty sleep.

Hope everyone is enjoying the snow!!

I've been slacking....

2008-12-08T18:30:00.000-08:00

Sorry about the lack of posts lately...we've all been a little busy around the house.

My two jobs are going well...but I can't wait for a break. I work a full week providing therapy and then I work about 17-20 hours at the Portrait Studio, I'm getting tired. It's great for Jack and Mark to hang out though, and they were even able to go shopping for me last weekend. Nice boys day out. I on the other hand, have not had one free moment to shop for anyone. I think I'll be one of those Christmas Eve shoppers. Oh, well.

Jack is feeling much better and back to his happy ol' self. We took him to see Santa on Friday night up in Rouses Point with Grammy, Gramps, Erika and Kasey. While waiting to see Santa, Jack took off on Grammy and ran down the sidewalk. Well, my child is just as clumsy as me on his feet and he went face first into the sidewalk. Ended up with a big scrape on his nose. Poor baby was crying so hard. We then went for a walk down Lake street in Rouses Point, went to see the tree lighting and then had cookies with Santa. I thought for sure Jack would like Santa, it's his new favorite word, but I was wrong. He loved watching him, but as soon as I went to put him on Santa's lap he started crying. I was shocked. So the pictures we have are of Jack crying with Santa and a big scratch on his nose. It makes for an interesting story when he gets older.

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of him with Santa...Grammy took them and I'm waiting for her to e-mail them to me *hint hint*.

Other than that, not too much is happening. We are catching up on some Christams movies, spending some time with our families and relaxing if we get a chance to.

As soon as I get those pictures from Grammy I'll make sure to post them. As for now, here are a few I took of Jack the other night.

His new favorite thing is doing Patty Cake by himself. It's the cutest thing ever. This is him saying "all done"My little ham...

Happy Turkey Day!

2008-11-28T18:13:00.000-08:00

First off...

Hope everyone had lots of turkey and stuffed their bellies until they hurt!!

On to the crazy lives in the Brown household. Jack is feeling a little better...still stuffy and coughing a little bit, but much better than he was before. He doesn't let much get him down.

Mark has been able to spend a lot more time with Jack lately, which I think they are both enjoying. I've been busy with both my jobs and haven't had a lot of time to even sit down and Mark has been getting a lot of his work done at school so he doesn't have to bring it home. As sad as I am that I can't spend more time with Jack, I know it's important that he spend time with Mark. Jack has been quite the mommy's boy since he was born and I want to make sure he's comfortable with different people, especially his daddy.

Uncle Justin came home for the week, so Jack's got to spend some time with him. Every time he sees him, Jack seems scared or not too sure about him, but he quickly changes and gets more comfortable with him.

We had a great Thanksgiving. We decided this year to stay at home and have Thanksgiving at our house. Last year we went to four different places with a five month old and it just ended horribly. Jack was pretty miserable. This year, Mark and I spent the day cleaning the house and getting dinner prepared. It was actually pretty fun. We had my family, Mark's family and Cliff's daughters along with their boyfriends in our house. I thought for sure the house was too small for that many people, but it wasn't and things went very well.

Today we set up our Christmas tree. Mark and I always set it up the day after Thanksgiving...we just love Christmas. Jack was a little stinker and got into everything he shouldn't have been into, but who can blame him? As soon as he saw all the lights on the tree he got really excited. We have a red star on the top of our tree and he kept calling it an "apple". At least he's recognizing colors and knows that apples are red!

So as busy as we all are, I have still found time to take a few pictures of Jack and some things we've been up to lately when we have a moment.

Jack holding his towel after a bath...
Making faces for the camera...
Rocking out on the guitar!

Have a great weekend!!

Sick, sick baby =(

2008-11-17T15:50:00.000-08:00

My poor, poor baby is sick. Of course it's probably my fault too, so I feel even more terrible about it. He's been out of sorts for a few days, but just in the past two he has started coughing really hard, wheezing and his nose is running like a faucet. Last night, the first night this has EVER happened, he ended up sleeping in bed with us. He just couldn't get comfortable in his own bed and kept crying and coughing and it was a vicious cycle of the two. So I got up, went and got him, and per Mark's request, put him in between us. Needless to say Mark and I slept horribly, but Jack slept better and that's all that matters. He's been getting his nebulizer treatments and Grammy is coming over tomorrow to keep an eye on him so he doesn't get the other boys he goes to daycare with sick. I hate to see him so miserable...it breaks my heart. =(

We did have a nice weekend before he got really sick. Mark was gone Friday and Saturday to a Leadership conference, so Jack and I got in a lot of bonding time (not that my kid needs to bond with me anymore). We went over to Mammy and Papa's house for dinner on Friday night and took a trip to Target with Mammy and auntie Kim. Jack got some Christmas presents and we picked up his pictures from Sears while we were in the mall. It was a very busy night, all ending with Jack watching about 10 minutes of The Wizard of Oz and getting a little scared of the lion. I decided to turn it off, read him a book and then put him to bed.

