Vince Shute Bear Sanctuary

Ten years ago was the last time we visited the Vince Shute Bear Sancutary as a family. The boys had been there a few times over the years with other family members or friends. 

Well we finally had a weekend evening free and what do we do? We hit the road and do something. NONE of us do well with just being. Something we should actually work on. But our weekends and time to do what we really want are pretty limited. Not that we don't want to travel for sports but sometimes we just need to have something different. 

Going back and reading the 2009 post makes me laugh and cringe at the same time. 

https://becknbear.blogspot.com/2009/06/bear-sanctuary.html

The boys were tiny, would never remember it, busy, harder to handle, etc...but we still took the time to do things with them. I still laugh that I thought we were heading to the bear dump to watch the bears from the back of our car! 

But here we are 10 years later and nobody peed off the observation deck, we didn't have to tell anyone not to yell or run and I wasn't concerned about anyone falling asleep in the car unless it was the driver.  

Still enjoy watching the little ones get down from a tree. 

Too "old" for a face painting tattoo, but will totally take one on his hand.

Bears = Bugs

And these new insect repellent wipes were a MUST towards the end of our evening!
Just open them up, wipe your skin and carry on. 

Still trying to get over the fact that he has me beat in height. But love that he'll still hang out with us.

36 weeks and 2-6 more to go

Well, I am officially 9 months pregnant. Barrett and I went to my appointment yesterday. Just a routine check up. Same old thing. Pee in a cup (what do they need all that for anyway??), took some vials of blood, measured my huge belly, listened to the heart rate (138-149) and asked if we had any questions. My iron level came back "fine" this time. Still not in the normal range, but I have never assumed I was normal in any way before...last time my iron level was 9.7, this time it was 11.4 and normal is 11.7-15. Measuring right on as far as the belly goes. Next week he'll check me to see if I am dilating any more or if my cervix has started thinning out. Apparently the last ultrasound showed 4 cm of cervix still-which is A LOT of cervix that needs to get out of the way.

Yesterday, since I had my doctors appointment I decided to take the whole day off from work and pamper myself (and run errands). I started off by slacking in my morning routine and taking Parker to daycare late. Went to the doctor, then Bear and I went out for breakfast-which felt really good to just go somewhere together. Just the two of us, have an adult conversation, and not have to cut up anybody else's food. Funny how breakfast can make you feel like you are on an actual date-which I admit, we have slacked in the "taking time for each other department". Then I had a facial and got my eyebrows waxed (that part is never fun but needs to be done). My pedicure has to wait until next week or the week after-I don't want to have my nails painted and then it all be washed off by the time labor rolls around. A girl has got to have skinny, shaped eyebrows and hot pink toenails when she is in labor. After my facial I ran all my errands, which involved wiping out on Main Street-meaning sliding into the splits and landing on all fours with my 9 month ass sticking up in the air! I am fine and I pray nobody saw me go down. I secretly have a very bad habit of laughing at people when they wipe out (once I know they are okay). Especially when they scramble to get up and look to see if there were any witnesses. I however, was far from scrambling, it was Bambi (pregnant Bambi) trying not to fall down again. Anyways, after running errands I had my hair highlighted and cut. Then off to the chiropractor. Which felt soooo good. He fixed my hips! Temporarily, I already know, but they do feel better. And how cool was it to lay face down on my belly for 20 minutes! Awesome little contraption that table was! Then 4:15 rolled around and back to reality. One of the errands was to pick up supplies for homemade spaghetti. Which means prego sauce doctored up with fresh mushrooms, Italian sausage and a Zantac. Accompanied by deli garlic bread and salad. Yum!

Cute thing that Parker did when I got home was say "mommy pretty" and rub my hair! How sweet is that? I asked Bear if he told him to say that. Which he then admitted that all he said was "mama's hot". Now how sweet is that? My wonderful hubby still thinks I am hot? After 10 years and 30 pounds?!

Here is the latest belly evolution picture and a few from my home photo shoots.

And a picture of Parker-because he is so cute. My little GQ man.

And a messy one, well because boys are messy. His nice white turtleneck is covered in chocolate milk and cheetos residue. The bleach pen is a wonderful invention!

Did you lick the beaters as a kid?

I am realizing this holiday season that I am more and more like my wonderful mother! As Parker gets older I find myself recreating the holiday traditions that my mom did for me and my sisters. Something as simple as letting me lick the beaters after some holiday treat she was making. This has become a favorite of Parker's. He wants to redip his beater for more though. We also made sugar cookie cutouts from my Grandmother's recipe. This year they actually turned out perfectly. Decorating was a blast, he again wanted to lick the frosting off the decorating knife and then continue decorating. Other than more than a few sprinkles on the floor, it was pretty easy. He catches on to everything we show him. Other things I find myself doing this time of year is sitting in the dark with the Christmas tree plugged in, all by myself, smiling at the lights! That is totally my mother!

Destiny?

Parker was given an entire bag of hockey equipment from cousins Emma and Peter. We tried on the entire wardrobe and did he ever have fun. I would hold up the the piece of equipment and ask him where it went-and he would point or tell me the correct spot. He watches his "idol" Bradyn at daycare get dressed daily for hockey. So of course he knew it all. Daddy had to tell me to turn around the shoulder pads though, I had them backwards. Once Parker was all suited up he asked me where his "cuk-cup" aka nutcup was. After we could stop laughing we told him his diaper would work for now. I guess he'll need one eventually but not yet. So the question is...is it natural for Parker to want to play hockey already or do we as two hockey playing parents have a tendency to "push" him in that direction? We'll see once he gets on skates this winter to see if he really likes it. Barrett started out in figure skating (on hockey skates) when he was really little. He learned the basics and then went in to hockey. He is still involved by playing in the men's league and coaching. So we'll see what Parker wants to do with his winters...

Week 24

I had a doctor appointment last week. Very routine, everything looks and sounds normal. Currently packing an extra 12 pounds. Uterus measuring 23.5 weeks. Bebe's heartrate at 150bpm. Blood pressure 100/60. Blood test results back-no downs syndrome. Next appointment in a month, I do the glucose test-where you swallow a can of orange syrup, sit around for an hour and see what happens to your blood sugar level. That's always fun.

Decided to play around with my camera and got some self portraits taken. Still learning but better than making my husband try to be creative with me.

Fall Fun in the Leaves

Saturday we went out to the Mannausau's to take our annual Fall pictures. Daddy got Parker to throw leaves at him and smile so big. I had gotten a new lens for my camera and had to try it out. Thanks to my friend and camera expert Gina they turned out just the way I wanted them to. We managed to get a weather break to go outside, it has been raining off and on all day long for a week straight! Needless to say the leaves were wet and so was Parker but I don't think he cared.

19 Weeks and Snow in September!

Woke up this morning to snow falling outside our windows! We could not believe it! Of course it melted right away but still! I did manage to take some adorable Fall pictures of Parker yesterday. So we will continue to believe that Fall is still here and winter won't come for another month or two! Enjoy the pics!