The Butorac's

Happy Easter!

2010-04-05T21:41:00.000-07:00

We had a great Easter this year! We spent lots of time with family and enjoyed some great food, as usual. Saturday night I tried dying Easter eggs with Luca, but it was past his bedtime and he wasn't all that interested in it. Oh well, he is only 5 months old. I'm sure there will be plenty of egg dying in the years to come :-)

We got up bright and early on Sunday morning and drove up to Cle Elum to go to 8:00 Mass with Tony's family. After church, we hung out, took pictures and had a delicious brunch of scrambled eggs, sausage, fresh fruit and homemade huckleberry muffins.

That evening, my dad, sister and brother-in-law came over to our house for dinner. Tony smoked a ham on the BBQ and we had twice-baked potatoes, grilled asparagus and fruit salad along with it. For dessert I made a triple-layer coconut cake from scratch. It turned out to be a lot more work than I expected and the final result looked nothing the picture in Better Homes & Gardens magazine, which is where I got the idea and recipe. Oh well, it tasted good so I guess that is what is important. By the end of the evening, Luca was exhausted and so were we! It was a great day to spend with family, celebrating the amazing sacrifice that Jesus made for us.

Mom, I am so done with this!

Our Easter Baskets :-)

Looking cute as ever in their Easter outfits.

It will be so much fun next Easter when we can do an Easter Egg Hunt with these two (and Leo).

Peek-a-boo Luca!

Luca pushing Alli...

...and Alli pushing back.

Easter family photo :-)

Checking out his Easter basket.

Of course he was more interested in the "grass" than anything else in the basket :-)

Happy Easter!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2010-03-17T17:29:00.000-07:00

Looking good in his St. Patty's Day jammies.

Look at that precious little tush :-)

St. Patty's Day outfit #2 - Go Notre Dame!

4 Months!

2010-03-03T18:49:00.000-08:00

Our baby boy is 4 months old already! I can't believe how quickly the days go by. Sometimes I really wish that time would slow down because my little baby is getting so big so fast! Luca is so much fun! He is really starting to develop a little personality and it is so amazing to watch him as he becomes more and more aware of the things that are going on around him. I took him in for his 4 month check-up today and these are his stats:

Weight: 14.1 lbs (50th Percentile)
Height: 25 inches (50th Percentile)
Head: 16 inches (30th Percentile)

He did not grow as much between 2 and 4 months as he did between 0 and 2 months. The pediatrician said that is fairly common and he is still very healthy and everything looks good, so not to worry. Whew!

Luca is still just nursing - he wants nothing to do with formula. We have tried giving it to him a few times because I am concerned that I am not making enough milk for him. The pediatrician said that at this age he should be able to go 3-4 hours between feedings during the day and 6-8 hours at night. Well he is definitely NOT going 6-8 hours at night and sometimes during the day we barely make it to 2 hours before he starts to get hungry, so I have tried to supplement with a bottle of formula here and there, but he will not take it. I feel so bad because he gets so excited when he sees the bottle (which he takes just fine from anyone when it is filled with breastmilk) but as soon as it touches his tongue and he realizes it is formula, he spits it out, closes his mouth and turns his head away. He is so smart - he knows that's not the good stuff :-) The Dr. did say that if we think he is ready we can try giving him rice cereal once a day. I definitely think he is ready because anytime that we are eating in front of him he is constantly reaching for our fork/spoon and he is really interested in what is on our plates. So, I will probably try the rice cereal with him in the next couple weeks.

Here are some of the things Luca is doing right now:

Cooing/talking and squeaking/squawking with delight
Smiling with a big, open mouth grin
"Standing" - we can prop him up with his hands on the couch or ottoman and he will stand there for several minutes without falling down
Rolling over in both directions
Grasping things - he is able to grab things like his binky and turn it in his hands to put it in his mouth the right way
Sucking on his hands/fists (and thumb - which we are really trying to stop)

Two of my favorite things in the whole world :-)

Being silly with dad before his bath.

Morning smiles for mom while she is working.

He loves bath time.

Luca and his Auntie Erin.

I love this picture! He is so cute I just want to eat him!

Hanging out at Grandpa's house.

3 Months!

2010-02-02T21:12:00.000-08:00

I can't believe Luca is 3 months old already! Where has the time gone?! He is growing and changing more and more every day. Here are some of the things he is doing:

Cooing/talking to us all the time
Smiling a ton
"Standing" - he is really good at using his legs to push himself up from a squatting position to a standing position. He has some very strong quads!
While on his tummy he can push himself up on his forearms and turn him head in both directions.
Grasping at things (usually my hair or sweatshirt string while he is nursing), and man does he have a grip! He is starting to grasp toys as well, but doesn't hang on to them for very long.
Blows bubbles and mimics (or tries to) movements and noises that we make with our mouths.
Sucking on his hands/fists (and pretty much anything else that goes near his mouth)

Such a sweet face!

Hanging out in the Bumbo while mom works.

I spent 15 minutes trying to get him to smile at me, but he was too interested in staring at the camera instead.

He is just so precious! We absolutely adore him and are having so much fun being parents!

Weekend in Lynden

2010-01-24T22:12:00.000-08:00

This weekend we took a trip up to Lynden to see my best friends from college and go to a baby shower for my friend Courtney. We left Friday after I got off work and arrived in Lynden just before 10 PM. It is a long trip, but always so worth it to see all my best girls! Julie and Chris were so nice to host all of us (5 couples and 8 kids - all age 3 or younger and all boys) at their house. Our families are all growing so much these days that Courtney had to bring her parent's motorhome over so that we had more places for people to sleep. Our time together these days is pretty low key - a lot of taking care of kids, feeding babies and sitting around chatting - but it is so nice to be able to catch up with each other since we are all spread out around the state. The husbands/dads always enjoy getting together as well and spend a lot of time drinking beer and playing poker :-)

It seems like every time we get together (which is only about 3-4 times a year) there are new babies to meet or someone is pregnant. This weekend was the first time that all my friends (except Jess) got to meet Luca and also the first time that most of us got to meet Kyler and Gavin as well. All three boys were born within a month of each other - Luca was born in between Kyler and Gavin. It will be so much fun (and probably a little crazy) when all 3 boys get older and can really play with each other. I am sure Jax will be right in the mix too since he is just a few months older than the other 3.

We had a great weekend with great friends! As usual, it went way to fast and we are already planning and looking forward to the next time we can all get together.

Mommies feeding their babies.

Gavin (born 11/18/09) and Kyler (born 10/17/09). Gavin has bright red hair just like his mama!

Wyatt & Colt

Carolyn & Jax (7 1/2 months)

Luca hanging out with dad in the morning.

Pretty much what the boys did all weekend :-)

Showing the little guys how it's done.

Me, hanging out with Luca (in the bouncy seat) and Jax.

All the older boys playing outside.

Courtney, the cutest mama-to-be!

All the Price boys - Crew, Brody & Kyler.

Courtney's Baby Shower

2010-01-24T21:50:00.000-08:00

The main reason for our trip to Lynden this weekend (other than to see all our great friends) was so that I could go to Courtney's baby shower. Julie and Kassi put on a great shower with lots of fun people and fabulous food!

Carolyn, Me & Luca, Jess & Gavin, Julie, and Courtney (with Carolyn's baby, Jax)

Me & Luca and Jess & Gavin

Love this little man!

Courtney, Tracey and Julie's baby, Kyler

Jess and a sleepy baby Gavin

Random Pics

2010-01-10T20:30:00.001-08:00

So, I know I have been absolutely terrible about keeping up with the blog. I still have a lot of back posts to catch up on, but I thought I would at least post a bunch of random pictures from over the last couple months. I do have a little bit of an excuse for not posting pictures lately - we were unable to find the charger to our camera for almost a month and the battery was dead, so the only way we could take pictures was with our phones. Some of these pics were taken with my iPhone, so that is why they are a little larger. If you want to see more of the most current Luca pictures, those of you on Facebook can check Tony's page because he is pretty good about adding the latest pictures of our little man. Enjoy!

Alli snuggling up to Luca. A rare moment when they are both awake and happy :-)

I just love his face!

This is the face he makes when he "talks" to us.

Sporting the Jordan's and basketball shorts that he got for Christmas. He is ready to play for the "skins" team :-)

Smiling at his dad.

First time in the Bumbo seat. He was still a little wobbly so we put a bunch of pillows behind him. He is watching football with dad.

Sweet smile.

Half smile.

He is just so darn cute!

Sleeping in the Boppy.

All dressed up in his Basketball sweatsuit from GE and his new Jordan's. It also looks like he is flashing gang signs :-)

I just love him!

Smiley man!

Trying on his new baseball cap. It's still a little big!

All clean after a nice bath.

Nice in warm in his fleece football outfit and sporting a faux-hawk.

Wide awake!

Sleeping in his swing with one eye open. He doesn't want to miss anything :-)

Notre Dame Game with Cousin Alli

2009-11-21T21:55:00.000-08:00

Mikey, Stephanie and Alli came over tonight to watch the Notre Dame game with us. GE and Scotty were here as well. Both Luca and Alli were all dressed up in their Notre Dame gear and rooting for their favorite team.

My favorite little man!

Look at that face!

Trying to get them to wake up so we can take their picture :-)

Alli is awake, still working on Luca...

There he is!

Not to happy about being woken up to have his picture taken :-)

2 Week "Wellness Check"

2009-11-16T17:38:00.000-08:00

I took Luca in for his 2 week check-up today. I really wanted to know how much he weighed to make sure he was still getting enough to eat. He weighed 9 lbs 4 oz! He gained a pound in a week! The Dr. said that they usually look for about an ounce a day and he gained 16 ounces in 7 days. I was really relieved! He measured at 20 3/4 inches (3/4 inch longer than he was at birth) and his head measurement was 14 inches (not sure how this compares to what he was at birth). The Dr. said that he looked very healthy and he checked out perfectly!