He then spent some time with Mammy on Saturday while I went to work and then we went up to Lyon Mountain to visit with Mark's family. Mark's aunt Missy was up from Florida for a few days so we wanted to go visit with her and baby Hunter. Unfortunately because Jack was not feeling well, he couldn't go meet his new cousin. I know I'll have another chance to take a picture of the two of them together soon. While we were there, Jessica got the cutest video of Jack with Aunt Pam and Aunt Missy playing ring-around the rosie. Jack's new thing is to pull on people's clothes (or hair in this case) to get them to sit up or lay down. Thanks, Gramps for teaching him this!

Here is Jack, Aunt Pam (left) and Aunt Missy (right) and Jack pulling on their hair to get them to sit back up and play again. What a kid!

So on Sunday we headed back up the mountain so Mark could visit with everyone. Jack was getting pretty ill by later in the evening so we called it a night pretty early. It was still nice getting to visit with everyone when it is not a holiday or someone's birthday. I did manage to get one picture of baby Hunter while we were there...little guy wouldn't not wake up while I was there though. Oh well, maybe next time =)

Well, hopefully my next post will have better news about my baby feeling better. Wish Grammy luck tomorrow...she's going to need it watching this poor little guy!

Randomness

2008-11-13T18:42:00.000-08:00

I know this is Jack's blog....but I feel the need to write a little off topic tonight. Hope no one minds.

I had some free time today because I had two families cancel visits and I didn't want to go get Jack while he was napping, so I came home to try to get some housework done. I've been exhausted lately, so I plopped down in front of my computer and couldn't get away. I don't know how it happened, but I stumbled across some web pages that started to make me think....this is both a good and a bad thing.

Why are there so many children out there who lose their lives to such random, tragic events? Whether it be a babysitter shaking them, drowning in a pool or a rare disease that has no cure. All of it makes me want to cry...I mean really cry, like sobbing to the point where I lose my breath. How is it possible that things like that can happen to a child that has not gotten the chance to experience life? It's just not fair.

Maybe it's the weather, or all of these stories being brought to my attention at once or maybe it's because I'm finally breaking free of these postpartum blues that I've been struggling with for so long, but all I wanted to do tonight was cuddle with Jack and never put him down. My heart aches for these parents who can't do that with their children anymore. I treasure every hug or kiss that Jack spontaneously gives me and I can't imagine my life without them. It makes me so mad that for so long I wanted nothing to do with him and watched each day go by as if I were living in fast forward. I have a hard time remembering much of what happened in his first year and I hate myself for that.

I also thank God every day that I still have my son with me and I'm still able to hug and kiss him goodnight. I can't get back that first year, but I can cherish every second I have with him now. In that aspect, I am lucky beyond words.

My point? Hug your child every day and let them know that you love them. Being a mom is the hardest thing I have ever had to go through, but it is truly the best and most rewarding job of my life. I'm starting to think that someone finally hit the play button for me and I can begin to enjoy life again.

I love you, my little monkey.

Alphabet Movie Meme

2008-11-09T07:24:00.000-08:00

My friend Keith over at Kano's Kogitation tagged me to do an alphabet movie meme. This is my first attempt at anything relating to movies, so bare with me. As you all probably know, I watch a lot of kids movies, comedies and girlie movies so there won't be much variety, I'm sure. Below are the rules and then my movie picks for each letter of the alphabet.

The Rules

1. Pick one film (your favorite film) to represent each letter of the alphabet.

2. The letter "A" and the word "The" do not count as the beginning of a film's title, unless the film is simply titled A or The, and I don't know of any films with those titles.

3. Return of the Jedi belongs under "R," not "S" as in Star Wars Episode IV: Return of the Jedi. This rule applies to all films in the original Star Wars trilogy; all that followed start with "S." Similarly, Raiders of the Lost Ark belongs under "R," not "I" as in Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. In other words, movies are stuck with the titles their owners gave them at the time of their theatrical release. Conversely, all films in the LOTR series belong under "L" and all films in the Chronicles of Narnia series belong under "C," as that's what those filmmakers called their films from the start. Use your better judgement to apply the above rule to any series/films not mentioned.

4. Films that start with a number are filed under the first letter of their number's word. 12 Monkeys would be filed under "T."

5. Link back to Blog Cabins in your post so that I can eventually type "alphabet meme" into Google and come up #1, then make a post where I declare that I am the King of Google.

6. If you're selected, you have to then select 5 more people.

Aladdin

Butterfly Effect, The

Center Stage

Drumline

Erin Brockovich

Father of the Bride

Ghost

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Ice Age

Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back

Knocked Up

Little Mermaid, The

Mulan

Never Been Kissed

O (the movie with Julia Stiles and Mekhi Phifer)

Pretty Woman

Quicksand (cheated on this one....had to look up a movie!)

Remember the Titans

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, The

Titanic

Unbreakable

Village, The

Wizard of Oz, The

X-files, The

You, Me and Dupree

Zoolander

That was pretty fun....difficult, but fun. Since I don't have too many blogs that I read (or vice verse) I can't tag anyone....but if you want to do this feel free!

House Issues....blah

2008-11-08T19:17:00.000-08:00

Of course it has been another busy week in the Brown household. Mark's crazy busy with his school schedule and I've been working two nights a week and Saturday mornings at the Studio to help out with Christmas. It's been fun taking pictures again and I thought for sure I'd lose my patience sooner with kids working with them all day and night but it's just the opposite, I love kids even more and it makes me so much happier when I get home to see Jack.

So, as it goes in our house, one thing after another seems to break or get damaged. Of course it has to be something big too when we need it the least. Mark called me Wednesday night as I was on my way home from work to let me know that our hot water heater busted. Yeah. So the next night he and his dad spend about 5 hours putting our new water heater in. Had it not been for one of our old copper pipes bursting and spraying water all over the place they would have been done sooner. Such is our luck. Thank-goodness for Lowe's and their 0% interest and no payments for 12 months.

Jack of course enjoyed the large box that the water heater came in...

I also had to babysit the night we put the water heater in. His name is Rusty and he is 4 months old....

He's Grammy's cat and just got fixed that day. Grammy had meetings to go to and had me babysit him until she got done. He was pretty groggy for a while and about 30 minutes before he got picked up he started walking around and drank a little bit. Of course Newton was very curious of him, hissed at him once and then cornered the poor cat in our office. I had to search all over the house for them and finally heard the meowing of Rusty and went to his rescue. I have a strong feeling Newton wouldn't do well if we added another cat to our household.

We've also been able to hang out with Kasey, Keith and Erika, Mammy and Papa and we're heading over to Grammy's tomorrow night for dinner. Jack also got a chance to meet a little guy named Alek at play group yesterday. His parents were in the same Hypnobirthing class as Mark and I and he was born about 10 days after Jack. Kate got some cute pictures of them playing that I stole from her blog (hope that's okay, Kate!)

I hope that I can get over to the gym one of these days again and play with all of them. Kate and her husband Randy have been through a lot and are fabulous parents to that handsome little boy. Head over to their blog; One Day at a Time to read their story.

Also, Mark's cousin Tori gave birth on Tuesday to baby Hunter!! I can remember being in the hospital and just wanting to rest, so we decided to wait and visit her and the baby. Jack and I will be heading up there hopefully on Saturday after work to visit with Aunt Missy (who is coming up from Florida!) and of course to meet baby Hunter. Daddy is going away this weekend to a conference so he'll have to meet baby Hunter at a later time. Congrats Tori and Jesse!! Let us know if you need anything!!

So I think that about covers it for the week. I got tagged by Keith at Kano's Kogitation to do an Alphabet Movie Meme. I'll hopefully be able to tackle that tomorrow night and we'll see how that goes!!

Have a wonderful weekend!!

Halloween Weekend

2008-11-02T17:27:00.000-08:00

What a nice weekend! It helps that one of our favorite holidays was on Friday, but it still would have been a nice weekend even if it wasn't Halloween. On Friday we had Keith, Erika and Kasey over for dinner and some Trick-or-Treating around the park. The boys did great walking around the park, but they did get a little tired of walking and wanted to be carried around from house to house. I don't blame them, we were out for about an hour, which is a lot of walking for two little ones. Every time we got to a house both boys would sign "please" and then either say "thank-you" or blow kisses to the person giving them candy. It was so cute. They made out pretty good too in the candy department but that may be because they were both grabbing candy out of people's candy bowls...crazy kiddos. Here is the candy that Jack got for the night...

We came back to the house after our walk, took some pictures in everyone in their costumes, watched some Diego, played drums and then the boys went to bed. Now I forgot to mention that all of us adults were dressed up also. Keith was JD from Scrubs, Erika was a cowgirl, I threw a witch costume together last minute and Mark was a woman. He was the funniest looking woman we have ever seen, and what was even funnier was people thought he really was a woman when we were Trick-or-Treating. They realized once he opened his mouth that he was a man. You should have seen the looks on some people's faces...priceless. Anyway, here are some pictures from our night.

The whole clan minus myself...
The Kane family...The Brown family...Kasey and Jack playing the drums...
Kasey hamming it up for the camera....
As for the rest of our weekend, it was very relaxing and we got to spend time with Mammy and Papa and auntie Kim who we haven't seen in a while. I had to work Saturday morning (which is actually going well) so Mark got to spend some quality time with Jack before his nap. They went to Lowe's and then finished up with a wall Mark was building to go around our fuel tank (the winds in Cumberland Head are awful and our pipes froze last year...we don't want that to happen again!) So Jack helped his daddy hammer the wall together, measure and pick up his tools. He had so much fun that I don't even think he missed me at all!

So after work we went to have pizza with my parents and then played some Wii. It was a great night and very relaxing. Jack even stayed up until 9:30...way past his bed time but it worked out great because he slept in this morning and the time change didn't even affect him. I hope I remember to put him to bed later next year! Today he went to lunch with Grammy while mommy and daddy finished up some work and then we all went and did a little grocery shopping. My little man slept for about 30 minutes total today so he passed right out when it was bed time. Poor baby.

It was just a wonderful weekend. Not too much going on, but just enough to keep Jack busy. I'll leave you with a picture of him helping his daddy....he is getting so big =(

A little late but.....