Before we left, a nurse came in and did another newborn screening test. He had the first test done while we were in the hospital (24 hours after he was born). To do the test, they prick his heel with a needle and put a bunch of little blood drops on this absorbent paper that they then send off to be tested for certain disorders. The nurse told me that if I breastfed him while they pricked his heel he probably wouldn't cry. So I did, and it worked great - he didn't fuss at all.

His next Dr. appointment will be his 2 month check-up and we scheduled that for the beginning of January. I am a little nervous for that appointment because he will be getting shots :-(

Birth Story

2009-11-15T11:56:00.001-08:00

Luca Leon Butorac

November 2, 2009

9:27 PM

8 lbs 4.8 oz

Ok, I am finally finding some time to write down all the details of Luca's birth. I have just been having so much fun holding and hanging out with my little man that I haven't taken the time to update the blog. But I know everyone is anxious for an update, so here goes...

Sunday, November 1st:

I woke up with a wet pantyliner and continued to have wet pantyliners all morning. I called my Dr. to see if she thought maybe my water had broken and she told me that it may have, but since I wasn't having contractions yet, to just keep an eye on it. She said if I felt a "gush" of fluid or started having strong, regular contractions, then I would need to go to the hospital. By late afternoon, I was "leaking" pretty heavily and told Tony that we should probably think about getting things ready. We both took showers and finished packing our bags. Once we were all ready, the "leaking" seemed to subside quite a bit, but I was starting to have what felt like strong menstrual cramps as well as some cramping in my lower back. We decided to just hang out at home and see how things progressed. I continued to have the cramping off and on throughout the evening, but the cramps (or contractions) never got closer together or more intense. They actually stopped by the time I went to bed and I was able to sleep soundly through the night.

Monday, November 2nd:

I woke up around 6:45 when Tony left for school. I started to feel a little crampy again so I just hung out in bed and watched a movie until it was time to get ready for my Dr.'s appointment at 9:45. I told my Dr. about the crampiness and explained that the fluid "leaking" had gotten heavier after I spoke with her on Sunday morning. She checked me and said that she didn't feel a water bag, so my water very well could have broken the day before like I thought. She said I was just about 3 cm dilated and still about 50% effaced. Then she said, "Do you want to have a baby today?" I of course said "YES!!" She told me to go ahead and walk over to the hospital (my Dr.'s office is right next to the hospital) and she would call them and let them know that I was on the way. All of a sudden I got really nervous because this was totally not how I had pictured this process starting. Tony was supposed to be there and he was supposed to drive me to the hospital, etc. I asked my Dr. if I should go home and get my bags and wait for Tony to come back from work and then we could go to the hospital together. She said that it takes a couple hours to get checked in and hooked up to everything, and if I wanted to have the baby that night it would be best if I just headed over to the hospital right then and then call Tony to stop at the house and get our bags before meeting me at the hospital. So I headed over to the hospital feeling very nervous and excited all at the same time. I called Tony right away and told him that I was heading to the hospital to start the induction process and if everything went well we could have our baby by 8 or 9 o'clock that night. He was very excited (and I think a bit nervous too) and said that he would find someone to cover his class and head back down right away. I also called my dad and left a message letting him know that I was heading to the hospital to have a baby :-)

I got checked in, changed into a hospital gown, and hooked up to an IV for fluids and pitocin. I was really nervous for the pitocin to start working because I have heard awful things about this drug from several of my friends. However, I also knew that it was the only way to get the contractions going and to get my labor to progress. Plus, before I left the Dr.'s office, my Dr. said that once I was hooked up the pitocin and started to have some strong, regular contractions that I could have the epidural anytime, which made me feel much better.

Tony got to the hospital at about 11:30 with all of our bags. By that time I was having some contractions, but they weren't too terribly painful (just really uncomfortable) and I could breath through them. We just hung out for the next couple hours watching TV and texting and talking to friends and family to update them on our status. By 2:00 the contractions were getting a LOT stronger and coming a little closer together, but there was still no regular pattern to them. I told the nurse that I wanted to think about getting the epidural and she kind of gave me a funny look that made me feel like I was being a big wuss. (My Dr. had been in a few minutes earlier to check my progress - I was 4 cm dilated - and again told me that I could have the epidural anytime I was ready. She said there was no need to be a hero since the end result is a baby with or without the epidural. I loved her for saying that!) The nurse said she would have the nurse anesthetist come in and go over the procedure with me and then I could decide what to do from there. The nurse anesthetist came in a few minutes later and we talked about the procedure and what to expect as far as pain relief. The entire time he was in the room (which was about 20 minutes) I didn't have any contractions, so I told him that I would try to wait a little bit longer before I got the epidural. Not joking, as soon as he left the room I started having really strong, painful contractions back to back with no break in between. I tried using all the breathing techniques we learned in class, I tried leaning over the bed and swaying my hips to help relieve some of the back labor, but nothing was working - I was in a lot of pain! It was about this time that Tony asked me if I would want to do this again. I told him it was not a good time to be asking me that :-) The nurse came back in a few minutes later and I told her that I wanted the epidural ASAP, so she paged the nurse anesthetist to come back. The nurse anesthetist was back within a few minutes and once the epidural was in I got instant relief from the pain - it was AMAZING!

Tony and I spent the rest of the afternoon just resting and watching TV. It was crazy to see these huge contractions on the monitor but not feel anything. Around 6 PM Tony's parents came by and so did my sister and my dad. I was almost 7 cm dilated at that point so everyone just continued to hang out in the room and wait for things to progress. At 7:30, my Dr. came in to check me again and said that I was complete and was ready to start pushing. They had me wait about another 30 minutes just to see if I would start feeling increased pressure in my pelvis and have more of an urge to push. At 8 o'clock, the nurse and my Dr. came back in said it was time to push. Since we were the only patients in labor and delivery that night, they let our families wait in a special waiting room that was just down the hall from our room, instead of sending them to the general waiting area in the main part of the hospital.

The nurse and my Dr. got me all set up to start pushing and Tony took his position up by my head (he was not interested in seeing anything below the waist), and then we waited for the next contraction. It felt really weird to start pushing because the epidural was blocking the sensation that I needed to "bear down". The nurse would just tell me when a contraction was coming and I would start pushing. The first hour of pushing was not bad at all. I was actually able to laugh and carry on a conversation with the nurse and my Dr. They were laughing at me because I was flipping channels on the TV back and forth between Monday Night Football and the World Series. The nurse asked me if I was ok with having the TV on and if I wanted my child to come into the world with sports on or if I wanted something a little more soothing. I told her that sports is pretty much all that is ever on at our house so we might as well get him used to it :-) It was also partly for Tony's sake because I knew he was really nervous about the whole delivery process, he hates hospitals and he doesn't do well with blood, etc. I was trying to give him a slight distraction so that he would make it through the entire delivery :-) The last half hour of pushing was a lot more work and definitely a lot more uncomfortable. I started to feel when the contractions were coming and I could feel the baby in the birth canal. It was this intense feeling of something being "stuck" down there and I just wanted it out. My Dr. and the nurse anesthetist had both told me that there would be some pain and a burning sensation as the baby crowns that the epidural would not take away. They were right! About the last 5 sets of pushes were very painful and uncomfortable. Then all of a sudden my Dr. told me to ease up on the pushing as the baby's head was coming out. Once the head was out, I felt a little relief and then she told me to give one last little push and I felt instant relief and Luca was out! It was the best feeling in the world! They immediately put him on my chest and he started crying right away. I can't even explain how wonderful it felt to finally hold him - it was the most amazing thing! Tony cut the umbilical cord and then they swaddled him up and handed him back to me. I could have just stared at him forever, I couldn't believe he was finally here! I ended up having a small tear that only needed one stitch. After they got Luca and I all cleaned up we tried breastfeeding and he took to it right away. Then our families came in a little bit later to meet him. They were all very excited that he was finally here as well and everyone thought he was just perfect.

Overall, I have to say that labor was not nearly as bad as I expected. I was honestly terrified of the whole process the entire 3rd Trimester. Even when I was horribly uncomfortable and just wanted him to be here, I was still really nervous about how everything would go and how I would handle it since I do not consider myself to have a very high pain tolerance :-) The epidural was amazing and I truly believe that it helped to make my labor a more enjoyable experience. I can now say that I would definitely go through all of it again - especially now that I have my precious little man to remind me of the reward at the end!

Visitors

2009-11-11T19:27:00.000-08:00

Erin had today off from work for Veteran's Day so she decided to come up and visit for a little bit. Our good family friend, Mary Jane, was on her way to Tacoma to visit her granddaughters and decided to stop by and meet Luca as well. She brought her camera with her (which is a really nice one) and took some pictures of Luca. I hadn't showered yet, so there are no pictures of me and Luca :-)

Weight Gain!

2009-11-09T17:15:00.000-08:00

Luca had another weight check today. I am happy to report that he gained 11 oz over the weekend and he is now back up to 8 lbs 3 3/4 oz - just shy of his birth weight. What a relief! It is nice to know that at least our strict schedule of feeding every 2 hours has paid off - and most of that weight gain was from breastfeeding as he only had a couple of ounces of formula throughout the weekend. Again, I was happy that he wasn't that into the formula and the bottle as I really want to get the breastfeeding thing down first.

The Dr. was very pleased with the weight gain and said that Luca looked very healthy. She said they would need to see him again in a week for his 2 week wellness check. This time I left the Dr.'s office feeling very relieved! So, Luca and I went to Starbucks to celebrate with a Decaf Peppermint Mocha and some Vanilla Bean Scones :-)

First Bath

2009-11-08T19:18:00.000-08:00

We gave Luca his first bath at home today. He wasn't very fond of it at first (I think he just didn't like the cold air on his little naked body) but after we started rinsing him with the warm water, he didn't seem to think it was quite so bad.

Dr. Appointment - Weight Check

2009-11-06T13:30:00.000-08:00

We took Luca in this morning to have his weight checked and to see if he has gained any weight since yesterday. Today we saw one of the pediatricians, Dr. Penny. When we weighed Luca, he had actually LOST another 1/2 oz overnight! I couldn't believe it - I was so upset! I had fed him every 2 hours but had not had much success with getting him to take the formula from a bottle (which I was secretly happy about because I did not want him to like the bottle). I told the Dr. that he had only taken about 4 0z of formula total in the last 24 hours and he spit most of that back up it seemed like. He did have a wet and poopy diaper right before his appointment, so she said that the 1/2 oz was probably somewhere in that diaper :-)

We also discussed the fact that I wasn't sure whether or not my milk was in. I told her that my breasts definitely felt and appeared much larger, but I didn't feel engorged, I wasn't experiencing any leaking or any other telltale signs that my milk was coming in. Based on conversations that I had with several of my friends, I was expecting it to be really obvious when my milk came in (even a little uncomfortable or painful), but I hadn't noticed anything. Dr. Penny said that I might just be lucky and didn't seem to concerned - she said if it hadn't come in already, it would be coming in within the next day or so. She told me to continue feeding him every 2 hours throughout the weekend and supplement with the formula (as much as he would take) and then told us to come back on Monday for another weight check.

As we left the office, I still felt frustrated and upset, but this visit was much better than yesterday's. I'll update on Monday after Luca's appointment and hopefully he will have gained some weight!

Dr. Appointment

2009-11-05T12:32:00.000-08:00

Luca went in for a Dr. check up today. We have only been home from the hospital for one night, and the pediatrician checked him out before we were discharged yesterday, but I guess they like to see them again right away to check their weight and go over a few more things with the parents.

We are taking him to Ellensburg Pediatrics and there are two female pediatricians there as well as a female nurse practitioner. We saw the nurse practitioner today (both of the pediatricians had checked him out while we were in the hospital and I liked both of them a lot) and I was not very fond of her. She was just very straight forward and almost a little harsh in her instructions to us. Maybe it is just the fact that my hormones are still completely out of whack, but I could barely hold back tears while we were in the office and I walked out of there feeling like the worst parent in the world! His weight was down to 7 lbs 6 oz, which means he has lost almost a whole pound of his birth weight and she was very concerned about this. She said it is very important that he start gaining that weight back and she gave us a 2 oz bottle of formula to feed him right there in the office. I know it is important that he get his weight back up, but everything I have learned about breastfeeding says that you are not supposed to give babies bottles/formula or binkies until they are at least 4 to 6 weeks old and you have had time to establish good breastfeeding habits. I was just so caught off guard though, and I because I was already so upset and thought I would just burst into tears if I tried to say anything, I went ahead and fed him the formula. He downed the entire bottle in just a few minutes! The nurse practitioner told me that I need to breastfeed him every two hours and then supplement that with an additional 2 oz of formula. (I would like to point out that my milk has not even come in yet, so he is still only getting the colostrum.) I told her that I was having a hard time getting him to eat for even 10 minutes on each breast without falling asleep, so I wasn't sure how I was going to keep him awake long enough to get a bottle down as well. She told me that I might have to tickle his feet, undress him and maybe even put a cold washcloth on his chest to keep him awake while he is eating. She also told us to schedule another appointment for tomorrow so they can do a weight check.

Needless to say, I felt absolutely terrible when we left the office and burst into tears the minute we got into the car. While I was pregnant, I read quite a few books on pregnancy and child care, I talked to tons of my friends about their experiences with infants, I took childbirth classes and along with just plain common sense, I felt like I was pretty prepared for caring for a newborn. However, walking out of that office I felt like a total idiot and failure as a parent. Tony tried to calm me down by reminding me that we have only had Luca home for less than 24 hours and that this was going to be a learning process for all of us. I knew he was right, but I still felt horrible. I'll update on Luca's weight after his appointment tomorrow.

Meeting Cousin Alli

2009-11-04T22:01:00.000-08:00

Today we were discharged from the hospital around 9:30 AM. Tony has his last football game this Friday, so he thought he should go up to Cle Elum for practice this afternoon. Since I didn't really want to hang out at the house all by myself, I decided to go up to Cle Elum with him and hang out with Mikey, Steph and Alli while Tony was at practice. This was the first time Luca and Alli got to meet each other. (Mikey and Steph came down to the hospital the night Luca was born, but because of the whole Swine Flu thing, the new hospital policy is that no children under the age of 18 are allowed in the birthing center unless they are a sibling of the baby.) I don't think they were really aware of each other at all, but it was still fun to get pictures of them together - the first of many to come I'm sure!

The new mommy's and their babies.

The new daddy's and their babies.

Cousins! Alli is 4 days older than Luca, but she is much more petite!

Sweet baby!

Isn't he precious?!

More Hospital Pics

2009-11-04T21:12:00.000-08:00

Meeting mommy for the first time.

Smile for the camera Luca!

I thought Luca looked a lot like Tony when he was first born.

Meeting his Auntie Erin. She loves him sooooo much!

Grandpa Kim holding his first grandchild.

First bath at the hospital.

Getting all cleaned up.

Resting with daddy.

All ready to go home!

Welcome to your home Luca Leon!

Hospital Fun

2009-11-03T16:07:00.000-08:00

Having fun with Luca's hair...getting tired of being cooped up in this hospital room...in here for another night (boo). Doing whatever it takes to make the time go by quicker :) Fortunately we have the little one to keep us occupied. I find this picture to be a little more telling of just how cute this boy is :) I am sure there is no bias coming from Daddy! Hopefully Randi will be able to get on tomorrow and elaborate a little bit more about the process and her feelings and all that stuff you readers are interested in hearing about!

Luca Leon Is Here!

2009-11-02T22:13:00.000-08:00

Well Luca Leon has officially graced us with his presence! It was quite the journey but once you see the little guy for the first time it makes it all worth the effort and I was just a bystander, but imagine Randi would say the same thing :) He was born at 9:27, weighing in at 8 lbs 4.8 oz. and 20 inches in length. Both are healthy and doing wonderful! Luca has a crooked nose and goofy looking chin at the moment, but nonetheless he is handsome. More pictures to come!

Progress - Maybe...

2009-11-01T19:34:00.000-08:00

So just thought I would give everyone a quick update on how I have been feeling. I woke up a couple times in the middle of the night to go the bathroom and had fairly wet pantyliners. This continued throughout the morning and I decided to call my Dr. to see if she thought maybe my water had broken. After explaining that I had wet pantyliners, but no big "gush" of fluid and I still wasn't having any contractions, she told me to just keep an eye on things the rest of the day. She said if I did get a "gush" of fluid then we should probably head to the hospital, but she didn't think there was any need for me to go in at that time. I continued to "leak" fluid all afternoon. It just felt like I was peeing my pants every time I would get up from the couch, move a certain way or cough. So, Tony and I finished packing our bags, took showers, and did a few last minute things around the house. However, after taking a shower and getting ready, the feeling that I was "leaking" slowed down a lot. I have also started to have a lot of intense cramping in my lower abdomen and back. I am not sure if these are contractions or not. I don't feel like my entire stomach is getting tight and for the last couple hours the crampiness comes and goes in short spurts that are pretty close together and then it subsides for a while.

I have been looking back at all my pregnancy books and trying to remember everything that we learned in our childbirth class, but I am still at a loss as to if I am really in labor or not. I thought about calling the Dr. again, but I don't want to be that crazy patient who calls every 10 minutes asking if I am in labor or not. So right now, I am laying on the couch watching TV with the heating pad on my back. Only time will tell if the contractions (if that is really what I am feeling) will get stronger, longer and more patterned. I have a Dr. appointment tomorrow morning, so if we don't end up at the hospital tonight, I will know more after I see the Dr.

In the meantime, we will just keep waiting :-)

40 Weeks, 3 days - Dr. Appt

2009-10-30T21:23:00.000-07:00

Just thought I would give everyone a quick update. I saw my Dr. this afternoon and she checked my cervix. I am still 50% effaced but have now dilated to 2 cm (last time she checked me, I wasn't dilating yet). She also stripped my membranes in hopes that might get things started. So far I just feel really crampy, but still no contractions. I have another appointment on Monday morning. If we still don't have a baby at that time, they will induce me on Tuesday. I would REALLY like for Luca to start the process on his own, but at this point I am so huge and uncomfortable that I just want him to be here - even if it means I have to be induced. So, it looks like we will either have a Halloween baby or a November baby :-)

Yesterday was my last day of work, so I spent today running errands and doing some more cleaning/nesting around the house. It seems like the cleaning projects are never ending, and since Luca is taking his time getting here, I just keep finding more and more things that need to be done. I bought a bunch of Halloween candy at the grocery store today hoping that we won't be here tomorrow night to hand it out. Of course the problem with that, is that if we can't hand out the candy tomorrow because we are at the hospital, then I will have 250 pieces of candy sitting around the house when I come home - and I always buy the kind of candy that I like to eat :-)

So the waiting game continues...at least for a few more days. It is nice to know that regardless of what happens this weekend though, we will be holding our little baby by next Tuesday (or Wednesday at the latest)! We can't wait to meet you Luca!

Welcome Allison Daisy Butorac!

2009-10-30T07:16:00.000-07:00

Tony's younger brother, Mikey, and his wife, Stephanie, gave birth to their little girl, Allison Daisy, at 9:46 PM on October 29th. She was 6 lbs, 8 oz, 20 inches long and absolutely beautiful! Congratulations Mikey and Steph!