2008-10-31T19:25:00.001-07:00

It's late and I have notes to finish so I will update you more on our day later this weekend. Hope everyone had a safe and happy Halloween!!

Stress relief coming our way....

2008-10-27T18:18:00.000-07:00

Seeing as it is 10:00 at night and I have a busy day ahead of me tomorrow, I'll make this quick.

Some of you may already know but for those of you who haven't heard yet, I have been a little stressed out lately. The reason for this is because I don't get a paycheck from my new job until November. That means I will work for two and a half months without a paycheck. Not fun. Especially since Christmas is just around the corner. So, I have decided to do something about it and get myself another job. Yep, you heard me right, I now have two jobs. Where is this other job you ask? I'll give you three guesses, but you'll probably only need one.

I went back to the only other place I feel comfortable working.....Sears. Ten hours a week I will be a photographer at the portrait studio. It's the least I can do to get my family back on our feet and give my son a Christmas he deserves. I know, Grandparents are there to give Jack anything and everything he needs, but what kind of mother am I if I can't even buy a few presents for my son? And I know everyone may be thinking that this job will stress me out even more and I won't have much time at home...but it's only 10 hours a week and there is no reason for me to get stressed out doing this job. I'm just a photographer...not a manager this time. Getting this job has actually de-stressed me a little this week and I'm looking forward to getting behind the camera again, even if it's just for a short time.

As for Jack, he has been wonderful. He has now started saying "thank-you" and "papa" as well as quite a few other words that we don't quite understand. He also loves saying "Diego" and throwing his hands up in the air while looking at the TV. Yeah, my kid loves TV....shoot me. We also had a great weekend visiting with family and enjoying some quality time together as a family. My dad also fixed my car that has been squeaking at me for weeks....thank-you so much, dad!!

We have a very busy week ahead of us, so I may not be able to post again until after Halloween. Look for lots and lots of pictures!!

Also, as a side note, I have to send my camera to Canon because it is malfuntioning *sniff, sniff*. What this means is that I will be without a camera for approximately 10 days after Halloween. I have no idea what I'm going to do!! I'll have to just post old pictures of our monkey for everyone to enjoy!

Okay, I think I'm done my rambling so here are some pictures from this weekend for your enjoyment.

These are just in case anyone ever wondered what it would look like if Mark and I had a little girl....she would be just as cute as Jack =)

And last but not least...my kid watching the Backyardigans at Grammy's....

Happy Birthday Kasey!!

2008-10-19T10:04:00.000-07:00

This post is one that I'd like to dedicate to Jack's best buddy, Kasey. He is two years old today and having a grand ol' time in Disney World with mommy and daddy. Lucky family, they missed the snow!! Anyway, I was there the day that Kasey was born and he's always been very special to our family. I remember that morning like it was yesterday. If you know Kasey, you know his story and the fact that he is quite the fighter. We love this little man and hope he had a fabulous day with his family. Below are just a few pictures of Kasey over the past two years...he has grown up to be quite the handsome little man. He is going to be quite the ladies man in a couple years....

The first time I got to baby-sit...he was about two months old
Fourth of July parade....7 months oldWayward Fest...8 months old...
I think this was also 8 months old...the Reyell's Anniversary...After his baptism...8 months again...
Pumpkin patch day...11 months old....
In his PJ's after the pumpkin patch...First birthday!!!
About 16 months old...helping mommy make dinner...What a handsome little boy...
Fourth of July with Jack...What a good helper...mowing our lawn...
At the fair with his fire hat...
Playing "Lego Star Wars" with daddy and Mark...
The day of his birthday party....what a cutie!!

Happy Birthday little man!!!

Long overdue post....

2008-10-19T06:29:00.000-07:00

I first want to apologize for not posting at all this week. It has been a pretty stressful week for all of us so I haven't had much time to be on the computer. We actually haven't had too much going on outside the house, but it's still been a busy week.

Monday we headed over to Vermont to have dinner with some of Mark's old co-workers. We did a little bit of shopping and then went to the Outback for dinner. Jack was great at dinner, as always, and we all had a nice time out.

We also carved one of our pumpkins this weekend. Jack enjoyed eating the pumpkin guts and playing around with the seeds more than I thought he would. (see pictures below)

Eating some of the insides of the pumpkin...
Making a goofy face while eating pumpkin seeds...
Showing off the seeds in his mouth...

It was also Kasey's birthday party this weekend, he turns 2 on the 22nd. I can't believe how fast these kids grow. We were a little late to the party because Jack slept until 2 and the party was at 2. Kasey got lots of presents and was much less messy with his cake this year than last year. We hung out with Keith, Erika and Kasey after the party for a little while because we probably won't see them again until Halloween. They are on their way to Disney as we speak to have a well deserved vacation. Thanks so much guys for dinner and a great time yesterday. We had a wonderful time and will miss you. You truly are wonderful friends =)

Here are a few pictures of the boys from yesterday...
Getting their shoes on before we leave...
Kasey really did enjoy the hug, I think Jack just enjoyed it more...
All smiles after giving each other a hug...

Hopefully things get a little less stressful around the house, but I highly doubt that will happen until after Christmas. Hope everyone is doing well and enjoy the beautiful weather!!