Since they had the baby at a hospital over on the west side, Tony and I were not able to be there (since Luca could decide to make his appearance any time and we are not supposed to be more than a half hour from the hospital). Stephanie and I have gone through every part of our pregnancies together (and Mikey and Tony have been able to really bond over the experience as well) so it was really hard not being able to be there. I was practically texting Mikey every 5 minutes for an update :-) I am just so anxious for Luca's arrival and still so nervous about the whole delivery process that I wanted to know exactly what Steph was feeling and how she was dealing with everything. It was a VERY long day for both of them! Steph was induced at 5 AM yesterday morning and did not have the baby until almost 10 PM last night. We are so glad that everything worked out and Alli arrived safe and healthy. We cannot wait to meet our new neice!

We also cannot wait to meet our son! Anytime my darling Luca...

39 Weeks, 6 Days, 18 Hours...

2009-10-26T18:19:00.000-07:00

I had a Dr. Appt this afternoon so I thought I should give everyone an update.

First I will start with the fact that I came down with a terrible cold two Friday's ago. Definitely not what I needed when I was ready to have a baby any day. I felt pretty crummy all last week but tried to keep it under control with lots of Airborne, Tylenol Cold and plenty of fluids. By the end of the week I was feeling a little bit better. However, this weekend it hit me all over again - mostly in my sinuses. My nose has been plugged for the last 3 days making it very difficult to breath (as if I wasn't having enough trouble doing that already), my ears are ringing, my teeth hurt from all the sinus pressure and today my whole body ached all over. At this point, I am having a hard time determining which aches and pains are from the cold and which are from being almost 40 weeks pregnant. I am also trying really hard to finish up a bunch of stuff at work before I go on maternity leave, but I am having a hard time concentrating because my head is so congested.

So, I had my weekly checkup today. She asked if I had noticed any changes in the last week or felt any contractions, etc. I told her I still haven't felt any contractions, but that my lower back has been aching all day. Again, this could be due to any number of things - like the fact that I was cleaning the house last night or that I have a baby the size of a watermelon in my belly that is growing straight out and putting tons of strain on my lower back. I told the Dr. that my main concern at this point is that my cold isn't getting any better and that my sinuses were completely clogged. I also told her that I was achy all over, but didn't feel like I had a fever. She said that she would prescribe me some antibiotics in case I have a sinus infection so that we can try to get it cleared up before I go into labor. She also said that she didn't want to check me today because she didn't want to "start" anything as she really wants me to feel better before the baby gets here. It would be a little difficult to breath through contractions with my nose all stuffed up. Luca is still moving around a lot, which is good. Mostly I feel his feet trying to kick through my stomach. Poor guy, he must be totally out of room in there! I scheduled another appointment for Friday so she can see if the antibiotics are working and she will also check my cervix at that time. If I haven't made any more progress since my last appointment, then we will look at scheduling a day to induce me. At my last appointment (39 weeks), I was 50% effaced, but not yet dilating. If it looks like I have made some progress, they will give me another couple days to see if Luca decides to come out on his own. But, she said after 41 weeks they will "kick him out" :-)

At this point I am just really frustrated. This is not how I wanted to feel days before we meet our little baby! It amazes me that I made it the entire pregnancy and didn't get sick once, and then I get sick right before I am supposed to deliver! I am still so anxious for Luca to get here, but at this point I am hoping he will hold out a few more days and hopefully the antibiotics will kick in and clear up my sinuses and I will start to feel better. Please keep us in your thoughts and pray that I will feel better soon!

38 Weeks!

2009-10-12T18:16:00.000-07:00

Ready to pop!

I had my weekly Dr. checkup today. I have always hated going to the Dr. for my annual pap smear/physical. I am very modest and just always feel so uncomfortable during those kinds of appointments. However, it is amazing how much that changes when you are having a baby. I still can't say that I "enjoy" being checked by the Dr., but I have been excited all week to find out if my body is making any more progress towards having this baby. That being said, I was a little disappointed when the Dr. DIDN'T check me today! Almost all of their rooms were full so the nurse took me to one of the regular exam rooms (not one that is set up for pregnant women). She took my blood pressure, etc. and then told me to hold off on getting undressed because she would probably move me to a different room once one became available. Well, the midwife came in my room before another one cleared out so we just ended up chatting a little bit more about what to expect these last couple weeks and when to come to the hospital, etc.

One thing I have been concerned about is that fact that I have not been feeling any braxton hicks contractions. Some of you may think this is a good thing (which it probably is), but it just makes me nervous that I am not making any progress towards labor. Plus, I want to at least experience some contractions (even if they aren't as painful as the ones I will have in labor) so I can better prepare myself for what to expect and how a contraction feels. Most of my fear and anxiety about labor revolves around the fact that I have no idea what to expect or anything to compare it to. The midwife explained that it is very normal for a first-time pregnant woman to NOT be feeling contractions at this point. She said that my uterus has never been stretched out like this before and my body is doing lots of different things to prepare itself for labor so not to worry.

She said baby's heartbeat is very strong and we are both very healthy. She also said that now it is pretty much a waiting game. I couldn't agree more!

37 Weeks!

2009-10-06T20:13:00.000-07:00

Only 3 more weeks to go! However, I would not be upset if Luca decided to make his appearance a little earlier :-) I am completely exhausted, but I am so huge and uncomfortable that it is almost impossible to get any sleep at night. I get winded and am out of breath just sitting at my desk and talking on the phone with clients - which seems completely ridiculous, but it's true. My hips feel like they are just floating around and I think the baby is sitting right on my sciatic nerve because I get shooting pains in my back and legs if I step wrong or move too quickly. This is definitely the hardest part of being pregnant!

I am now going to the Dr. every week and I had my appointment yesterday morning. The last couple times I have gone to the Dr. I have seen the midwife that works in the office. It will either be her or the OBGYN that will deliver me. At first I was a little nervous because I wasn't sure how much training and what kind of medical background midwives have, but after meeting with her a few times (and asking her questions about the major differences between midwives and OB's) I feel much better and I actually think I would prefer to have her deliver the baby since I have only seen Dr. Sand (my OB) about 3 times this entire pregnancy (he did all the ultrasounds).

So, she "checked" me yesterday and said that my cervix feels soft and "jellowy" - which is apparently a good thing. I guess normally your cervix is like a hard little knob (kind of like the end of your nose) and she said it is very good progress that it is so soft already since this is my first pregnancy. She said that I was not yet dilating, but there was only a very thin membrane left before my cervix starts to open. All this progress was music to my ears! However, she also said that I could be dilated to 4 cm and not have a baby for another couple weeks or I could not be dilated at all and still have a baby that night. So, I guess Luca is still going to make his appearance whenever he is ready and cm don't mean much :-) I am looking forward to next week's appointment though to see if any more progress has been made!

34 Weeks!

2009-09-15T09:24:00.000-07:00

I saw this comic/cartoon on my weekly pregnancy update that I get in my email and just had to post it. I think it is hysterical and totally sums up how I feel right now!

Only 6 weeks to go! It would be ok with me if Luca decided to arrive in 4 to 5 weeks though, as long as he is healthy! I had a doctor appointment yesterday and they said everything looks good. He is measuring right on schedule and his heartbeat is in the 140's to 150's.

The main thing I wanted to talk to my Dr. about was flu shots. She advised that pregnant women and women who have delivered babies in the last 6 months are top priority for both the regular flu shot and the H1N1 (Swine Flu) shot. She advised that they have a list of all the women they are treating that fall into these categories and and as soon as they receive their supply of the vaccines they will be calling patients to come in and get the shots. The Dr. also advised that Tony should be vaccinated as well, but unfortunately, he doesn't fall under the "priority" list for their supply of the vaccines so he will have to get the shots from his primary care physician (which he does not have) or the Public Health Dept. I don't think it should be a problem for him to get vaccinated though since he will be a parent of a child under 6 months of age and he works in the public school system. There are just so many things to think about when it comes to the health of your children!

The baby is moving A LOT lately! Mostly when I have been sitting for a while at work or I am laying down resting in the evening. His movements are definitely more than just flutters now and I am getting poked with heels, elbows, knees and other body parts all the time. It is really cool to be able to feel and see his little appendages poking out of my tummy! Tony had his hand on my stomach the other day trying to feel the baby move and all of a sudden Luca kicked where his hand was and Tony felt his little bony heel. It startled Tony and he pulled his hand away really fast. He thought it was really weird to be able to actually feel a hard body part rather than just the little flutters he was feeling before. I told him to imagine how it feels from the inside of my stomach! The good thing is, that because I have such a long torso, I feel most of the baby's movements and kicks in my abdomen rather than in my rib cage - at least so far :-) Maybe as he continues to grow and run out of room in there that will change in these last weeks of pregnancy.

Getting Ready for Baby...

2009-09-07T18:01:00.000-07:00

We spent a good portion of Labor Day Weekend working on the nursery and putting together some of baby Luca's new things. Tony actually did most of the "putting together" and I did a lot of "supervising" :-)

Tony hard at work putting the swing together.

This swing looks so soft and cozy! I told Tony that I wanted some fleece footed sleepers and a swing like this in my size so I could just lounge, nap and rock all day long. Ahhhh, the life of a baby!

Don't mess with a man and his power tools! (Notice that Tony is wearing my volleyball knee pads :-) He put the crib together the day before and his knees were raw from the carpet so I told him he should wear knee pads.)

Here is the finished changing table/dresser. The lighting is bad, but it really is all one color (the color of the cupboard door.)

Making sure the line is perfectly straight - he knows just how to make his perfectionist wife happy :-)

More taping so that we can paint the stripes.

The painted stripes and the crib completely assembled - Yay!

Tony and I actually did the taping for the stripes several weeks ago. We had the paint colors all picked out, but just hadn't purchased them or had a chance to paint. One afternoon when I was home for lunch, Tony's parents stopped by our house on their way back from a trip to Idaho. I went back to work and figured that Tony and his parents would just visit for a while. When I came home from work that night, I was surprised to see all of our painting supplies out in the garage. I was a little nervous since I am a total control freak and wasn't quite sure what Tony had done while I was gone. Turns out his parents had bought the paint and painted the nursery for us! Actually, I think Kathi did most of the painting with a little help from Tony. I think Mike tried to help, but his attention to detail was not quite up to par :-) It was a great surprise and so nice to not have to do it myself!