Pumpkins, pumpkins, pumpkins!!

2008-10-11T12:07:00.000-07:00

We decided to take our second trip to the pumpkin patch today, this time with our friends and Jack's bestest buddy Kasey as well as Auntie Katie. We got there around 10, but realized the wagon rides don't start until 11. We kept the kids somewhat entertained by looking at all the animals, playing in the pumpkins, "picking apples" and running around. Jack again enjoyed the animals, this time being a little more brave and attempting to pet them. We also wanted to go pick some apples, but apparently apple picking is over and we were left with a bucket of apples to pick from. Jack still enjoyed putting the apples in the bag and we got quite a few for me to make an apple pie with....and apple crisp....and applesauce....you get the point.

We finally got to ride on the tractor after waiting quite a while in line and poor Kasey getting stung by a bee. He was a trooper and didn't even cry when it happened. Such a tough kid =) Jack of course loved every minute of the ride except for the waiting part. The first wagon we were on was being pulled by a John Deere tractor and Jack could not take his eyes off of it. He waved to the guy who was driving as we got on and had a hard time getting off because he wouldn't stop watching it. We then went and walked around the pumpkin patch playing with some vines and falling all over the place.

It was time to head home because by this time the boys were getting a little hungry and so were the adults. We took a little detour before heading home and went to see PaPa and Mammy's new house they are building. I got some fabulous pictures...see them below.

We are now headed off to Target and then over to PaPa and Mammy's for a Spaghetti dinner. Enjoy the beautiful weather...we all know it's too good to last!

Feeding the baby goats...
"Picking apples" from the apple bin...Watching the tractor...Mommy and jack on the wagon...Jack's still a little dazed from the tractorTrying to pick up a big pumpkin...Walking back to the wagon with Auntie Katie...
Playing with Kasey and some pumpkins...
Walking to daddy and PaPa...
Running down the driveway with Mammy...

Target!

2008-10-07T18:17:00.000-07:00

I just had to put a quick post up because I was so excited about our outing today. As most of you know, Plattsburgh is now the newest town to add a Target to it's not so broad array of department stores. I have been waiting for the day that it opens so I can put an end to my dreaded trips to Walmart and enjoy more of a selection of baby items. Well, tonight was a ticket only admission and because my wonderful younger sister Kim works there...she gave me a ticket! I can only compare this experience to that of Charlie Bucket when he entered the chocolate factory...I was honestly that excited.

It was everything I dreamt it would be...bright colors, happy people and aisles and aisles of toys. We were there for more than two hours and only left because it was Jack's bed time. I ended up picking up a couple things for Jack and of course my kiddos that I work with. It's just so nice to have a new store and more of a variety of toys and household items. I've had my fill of Walmart and it's nice to finally have someplace new to do my shopping.

We did kill some time at the park before heading off to Target today. It was too beautiful of an autum day to sit inside cooking dinner. So Jack and I opted to play at the park and find some left-overs for dinner. Here are a couple pictures of our day...this kid just loves being outside.

As an added note...Target opens tomorrow =) Happy shopping!!

Lots to post about...

2008-10-05T05:33:00.000-07:00

I'm going to try not to write too much and explain everything with pictures because we all know I can go off on tangents sometimes and this could end up being ten pages long.

Friday was Grammy's birthday and Gramps surprised her with a dinner at the Butcher Block and lots of family. Jack was fabulous the whole time we were there (about 2 hours) and of course enjoyed some of Grammy's birthday cake. He kept stealing the frosting off the cake and I thought for sure he wouldn't get to bed until late. Not two minutes in the car and he was passed out. Sugar apparently has no effect on my child.

Yesterday was Daddy's birthday and because I have yet to be paid we had to make it a pretty inexpensive celebration. I decided to take him to Bankers and get him some donuts, apple cider and whatever else he wanted. If you know Mark, you know that this was a perfect gift because he just loves going to the orchard in the fall. Jack also enjoyed himself, trying to pick up pumpkins, watching other kids run around and of course finding the one thing that looked like Spongebob. (We don't even watch the show with him and he loves it).

Checking out the goats and Llamas....
Running away from the goats...
Not too sure what to think...Daddy being attacked by the goats...Eating a rock...Playing in the house instead of with the goats...
We are also heading to the pumpkin patch next weekend with Jack's buddy Kasey, so we did not go on the wagon ride or get pumpkins. We really wanted the two of them to do it together. So we got our goodies and headed home. My parents then came over as well as my sisters and Mark's mom for some pizza and cake for his birthday.

I forgot to mention that while we were at Banker's I picked up some foam cylinders to put in a pool for Jack (instead of a pool of balls....you'll see the pics in a sec). He thoroughly enjoys them and I think everyone else last night enjoyed them to...

My poor kid was stuffed with foam in every spot possible....Mark even gave him a booty...he's going to kill us when he gets older.

Last but not least, I have to let everyone know about our Halloween costume dilemma. I origonally wanted Jack to go as Tyrone from the Backyardigans seeing as he loves the show so much. Have you seen what Tyron's costume looks like?