We still need to get a few more items before we are totally ready for Luca's arrival - but we are much closer than we were a couple weeks ago! I am having so much fun decorating his room and getting everything ready. I am thinking that he will sleep in a bassinet in our room for a little while and then hopefully he will move to his own room and enjoy sleeping there. We are getting so excited to meet our little baby boy!

Baby Shower

2009-08-30T18:53:00.000-07:00

My sister and my dad put on an amazing baby shower for baby Luca and I! My sister hosted it at her new house and everything turned out great! We had so many friends and family that came to celebrate with us. It was so great to see everyone and so nice to see some people that I haven't seen in a while. Everyone was so generous and showered us with tons of great gifts! Luca got lots of adorable sleepers, onesies and outfits - he will be very well dressed! We also got a swing, bassinett, baby bath, diapers and lots of other great toys and baby necessities. My dad, my sister and my grandma all pitched in and got us our glider/rocker for the nursery. Unfortunately, it didn't show up in time for the shower, but I can't wait for it to get here! I am sure I will spend many late nights in that chair :-)

The hostess with the mostess!

This cake was delicious - and cute! White cake, raspberry filling and buttercream frosting - my favorite!

The food was delicious too!

Flower arrangements put together by my sister and my Aunt Cindy - gorgeous!

My sister decorated with a bunch of pictures of me when I was a baby.

Erin, my cousins Katie & Haley and my Aunt Cindy. Haley & Katie are SOOOOO excited for the baby and can't wait to babysit :-)

Great-Grandma's-to-be.

Tara, Lindsay, Missy, me and Barb. These girls are some of my very best friends. I have known Tara and Lindsay since kindergarten and Barb is Lindsay's mom, so I pretty much grew with them.

Grandma Kathi, Aunt Stephanie, Cindy and Mary enjoying the shade on the patio.

My cousin Katy, Aunt Mary, Mary Jane and Trisha.

My Aunt Cindy and the girls got me a book that shows the "Do's" and "Dont's" of how to take care of a baby. The pictures are hillarious!

Courtney (due 2/23/10), Julie (due 10/19/09), me (due 10/21/09), Jess (due 11/17/09), Carolyn and Jax (3 months). These girls were my roommates in college and they all traveled over 2 hours to come to the shower. It was so great to see them and meant so much to have them there!

All the preggos at the shower! Me, Stephanie (due 10/25/09), Julie, Jess, Courtney and Katy (yes, she is pregnant - due 3/20/10).

The shower was so much fun and I can't thank my dad and my sister enough for all their hard work in putting this together. This baby is already loved so much by his grandpa and his auntie - and many others too :-) I also want to thank my dad for taking all these pictures! It is way too hard to take pictures at your own shower. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures with him in them though :-(

30 Weeks!

2009-08-18T21:14:00.000-07:00

Look at that belly!

Wow! Time seems to be flying by lately (which it usually does in the summer) and I can't believe I am already in the third trimester and 3/4 of the way through the pregnancy. I have been really terrible about keeping up on the blog, so I will use this post to catch everyone up on what has been happening in the Butorac household and with the baby - this could be a long one!

The weather has been incredibly HOT! And I really don't want to complain because I LOVE summer and love the heat - but it's definitely not as enjoyable when you are 7 months pregnant and don't have air conditioning in your house :-) We had a really long hot spell that lasted about 2 weeks at the end of July. There were several days where it was 95 degrees inside our house! I was actually wishing that the wind would blow so that air would not be so stagnant. But, then the wind actually came and it just blew the hot air around so it felt like you were standing in front of a furnace - not exactly what I was hoping for. During the hot spell I was actually glad to be working all day in my nice air conditioned office :-) We were on the verge of getting air conditioning, but then it cooled down for a week or so and we figured that we had made it through the worst part of the summer and if we could survive that, then we could probably survive a few more hot days. We just decided that we have other things we need to be saving our money for right now. We will definitely plan to put in AC next spring though with the baby around.

I went in for my 28 week appointment on August 3rd. Tony came too because we were scheduled to do a 3-D ultrasound. We were both really excited for this as we have seen 3-D pictures from other people and the detail is so cool. We were told to bring in a CD and they would download the photos onto it. Well, it turned out to be a little disappointing because the baby was not being very cooperative. He had his hands up by his face the whole time and the umbilical cord was right in front of his face as well. We actually got better shots just looking at the regular ultrasound. The Dr. said that if we reminded him he would try to get some better 3-D shots at another visit. Tony and I were both bummed because we were really hoping to see what he looks like in more detail. Oh well, I guess he wants his appearance to be a surprise :-) The week before our appointment, I had gone into my Dr.'s office for some lab work. I did the glucose screening test, had a bunch of blood work done, and got a RhoGAM shot. The glucose test wasn't nearly as bad as I was expecting! All my friends have said how horrible the "orange drink" is and some of them even said it made them sick or naseous. I have also heard that if you eat something too sugary before taking this test, it can throw off the results and then you have to go in for the really long 5 hour test. So, I was really dreading doing this. I made my appointment for first thing in the morning so I could just fast and not risk skewing the results by eating the wrong thing. The drink just tasted like orange pop and I think what really helped was that my Dr. keeps the drinks refridgerated, so it was nice and cold. They let me go home and wait (which is much better than sitting in the Dr.'s office for an hour) until it was time to have my blood drawn. The results came back a few days later and everything looked good - no gestational diabetes and no anemia. Yeah! My next visit is at the end of the month and then I will start going in every two weeks. I can't believe how close we are getting to meeting our little man - we can't wait!

We have actually had a pretty laid back summer. Tony has been doing a lot of "playing" and I have been doing a lot of working - doesn't seem quite fair if you ask me! Work has been really busy and I am trying to get caught up before I go on maternity leave. I don't want to leave a huge "to do" list for the people who will be helping me out while I'm gone. It has been hard working so much though, because I am starting to get really tired again. On most days, I feel like I need nap after my lunch break. I think the heat has also played a huge part in how fatigued I am. It also makes my feet, ankles and legs swell up - which is really uncomfortable. Sometimes I feel like you could just take a pin and pop me!

Tony starts football tomorrow, which he says, means his summer is basically over. I feel very sorry for him....(can you sense the sarcasm??) So, it will be back to the daily grind around our house for a little while until baby arrives - then we will be on his schedule :-)

Dr. Appt - 24 Weeks

2009-07-06T22:27:00.000-07:00

I had my 24-week check up today. I saw the Nurse Practitioner, Paula Lins, which was great. She is the one I met with on my very first visit and I like her a lot. I feel like I have not really had a chance to ask my doctor a lot of questions throughout this process. He does the ultrasounds, but not many of the routine check-ups, so I have really only seen him twice and each time he just gets right down to business and then leaves the room as soon as he is finished with the sonogram. So, since I knew I was seeing the nurse practitioner today, I brought a list of questions with me. One of my main concerns that I wanted to talk about was weight gain. I haven't been weighing myself at home (I didn't weigh myself before I got pregnant either - too depressing - instead I usually go by how I feel and how my clothes fit), but I do get weighed at every appointment. I can pretty much read the scale, but I still think it is odd that they never actually tell me what I weigh, they just write it in the chart and take me back to the room. (I'm sure if I had asked what my weight was on any of these occasions they would have told me, but I think I was really afraid of what the number would be.) When I asked where I was at with weight gain, Paula looked at my chart and said that I had already gained 30 pounds, which put me on schedule to gain about 60 pounds for the entire pregnancy. I just about fell off the exam table. I was shocked! I knew I had put on a fair amount of weight, but I had no idea it was 30 pounds, and the fact that I could gain 60 pounds made me want to cry right there. We had a long discussion about the things I should be eating (lots of salads, fruits, vegetables and lean meats) and should not be eating (carbohydrates such as pasta and potatoes and stuff with lots of sugar). None of this was a surprise to me and I have been eating tons of fruit, salads, chicken and pork. But, I have also been eating a fair amount of pasta and potatoes - which I thought was being healthy. Unfortunately, I think my body is very sensitive to carbs and they just stick to me. I think this was the case even before I was pregnant. I have also always struggled with portion control and a major sweet tooth. And being pregnant has not helped any of this. I am hungry all the time and I crave something sweet every night after dinner. Pair all that with the fact that I have not really had a regular exercise regimen since I stopped playing college sports and I guess I shouldn't really be that surprised that I have gained so much weight. I left the doctor's office feeling very depressed. Deep down I know that the important thing is that the baby is healthy, but I guess I am still too vain and selfish to be ok with gaining 30 pounds when I am only halfway through my pregnancy.

When I told Tony about my appointment I completely broke down in tears. Poor guy, I think it scared him that I was crying about my appointment and for a minute he thought something was wrong with the baby. I quickly assured him that everything is fine with the baby and I was just overreacting. He was so wonderful and said that he would do whatever he could to help me adjust my diet to eliminate some of the extra carbs - and he said that he would cut back with me so we can still eat the same meals. He also said he would go on more walks with me and help me get into more of an exercise routine. That made me feel so much better.

Other than that, everything went fine at the appointment. The baby is measuring pretty much right on schedule and his heart rate was between 150 and 160. My only other concern was that I have not felt much movement at all. My sister-in-law, Stephanie, says she feels her baby moving all the time, so I wanted to make sure that everything was ok. Paula told me that it is ok that I haven't felt much movement up to this point. She said that the amount and strength of the movements I will feel depends on the baby's position and she also said that sometimes women with strong abdominal muscles don't feel a lot of movement until later on in pregnancy. After the whole weight discussion, it was nice to think that I might still have some ab muscles in there someplace :-) My next appointment will be at 28 weeks and I will do the glucose screening test and get a RhoGAM shot because of my Rh negative blood type.