I'm not a fan. I wanted Jack to try to pick his own costume and he really liked a Diego one, so we tried to find that instead. No such luck and Mark wasn't crazy about Diego either. So we opted for a cute lion costume at the Halloween store in the mall. Wouldn't you know it, but it doesn't fit. So we go to exchange it and I spend a good 45 minutes looking for another costume. I don't like any of them and after debating for what seemed like eternity we ended up leaving the store empty handed. By this point I'm pretty frustrated and just want to put a sheet over my kid and let him go as a ghost. We have no good stores in Plattsburgh for costumes and I don't like anything I see online. One of the kids I work with, her father gave me the marvelous idea to check out Old Navy. Why didn't I think of that?? So Thursday night we headed off to Old Navy to check out their costumes. Low and behold we find a costume that everyone is satisfied with. I gave Jack a choice between a Monkey costume and Dragon costume. Here is what he chose...

Isn't that adorable? I know there will probably be a lot of kids with this costume, but I really don't care. It's warm, easy to put on and take off and Jack enjoys wearing it. What more could I ask for? So with that out of the way I am finally able to sleep at night! Okay, just kidding.

Hope everyone enjoyed the pictures and my rambling. Like I said, there was a lot to post about.

15 Month Check-Up

2008-09-30T15:59:00.000-07:00

Jack had his 15 month Doctor appointment today...if you didn't already know that by the title of the blog. He is a "healthy" 27 pounds and 33 inches tall. 95th+ percentile for height and just shy of the 90th percentile for weight. He did go up a little on the weight chart, but it's nothing to concern ourselves with. He's a happy, healthy boy and he is developing just fine. He got two shots today which hit him pretty hard and he started falling asleep at 7 tonight. Seeing as I didn't want to wake up at 5 am, I tried to keep him up for a little bit. A little late night snack, book and Backyardigans will always keep him up and happy.

Not too much else to post about. We visited with Pepe Brown and Candi last night for a little bit, did some shopping and started putting Halloween decorations up. Jack really likes apples and pumpkins =) We have a busy weekend planned, however. Grammy's birthday on Friday, Daddy's birthday on Saturday and our first trip to the pumpkin patch on Saturday for daddy's birthday. Hopefully lots of pictures to follow also.

Here are a few from Grammy's this weekend. He hung out there while mommy rested and got better!

Waiting patiently for dinner...
Getting tired of waiting...
Playing in his toy bin while mommy was trying to put the toys away...

Sick, Sick, Sick

2008-09-28T11:33:00.000-07:00

Quick update about our week and weekend because as the title says....I am sick. Not too sure what it is...hopefully just a bad cold and not Bronchitis. I have a feeling this is going to be a rough year for me being in and out of all sorts of houses. Time to start taking vitamins again!

Jack has surprisingly not caught my cold. Which makes me extra happy. He's had a pretty calm week compared to our usual busy weeks. He did have a nice weekend....from what I hear. Gramps came to pick him up last night around 5:30 and took him to dinner at McDonalds and to play at the Play Land. Gramps and Grammy offered last week to take him off our hands for the night and it ended up being great timing with me being so sick. He didn't eat too much but he did have a great time chasing a three year old little blond girl. We all know how he loves his older women! He then went to WalMart with Gramps and flirted with everyone that walked by him. He went back to Gramps and Grammy's house and watched some TV then went to bed. I don't know how they do it, but every time Jack stays at their house he sleeps until 7 am. I can't get him to sleep past 6:30 in his own bed. Doesn't seem like that big of a deal, but sleeping 30 more minutes a night would be nice.

I guess today he went to Price Chopper with Grammy, played a little bit and made a cake. I have been resting most of the day and Mark has been busy doing work. We miss our little guy though and are heading out in a little bit to go see him and have dinner at Grammy's.

It looks like it'll be a busy week for us once again. Mark has some workshops, as do I, Pepe Brown is going to stop by tomorrow to visit and Grammy and Mark's birthday's are at the end of the week. Back to our busy selves once again. Lets hope my cold breaks up and I can make it through the week.

Well, I have to apologize for not having any new pictures of Jack. I haven't had an opportunity to take any pictures so I'll post a couple old ones that I haven't posted yet. Have a great week!

Mowing the lawn...
Talking on my phone...
Kissing Marble...
Watching Backyardigans...
I was trying to be all artistic and take a picture of his eyelashes...

Lake Placid weekend

2008-09-22T16:03:00.000-07:00

We had quite the busy, yet fun, weekend. The Tri-Lakes Relay for Life was on Saturday in Lake Placid, so we decided to go and make a weekend out of it. We got down to Lake Placid around 10:30 on Saturday morning and spent the majority of the day at the oval for the Relay. This is a much smaller Relay than the Plattsburgh one so there was not as much going on, but in my opinion this was a much more personal Relay and just as fun. Jack really enjoyed walking around and chasing older kids on their bikes or rollerblades. There were also a crazy amount of apples everywhere for some reason and Jack was stealing them left and right. I think he "ate" about 7 apples throughout the course of the day. Needless to say, his newest word is apple (he says it more like "ba-ple"....so cute!)

Jack has been coming out with more and more words each day that Mark and I have realized that we are now at the stage where we have to watch what we say because he is repeating so much. His newest words are apple, uh oh, baby and he tries to say Elmo. Each day he adds a new word to his vocabulary. It's pretty exciting because he is now attempting to say two syllable words instead of just one syllable. Now if only he could tell the difference between Mark and I we would be all set. (he still sometimes will call me da-da instead of ma-ma...what a kid)

Anyway, on Sunday someone woke up WAAAAAAAY too early and woke everyone in the hotel room up. (We stayed with Joan and Cliff overnight in Lake Placid) So we all went to breakfast at a local Diner and then Grammy and Grams offered to take Jack home so Mark and I could walk around Lake Placid. We decided to take them up on that offer. Jack was almost half asleep after breakfast and the weather was a little gloomy, so it worked out well. He had a nice day with Grammy and Gramps, took a 3 hour nap at their house and it gave Mark and I a chance to do a little shopping, get home and take a nap! Our shopping experience was more of a browsing experience because I haven't been paid yet, but it was still nice to spend some time together.

It was yet again another great weekend filled with some interesting moments. Below are a few pictures of our day in Lake Placid (in no specific order) and a couple of the Relay....enjoy!

Jack with his muffin, cup and spoon...multi-talented baby
His angry face....dropped his cup and spoon
Jack with Gramps...this is such a cute picture

Luminaria bags at the Relay...
Grammy and Gramps...I don't think they knew I got this picture =)
Jack chasing Daddy...
Jack and his new friend Adam playing with the flags...
Whiteface Mountain...
Jack's idea of fun...hiding under a blanket and going nuts
My little man...looking more like a big boy every day

Papa's Birthday!

2008-09-19T18:07:00.001-07:00

Quick update tonight because I am pretty tired.

We've all had a pretty nice week, busy but nice. We've gone out to dinner with Grammy, gone shopping, went to playgroup and saw Mammy and Papa.

Grammy has been pretty stressed out because of her Relay in Lake Placid tomorrow (watch for pictures of that...should be a fun time!) so she took us out to dinner the other night. Our waitress wasn't the friendliest and I was tempted to not clean up after Jack (he made quite the mess) but I caved and cleaned up his remains of dinner off the floor. It was a nice night and Jack was able to cheer Grammy up

We also went to playgroup at the gym today and Jack saw his bestest buddy Kasey! I love that my new position allows me to have a flexible schedule so I'm able to do some things with Jack still - aka have Friday afternoons off!. We only went for about 45 minutes but he still had a blast. For the first time in a very long time, Kasey walked up to Jack to give him a hug and Jack walked away. I was floored! He never rejects a hug, especially from his buddy. I told Jack that we were going Bye Bye and he proceeded to go back and give Kasey a hug. Poor kid is never going to want to hug him again! After that we went to lunch at Subway, did a little shopping and came home to bake a cake for Papa's birthday today.

We made a chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting (consequently Mark's favorite cake) and Jack really enjoyed eating the left over frosting. He is truly Mark's son. Mark came home just before we left for my parent's house with a box of cookies he got delivered to him. We decided to pack Jack up in the box and ship him off.

Okay, so we didn't really pack him up, but he did enjoy getting into the box and playing around with it. We then headed off to Mammy and Papa's for spaghetti, cake and ice cream. Jack had a lot of fun with Auntie Katie, Uncle Ryan and Auntie Kim. They kept him occupied with the radio, balls and all sorts of other toys. What he really enjoyed were Papa's remote control cars. He sat there and watched them for a while and then even got a chance to use the remote. He wasn't too sure about them at first, he had a good grip on Daddy's arm when the cars were driving around, but he eventually got down and played with them. Christmas present?

All in all it was a good night. Jack even cuddled with Papa for a little bit, almost falling asleep in his arms around 7. Seeing as it was his birthday, Papa was quite alright with that =)

Off to bed...long weekend ahead of us. We'll be spending it in Lake Placid for the Relay and then possible some walking around on Sunday if the weather is nice. Hopefully I'll get some good pictures of the fall foliage happening in the Adirondacks. We'll see. Night!

For Aimee

2008-09-18T16:24:00.000-07:00

I forgot to give this to you when you were home...

Hope the rest of your trip wasn't as bad as the beginning of it!

Weekend Update

2008-09-14T17:20:00.000-07:00

It was a pretty nice weekend for all of us in the house. I've been looking forward to it for a while because we had planned going out to dinner with Aimee and Jaramy (who were both up from AZ) and then going bowling. As much as I love Jack and enjoy spending time with him, I do also enjoy an adult evening without any babies.

So, on Saturday I cleaned the kitchen and living room while Jack helped me sweep and attempted to help me mop but I had to keep moving my mop bucket away from him so he wouldn't play in the water. I then took a five minute break (I have to mop on my hands and knees because it was that bad) and Jack played with his truck. I then look over at him and he had something in his mouth that looked like paper. I went to see what it was and saw little tiny bead looking things falling from his mouth. I immediately freaked out and started pulling the beads and paper out of his mouth. He had somehow found a package of silica balls (those things you find when you buy a new pair of shoes) and ate almost the whole bag. Well, we get on the phone with Poison Control and to our relief find out that those things are not poisonous, just a choking hazard. *phew* We gave him some milk to wash them into his belly (which the woman said to do) and made him sit down and read a book for a little bit. He gave us quite the scare, the first of many I am sure.