Our 1st Anniversary

2009-06-29T20:34:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it has already been a year since Tony and I got married! Time has FLOWN by! It has been an amazing first year of marriage - definitely not without its ups and downs, but still one of the best years of my life. It amazes me that even after being together for almost 6 years before getting married, there are still things we are learning about each other and new things we are experiencing together. I love being married and I feel so lucky to have such an amazing husband!

We spent the weekend of our anniversary in Lynden with my best friends and volleyball teammates from college - along with all their husbands and kids. We are quite the group these days with 6 couples, 7 kids and 4 babies on the way! It can be crazy at times, but it is always so much fun to get together.

On Sunday, our actual anniversary, Tony and I headed to Semiahmoo Resort on Birch Bay to celebrate. We had a great room looking out onto the water and we spent the afternoon walking around the resort and along the beach. That night we had a great dinner at Packer's Lounge and then spent the evening just hanging out and playing cards in our room. It was so relaxing and it was wonderful to get to spend some quality time together just the two of us, especially since it won't be just the two of us for that much longer :-)

Walking along the bay.

Happy Anniversary!

Spying on the Canadian's across the bay :-)

View from our room.

Birch Bay sunset.

Happy (Belated) Father's Day!

2009-06-26T18:10:00.000-07:00

Because we were in Alaska for Father's Day this year, I wasn't able to give Tony his present until after we got home. I got him a "Diaper Dude" diaper bag :-) At first he wasn't quite sure what to do with it, but once I showed him all the fancy compartments and the pull out changing pad, he thought it was pretty cool. I told him that I wanted a cute, "girly" diaper bag so I thought he should have something more "manly" to carry when he has the baby by himself.

Modeling his cool new bag.

Giving me a demonstration of how he will use the changing pad.

The best part about Father's Day this year was finding out that we are having a little boy. We are both so excited for him to join our family in October! And I think Tony was pretty proud that he was able to pass on his "boy" genes ;-)

We are both so blessed to have such wonderful dad's of our own as well! We want them to know how much we appreciate all that they have done and continue to do for us. Throughout our lives they have shown us the kind of sacrifice, time, energy and love that it takes to be a great parent and we know they will give that same love and energy to their grandchildren. Happy Father's Day!

Alaska Vacation - Part II

2009-06-24T22:39:00.000-07:00

We spent the last couple days of our trip doing more "touristy" things. We took a day trip to Denali National Park. Unfortunately, the mountain was completely clouded in so we didn't get to see it, but we did take a nice drive through a portion of the park and then we went on a short 2.5 mile hike through another part of the park. We saw some beautiful scenery and some great wildlife. It felt good to get some exercise too!

We got a little lost on our way into the park and had to stop at the Grizzly Bear Cabins to ask for directions. They had this picture board there, so of course we had to get a picture as Eskimos :-)

The beautiful scenery of Denali National Park.

Taking a quick picture break on our hike.

The family (minus Mikey & Steph) at the turn-around point on our hike.

I needed to rest after the first half of our hike, so I found this nice rock to lay down on while everyone else walked around. I am so out of shape!

Hanging on for dear life!

Our last day in Alaska we decided that we wanted to do something relaxing, so we took a trip to the Chena Hot Springs. It was about an hour drive from Bob & Linda's house. The thing about Alaska is that there is a TON of space (duh) so everything is really spread out and we spent a lot of time in the rental car driving to all our destinations. I have never been someone that gets carsick, but I sure did in Alaska. A lot of the roads up there are severely damaged from the permafrost and it is seriously like riding a roller coaster. Tony's parents rented a big SUV that fit all 8 of us, but it was a tight fit and I didn't do so well driving on those roads when I was stuck in the back seat!

Tony and I were the last of the "kids" to fly out of Alaska, so the two of us, his parents and Linda all went to the hot springs. We saw a couple moose on our way up and another on our way back. We also took some homemade bread and lunch meat and made sandwiches for lunch. It was a great way to end our vacation!

This is one of the moose we saw driving up to the hot springs.

Tony & I in the hot springs (along with a bunch of old guys :-))

More swimming in the hot springs. Don't worry, I only stayed in for 10 minutes :-)

Zack & Josie's Wedding

2009-06-24T21:45:00.000-07:00

The main reason for our trip was Zack & Josie's wedding. They had an outdoor ceremony in the back yard of some of Bob & Linda's friends. It was a gorgeous back yard - and huge! The wedding was at 7 o'clock in the evening (it's not like we were going to run out of daylight), so we spent most of that morning getting things set up. The weather was gorgeous all morning, but the forecast was calling for rain. They did rent a couple tents, but they weren't large enough to cover all the tables if it did start raining. Luckily, the weather held out all day and through the entire ceremony and dinner. However, right after they finished the toasts and Zack & Josie had their first dance, it started pouring! We were able to get the tents over some of the tables and everyone crowded into the extra space that was available. It slowed the party down for just a little bit, but then we figured out a way to move the tent as well as the tables and chairs underneath it all at one time so that we could get closer to the dance floor. Then some of the guys braved the rain and moved one of the smaller tents onto the deck (which was the dance floor) so people could start dancing. After that, the reception got going again and everyone had a great time.

Of course Tony and I were also counting down the hours until midnight so we could open the envelope and find out if we were having a boy or a girl :-)

The bride and groom saying their vows.

The first dance as Mr. & Mrs. Bullock.

Josie dancing in the rain with a mini umbrella - she was so cute!

The dance floor nicely covered from the rain.

Proud parents-to-be :-)

Alaska Vacation - Part I

2009-06-24T20:47:00.000-07:00

We just returned from a 6-day excursion in Alaska. The entire Butorac family made the trip to attend his cousin Zack's wedding and to visit his Aunt Linda & Uncle Bob. Tony had never been to Alaska before and I have only been when the ground is covered in 5 feet of snow and the temperatures are well below freezing, so it was nice to experience the summer weather as well. Unfortunately, we just missed the sunny 85 degree weather they were having before we arrived. The majority of the time we were there the temperatures were in the low to mid 70's and it rained off and on. The craziest thing about the trip had to be experiencing daylight 24-hours a day. It was nuts! The darkest it ever got was probably what we see in Washington around 8 or 9 PM in the summer time. I love the longer days we get in the summer, but after this trip I decided that I also appreciate the darkness as it really helps regulate your internal body clock. We would be tired around 11 each night, but it just felt like you were going to take a nap and not like you were going to bed for the night. Then if you woke up in the middle of the night, it would feel like it was time to get up because it was still light outside. Needless to say, it threw all of us off schedule a little bit.

The first couple days of the trip we did "touristy" things and finished up last minute stuff for the wedding. We also did a TON of cooking! This is pretty much expected anytime all the Butorac's are together - it's all that Italian blood in the family. We were constantly joking about how most of our conversations throughout the day revolved around what we were going to do for our next meal :-) I have to say that one of the best parts of the trip was having Linda's homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast. I am pretty sure I had one every day I was there :-) They are amazing!

Here are a few pics from our first couple days in Alaska:

Tony's cousin, Kristi, and I posing with a Grizzly Bear at one of the restaurants where we had lunch. I wouldn't want to run into this guy in the wild!

The Santa Claus House in North Pole, Alaska. This is where kids send their letters to Santa each year. Inside the house was a gift shop with tons of Christmas trees, ornaments and decorations for sale. Santa Claus himself is also there almost every day ;-)

Tony & I posing like Santa & Mrs. Claus.

Here is one of Santa's reindeer. Tony decided this was Donner. Donner looked like he was about 100 years old and I'm not sure he is capable of pulling Santa's sleigh anymore.

Kristi & I in Santa's sleigh.

This is the giant statue of Santa that is outside the house. I am taking this picture from across the street. Look how big he is compared to everyone standing below!

This is the great Alaska Pipeline.

Posing in front of the Pipeline.

Interesting facts about the Pipeline. (You are probably starting to get the idea of what I meant when I said we did "touristy" things :-))

Would any trip be complete if you passed up going to a brewery when the opportunity presents itself? Not if you are a Butorac! After the Pipeline, we went to the Silver Gulch Brewery and the guys tasted a sampler of all the different types of beer. This is the aftermath - apparently no one liked the dark beer.

Stephanie & Courtney at the Brewery.

IT'S A BOY!!!

2009-06-21T02:20:00.000-07:00

We are so excited to annouce that we are having a BOY! Tony and I are in Fairbanks, Alaska right now for his cousin's wedding and at 12:01 AM here (1:01 AM for everyone at home) we opened the envelope and looked at the card from our Dr. After all the build-up and nervous excitement, we looked at the card only to see a symbol written on it. Can you believe that my crazy Dr. wrote the male symbol instead of just writing the word "boy"?!?! We were both so wound up that neither one of us could remember which symbol was which. (That is a little embarrassing to admit since I was a Biology major in college and took many anatomy courses!) At first, Tony thought it was the female symbol, and I said, "are you sure?" I told Tony to Google it on his phone so that when we went back and told everyone we weren't just guessing. The female symbol came up and it was the circle with the plus sign. Our card had the circle with an arrow. Tony got a HUGE smile on his face and said, "that's a boy! We're having a BOY!" We quickly googled the male symbol just to confirm and then went back to where all of his family was waiting to break the news to them. We put a little pair of blue booties (I bought a pink pair too, not knowing which ones we would be using) and put them in a box. We gave the box to Tony's dad and said, "Happy Father's Day!" Mike opened the box and saw the booties and was very excited - everyone was really excited :-) I then called my dad and my sister to tell them the great news. They were both very excited as well!
We get back home on Tuesday night, so I will post some pictures of our trip later on in the week, but we couldn't wait to share the big news with everyone!

20 Weeks!

2009-06-10T19:50:00.000-07:00

It looks like I am closer to 30 weeks pregnant rather than 20!

Duke wanted his picture taken too :-)

I had my 20 week ultrasound on Monday. It was so fun to see how much the baby has changed since I had my last ultrasound at 12 weeks. I am sure most of you are wondering if I was able to talk Tony into finding out the sex of the baby. I did talk him into it, HOWEVER, the compromise is that we had the Dr. write the baby's sex on a card and we are going to open it on Father's Day. So, we will all have to wait a couple more weeks to find out the big news. I really wasn't overly anxious to find out what we were having until the day of the appointment when I knew we could find out, but wouldn't be. Now I am DYING to open that freaking envelope!

The appointment went well, but it was cut short because the nurse came in while the Dr. was in the middle of the ultrasound and said that another patient called and she sounded very urgent and said she was in labor. I guess I can't complain too much because if it was me in labor I would want the Dr. to get to me ASAP! But before he had to leave we got to see quite a few different views of the baby including a 3-D view of the heart and a couple other organs. He said that everything looks very healthy - which is always good to hear! It didn't seem like he spent much time looking at the area where the genitalia would be. I kept thinking I would get to test my sonogram reading skills and see if I could figure out if it is a boy or girl on my own, but he hardly spent any time at all looking at anything below the baby's chest. Tony told me after the appointment that the sex of the baby must have been very obvious to the Dr. right away since he didn't spend much time looking in that area. For Tony, this meant that the Dr. must have seen a penis right away so it is probably a boy. I told Tony that I hated to burst his bubble, but it could also mean that the Dr. didn't see a penis right away, so it could just as easily be a girl. I told him there was one way to be sure (meaning we could open the envelope), but he didn't go for it. He said he could wait 2 more weeks. The Dr. didn't tell us what the heart rate was (and I completely forgot to ask before he had to rush out) so I can't even make a guess at the sex based on that theory. We did get a couple profile pictures of the baby that we got to take with us, but I need Tony to scan them into the computer using his scanner at work, so I will add those later. The Dr. did say that the baby has a very strong nasal bone (which you will see when I post the ultrasound pics), but I think it was just a nice way of saying that the baby has a big nose. Unfortunately, it looks like the baby is going to take after its mom in the schnoz department :-)

I am loving the second trimester! I have so much more energy and have actually started working out again. The weather has been so nice that I have been able to go for walks in the evenings. It feels really good to get some movement in! Work has been really busy so I basically sit at my desk all day and barely get up to walk around at all - which is not the best thing when I feel like my stomach (and everything else) is getting bigger by the second. These past couple days I have just felt huge! It is so weird to just continually expand no matter how healthy I eat or how much exercise I get. My major craving right now is fruit - which isn't a bad thing to crave I guess :-) I am especially loving watermelon and pineapple. It just feels good to be eating somewhat normal meals again. I am still eating way more often than I used to, but at least when Tony BBQ's pork chops for dinner it actually sounds good to me.

Everything is great in Ellensburg! Tony is out of school next week and then we are off to Alaska for 6 days. When I think summer vacation, Alaska is definitely not the first place that comes to mind, but it will be fun to see it during the summer months. The only other times I have been to Alaska were for volleyball games in college and we usually went in November, so there was lots of snow on the ground and the temperatures were 20 degrees below zero! We are actually going up there for Tony's cousin's wedding. The wedding is on Saturday, June 20th, which is the Summer Solstice so it will be daylight for almost 24 hours straight! I am hoping I can stay up until midnight so that at 12:01 on Sunday (Father's Day) we can open the envelope and find out what we are having :-)

Memorial Day Weekend

2009-05-25T20:10:00.000-07:00

We had a great weekend this year and the best part was the weather. It was AMAZING!

Tony had a track meet on Friday that went pretty late so we didn't do much that night. On Saturday morning I headed over to the Motherhood outlet store in North Bend to shop for some much needed maternity clothes. I spent a couple hours over there and then drove back to Cle Elum to meet up with Tony and all the family. The entire Butorac family was there for the night including Tony's aunt, Annie, and his cousins (Annie's kids), Kristi and Mark. Tony's uncle (Annie's husband and Mark & Kristi's dad), Leon, passed away in early June last year so they came over to spend the weekend with family and visit the cemetery. We took a nice drive out to Teanaway (a favorite place for the whole Butorac family) and sat by the river enjoying some snacks and ice cold Rainier (another Butorac favorite). That night we had a huge meal out by the fire in the backyard. It was a great night spending time with family!

Sunday, Tony and I headed back to Ellensburg to pick up GE and then we were off to our friend Scotty Alexander's house in Quincy. Our good friends Zak and Hollie Hill were also meeting us in Quincy. On a side note, I have to explain the story behind the picture below. The night before Zak and Hollie's wedding, Tony, GE, Eric Davis (another good friend) and Zak all stayed in a hotel in Wenatchee. The next morning all the guys were getting ready to go out to breakfast and Zak pulls out a pair of carpenter-style jean shorts to wear. According to Tony and GE, jean shorts went out of style years ago so they started making fun of Zak and giving him a really hard time about his sense of style. Well, almost 2 years later they still crack up laughing about Zak's jean shorts. So, knowing we were in for a fun couple days with Zak, I told Tony he should cut off an old pair of jeans and show up at Scotty's house in some jean shorts. GE wanted to join in on the fun too, so I made them each a pair of shorts and they decided to take it to the extreme by adding the trashy mesh tank tops and rolling their shorts up really high. It was hysterical!

Jorts anyone?

Needless to say, everyone died laughing when we arrived in Quincy and Tony and GE showed off their great outfits. We spent the rest of the afternoon in the pool drinking Corona's (well I had bottled water, but it was almost the same as an ice cold Corona with lime on a hot summer day...). That night we drove to Crescent Bar and had dinner at a great pizza place and then met up with some other friends who were staying there for the weekend. It was really fun to hang out with everyone since we don't see them very often, but I struggled to make it to midnight :-) Once we got back to Scotty's house I went to bed, but the guys had a few more beers and went for a dip in the hot tub. The next day we were planning to head home fairly early, but the weather was so nice we ended up staying and spending another afternoon hanging out in the pool soaking up the sun. I was so excited to finally get a little color on my skin! I haven't been to a tanning bed since I found out I was pregnant and I hate being so white this time of year :-) Here are a few more pics from the weekend:

Enjoying the sun!

Scotty and Tony

Relaxing on the giant floaty. This thing took up almost the entire pool and all 6 of us could fit on it!

Zak and Hollie

Class, class, class...

16 Weeks!

2009-05-12T20:38:00.000-07:00

I had my 16 week checkup today. Nothing too exciting but I did get to listen to the heartbeat, which was great. It took the Dr. a little bit to find it and I was starting to get nervous, but they must deal with that all the time because she kept reassuring me that it often takes a while for them locate the heartbeat depending on the position of the baby. She started looking for it up by my belly button and ended up finding it much further down on the right side of my belly. It was a healthy 150 bpm. After that, I went over to the hospital and had blood drawn for the Quad-Screen Test which helps the Dr. determine if the baby may have Down Syndrome and helps rule out other potential problems such as neural-tube defects. We are praying that the results bring good news!

I am feeling pretty good for the most part. I still have moments where I feel nauseous, but it is definitely not as often as before. I am getting so anxious for the weather to get nicer so that I can start walking in the evenings. This whole week the temperatures have been in the mid 50's and the wind has been blowing like crazy - not umcommon for Ellensburg in the spring, I know :-)

Here are some pics of my 16 week belly. It just keeps getting bigger and bigger!

My belly button is huge :-)

My next appointment is scheduled for June 8th. This will be my 20 week ultrasound and we will be able to find out the sex of the baby - that is IF I can talk Tony into it. I really want to find out what we are having and he really wants to be surprised. I told him that it will be a surprise either way, what difference does it make if we are surprised at 20 weeks or 40 weeks? I guess we still have some discussing to do...

...And Baby Makes Three

2009-05-06T20:44:00.000-07:00

This is Baby Butorac's first picture. He is waving at us!

We are so excited to announce that we are going to have a baby! Even though we have only been married 10 months, we were both anxious to start a family - ok, I was probably WAY more anxious than Tony, but he is definitely very excited now!

It was President's Day weekend and we were just hanging out at our house. I realized I was a couple days late (which never happens to me), but I was nervous to take a pregnancy test because I didn't want to be disappointed. Tony finally talked me into taking one late in the afternoon. I set it on the counter and went about straightening up the bathroom while I waited. I glanced down a few minutes later and saw two pink lines. I froze because I couldn't remember what "two lines" meant. I grabbed the instructions and reassured myself that two lines meant PREGNANT. I couldn't believe it - I was nervous to take the test because I didn't want a negative result, but I never thought about how I would react if it was positive. I grabbed the test and went into the living room to tell Tony. I said, "I think we're going to have a baby!" He was totally shocked as well, it was a totally surreal moment. But then we just started smiling and hugging and talking about who we were going to tell and when. Turns out we couldn't keep a secret very long and ended up driving to Cle Elum that night to tell Tony's younger brother Mikey and his wife Stephanie the good news. (Turns out that a week later they told us they were also expecting a baby and Stephanie and I are due just 2 days apart. It is so fun to be able to share this experience with her and I know it has been amazing for Tony to be able share it with his brother.)

We had both of our families over for dinner a few weeks later and told them the good news. As you can imagine they were all very excited and a little overwhelmed I think too. I made T-shirts for Stephanie and I that said " Baby Butorac" and below that was an arrow pointing to our bellies and then under that I put each of our due dates.

The two mamas :-)

I felt pretty good until about 7 weeks and then I started feeling nauseous all day long. Fortunately, I never threw up - but I felt like I was going to throw up all the time, so I'm not sure which is worse. I was exhausted by the end of each day at work and basically came home and camped out on the couch for a couple hours and then went to bed. Tony was great at making "special" meals for me since what he was having for dinner never sounded good. The only things that sounded good to me were greasy, fatty, sugary things - not so great for trying to control my weight gain!