Now, Jack's babysitter has him on a one nap a day schedule so he hasn't taken a nap all morning by this point. I figured he would be fine because he usually doesn't nap until 12:30. So we started having lunch at 11:30 because he was asking for food. Not five minutes after we start eating he does this....

Yes, that's right, my kid fell asleep eating lunch! I felt really mean, but how could I not video tape him falling asleep.

We also had Mark's cousin's baby shower on Saturday and while Jack napped and Mark worked I headed out. There were tons of people there, all asking where Jack was, and Tori got a lot of really great stuff (from what I could see). Mark ended up bringing Jack over after his nap so everyone could see him. I took a few pictures (just some until Jack came) of the shower and some are from Mark's cousin Jess that she took of Jack. Enjoy!

Jack eating some of Mel's yummy cake...
Jack playing outside with Grammy...
Jack playing in the ice cubes...
Jack and Trystan on the frog at the playground...
Diaper cake that Aunt Pam and Aunt Missy made. Aunt Pam was so happy about this...

The cake! I of course did an edit....
A centerpiece that someone made for Tori and baby Hunter...

Jack then went to his Mammy and Papa's house for the night so Mommy and Daddy could have dinner with Aimee and Jaramy. We went to Livingoods and had a nice time catching up with them. We then met Keith and Erika at our house and then headed off to the bowling alley where the guys team beat the girls team both times. It's okay though, I think we put forth a valliant effort =) It was a great night, one that was very much needed. It's been about 3 1/2 years since all six of us have been together and it was really nice to hang out again. Have a safe trip back Aimee and Jaramy and we are crossing our fingers that everything works out for both of you. We'd love to have you live closer!

Today Mark had a ton of work to do so Jack and I spent some time at my parent's house, did some shopping and played a little Wii. Not as hectic of a day, but nice none the less.

Last but not least, these pictures are for Tasha. She asked to see some of Jack in Justin's big truck. I didn't take them so they are a little fuzzy (thus the reason why I didn't post them in the first place, sorry!).

"Driving" Uncle Justin's big truck...
Honking the horn...
Outside view of Jack in the big truck...

Have a great week!

Quick update

2008-09-11T18:42:00.000-07:00

So I realize it has now been over a week since I posted. Mainly because not much is going on. Now that Mark and I have started work again, that of course consumes our lives.

Mark is enjoying his job. He still wishes it was a Math position, but he's starting to like it more and more each day. He's got a good group of kids and not too many behavior problems so that is a plus. I think he'll begin to enjoy it more once they actually get more into the curriculum. I am loving my job. Some days it doesn't even feel like work. It's just nice to not have as much stress on me as last year. I think my gray hairs are starting to disappear! =)

Jack is also having a great time at daycare. Michelle has got him on a one nap a day schedule, which I've been wanting to do for a while. She also makes him homemade, healthy meals for breakfast and lunch. He eats better than I could ever feed him! Today they went to the pumpkin patch and Scott took a lot of pictures. Unfortunately they are all on his camera so I can't post any on here. Jack just loved it they said and he even tried to give the goats a kiss. Mark was a little bummed we couldn't bring him there first, but I think no matter how many times we bring him to there he'll love it each time.

I also haven't had much time to take pictures this week, so I'm going to post some pictures of Jack during his first year of life. It's nice to look at how far he has come in the last 14 months. They grow up so fast....

One of the first times he smiled....what a ham!

Loving his new Bumbo seat at 10 weeks old...

Sitting up in the bathtub for the first time...

Wearing uncle Justin's hat...

Standing up all by himself...

Taken a few weeks ago....sick, grumpy and teething doesn't always make for a good picture!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

First day of school

2008-09-03T09:53:00.000-07:00

Well, it's official, summer vacation has ended. Mark and I both started school today and Jack went off to daycare. I only saw two kids today but it made me very excited to not be in the classroom. I love working with kids one on one and having Friday's off will be a perk too =) Jack did really well at his babysitters. There are three boys that Michelle watches, one is 2 and the other little boy is 16 months. Michelle said he cuddled with her a little bit, they played outside and in their toy room. He did really well and when we left one of the little boys kept saying "bye Jack, see you tomorrow!" It was so cute. I'm not sure how Mark's day is going, but I'm sure he's doing well.

Here are a few pictures from our last days of summer vacation. Jack and I have been home sick with the sniffles and coughing so we haven't done too much. We did play outside a bit and I made a little "water table" in the house for him to play in (see picture).

Playing outside...

Trying to get my camera...

Playing in his "water table"... gotta love his face

Photo Editing and Videos

2008-08-29T17:56:00.001-07:00

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...

2008-08-22T17:54:00.001-07:00

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

2008-08-19T10:37:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-14T17:41:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-10T17:08:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-07T18:53:00.001-07:00

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

2008-08-06T17:39:00.000-07:00

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!!