We had our first ultrasound at 12 weeks and it was so amazing to see the baby and hear the heartbeat. It made everything seem so much more "real" and since then it has really sunk in that we are going to have a baby! Tony came to that appointment with me and he had a huge smile on his face the whole time. He said that the baby definitely looks like a boy. Of course, you can't tell that early on, but he has been calling the baby a "he"since the day we found out I was pregnant - wishful thinking I guess :-)

I am now 15 weeks and starting to feel much better. I was hoping that once I hit the 2nd Trimester I would just feel a huge burst of energy and all the nausea would be gone. It hasn't exactly happened that way, but I do feel like I have more energy that I did a couple weeks ago. I am still pretty tired and I have been getting sinus headaches too, which makes it hard to focus at work when I am staring at 3 computer screens for 8 hours a day. My body has changed so much! I already have a pretty good size tummy and I only have a couple pairs of pants that I can still button - the rest I have to wear unzipped and unbuttoned with a "belly band" over them. I am kind of in that phase where you might wonder, "is she pregnant or has she just gotten fat?" :-) I have been getting heartburn a lot and just have an overall feeling of being bloated all the time. I have also been waking up in the middle of the night to go the bathroom - which I never used to do.

But even with all the changes, I am so excited for this baby! I am also anxious for things to progress and can't wait until I can feel the baby move! I promise I will post some tummy pics soon!

Jamaican Honeymoon

2008-07-10T18:57:00.000-07:00

Tony and I went to Negril, Jamaica for our honeymoon. It was amazing! Not only are the beaches beautiful, but the cultural experience was great too. The food was delicious - especially the Jerk Chicken. It was 8 blissful days of laying in the sun, relaxing and NOT thinking about wedding planning!

This is me laying in the sun, relaxing and NOT thinking about wedding planning!

This is one of the sundecks at the Rockhouse Hotel. The entire resort was built right into the cliffs along the ocean. The views were amazing!

The rings.

Swimming in the crystal clear Atlantic.

Tony enjoying a "Dirty Banana" - the best drink ever!

Lounging by the pool at the Rockhouse Hotel.

Tony hobbling back to our room after breakfast - it's a long (and funny) story!

Our nightly routine - a Cuban cigar and a Red Stripe in the pool.

This is Tony's (probably 15th) attempt to capture a nighttime lightning flash on camera. He kept trying to guess when the lightning would flash and then press the camera button just seconds before. I have never seen or heard anything like the thunderstorms in the Caribbean. The lightning bolts were so bright over the ocean and the thunder was so loud it made the roofs shake! There would usually be one storm a day and it would last for an hour or so and then the sun would come out again.

Wedding Bells!

2008-06-28T20:56:00.000-07:00

Yeah! We are finally married after being together for almost 6 years. It was the most amazing day and we are both so happy to be husband and wife! Here are few pictures from the big day. I am still trying to figure out how to upload the pics from my photographer - since they are higher quality they were taking too long to upload and then I would get an error message. Hopefully I will have it figured out soon...

Heading to the car after the ceremony.

Posing on the deck of the old Roslyn School.

Exiting the church after being pronounced Mr. & Mrs. Butorac!

More poses for the photographer...

The happy newlyweds!

Adventures on Snoqualmie Pass...

2008-01-30T14:27:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday, my sister and I had plans to go to a couple Bridal Boutiques in Bellevue to try on wedding dresses. The whole thing was kind of a last minute decision as we did not call enough ahead of time to get appointments, but we thought we would venture over to the west side anyway to at least look and get style numbers of dresses that we could come back and try on at a later date. I was being lazy and didn't feel like driving or paying for more gas (I am commuting between Yakima & Ellensburg every day) so I asked Erin if she would mind driving. We thought about the fact that her Honda is only front wheel-drive and we would have to chain up if the pass got really bad, but we decided to chance it thinking that the weather reports were off and there wouldn't be that much snow.
We left my house in Ellensburg around 10:30 in the morning. We hit a little snow on the way over, but nothing terrible. We made it to Bellevue around 12:30 and went to a boutique called LaBelle Reve. Since we didn't have appointments we just looked around. We both found a couple dresses that we liked but there weren't any dressing rooms available so we told them we would schedule an appointment for another day if we wanted to come back and try them on. We then went to Bellevue Bridal Boutique. This place had quite a few more dresses than the other place and I immediately found a couple that I really liked. Since I am really getting down to the wire on ordering time for a dress, I think Erin just decided she would look for herself another time and spend the rest of the day trying to help me. Fortunately, one of their afternoon appointments didn't show up so we were able to get into a dressing room and try the dresses on. I liked the first dress, but thought it made my hips look too big. The second dress I tried on is one that I saw in a magazine when I first started looking at dresses and I loved it. I was so excited to finally get a chance to try it on. Turns out I should have found the time to try this dress on sooner because I loved it on as much as I loved it in the magazine. It had all the style elements I had been looking for. I probably would have ordered it on the spot, but it is by far the most expensive dress I have tried on to date.
So we left the store feeling pretty good but decided we had better get on the road because both Tony and Cole (Erin's fiance) had called and told us it was snowing pretty hard on the pass. We grabbed a quick bite to go and headed out - this is when the fun began! As we got just outside North Bend we saw the sign that said, "CHAINS REQUIRED ON ALL VEHICLES EXCEPT ALL WHEEL DRIVE." This is what I had been afraid of. Needless to say, this is point where I started kicking myself for being lazy and wishing like crazy we would have taken the Audi. Our options at this point were to either turn back and wait it out in North Bend or go buy chains and drive home. Since we both had plans that night we decided to get chains and head for home. I mean, how difficult can it be to put chains on, right? Apparently, very difficult if you have never done it before. We found a Napa Auto Parts in Mt. Si and bought a set of the "heavy duty" chains that are supposed to last longer than the cable chains. The sales guy showed us how to put them on and made it all look very quick and easy - mind you he was demonstrating on a loose tire that was NOT attached to a car.
So we headed back out to the freeway with our new chains and "work gloves". Seeing as how neither of us had done this before, we decided it would be better to put the chains on sooner rather than later, and pulled over after we saw a couple other people doing the same thing, even though we were still about 10+ miles from the place they were actually required. Much to our surprise we actually got them on fairly quickly and easily and off we went. It only took about a mile before we started hearing a very loud clanking noise that seemed to just get worse the further we drove. We pulled over to the side of the road and got out to check the chains and realized that we had forgotten to double back through a loop that we were supposed to go through before attaching the hook. When we tried to make the correction, we realized that the rubber bungee with the hook was not long enough to go through the loop and then hook to the chain. We decided maybe we should just start over. As we tried to remove the chain from the driver-side tire, we discovered that the plastic covering on the connecting wire had split in half, came loose from the wire and got caught in the wheel well. We jiggled and jostled and played around with it for at least half an hour before we finally got it loose. The worst part is that it was stuck on the BACK side of the tire so we were trying to get it loose without being able to see anything. We finally got that tire straightened out and went to work on the other one. We were trying so hard to get the bungee and hook to go through the loop that we ended up snapping the bungee in half, and completely rendering the set of chains unusable. After many swear words and some tears we decided to take the chains off, go back to Napa, get our money back and then decide what to do from there. We had spent over an hour on the side of 1-90 in windy, snowy, below 20 degree weather trying to get the chains put on properly only to end up completely breaking them. We were soaking wet, freezing and frustrated - and it was starting to get dark at this point.
Back at Napa we returned the broken chains (the guys were very apologetic) and got the more simple "cable chains" that aren't as heavy duty and you don't get as many uses out of them. At this point, we didn't care because all we were concerned about was getting home that night with them. The guys again showed us how to put them on (again on a tire that is not attached to anything so you can manouver it any way you need to to get the job done - not realistic at all) and gave us a couple flashlights for free, "for all the hassle." We headed back to the freeway and decided this time we would wait until the last possible minute to put the chains on. This time the process went much better than the first time - and when I say better I mean it only took us 30 minutes to get back on the road versus 90 minutes. We drove for a little bit and didn't hear any clanking or other loud noises and finally congratulated ourselves on successfully putting on chains. However, we were only able to drive another couple miles before we came to a complete stop as the pass was temporarily closed for avalanche control. We had heard this on the radio and were expecting it, but it was still disappointing to have to stop after just getting going again. Luckily, they were right on target with the re-opening time and we started moving again just after 7 PM. From that point on it was a VERY slow trip the rest of the way home. You aren't supposed to drive faster than about 30-35 mph with chains on, so that is about what we did from the top of the pass all the way to Cle Elum. We stopped in Cle Elum and took the chains off and as soon as we got back on the road it started dumping snow again. So we continued our slow trek back to Eburg, finally getting to my house around 9:30 - we left Bellevue at 2:30. Erin took a quick break and then decided to make the final leg of her trip back to Yakima (which turned out to be ok because it stopped snowing just outside of Ellensburg).
I have never felt so bad in my life! I was apologizing to Erin the entire way home. The whole mess could have been avoided if we had just taken the Audi. We would have had to drive slow, but we never would have had to stop in the first place, so we would have made it over the pass before all the avalanche stuff and before the snow got as bad as it did.
I know this is a very long post, but I just felt I had to share all the details. Can't you just picture the two of us on our hands and knees on the side of the road in a blizzard trying to figure how to put stupid chains on? When I think about it now, I just have to laugh - but I was definitely not laughing that day! So, I guess now I pretty much have to get that dress or the whole fiasco will have been for nothing. There is store in Yakima that carries the designer of the dress, so I am going there to order it. And the best part is, the store in Yakima is selling it for $150 cheaper than the place in Bellevue - what a deal! Now I have my dress and a great story to go with it!