let it snow

happy thanksgiving everyone! it has snowed here; just a light dusting but it's pretty. moose is pretty happy about it. oliver thinks it makes the sun too bright.

we're getting ready for thanksgiving around here. we are hosting this year, with help from the fam. bryan is in charge of cooking. we are making crisp apple-scented roast turkey with cider–calvados gravy, port wine cranberry sauce, green bean casserole (the real deal), corn budin, sweet potatoes, port glazed onions (some cross between this recipe and this one), cornbread stuffing (shannon's creation), cranberry bread, mom's famous yeast rolls, cranberry chocolate torte, apple pie, and mulled cider. yea, it's gonna rock. bryan and shannon are currently in the process of totally destroying my kitchen in pursuit of the meal. i am staying out of the kitchen in order to retain my marbles.

all the sisters are in town, which is awesome. katie has been coming over every day to help out with the baby, which has been a total blessing. last night, shannon made 5 pizzas (deep dish sausage, stuffed crust meatball with a balsamic tomato sauce, feta and tomato with pesto, chicken with pecorino romano sauce, and pumpkin). we had a lot of fun as usual. as we determined last night, the conversations haven't changed so much as our vocabulary has expanded. a typical conversation at the dinner table goes something like this:
mom: [explaining a recipe for swiss chard]
katie: what's chard?
adrianne: swiss chard?
katie: oh... cheese.
everyone: what???
katie: well it's swiss right?

yes, she is blond. ;) as is shannon. this is just further proof of her innocence. after dinner, we were talking about ron jeremy (don't ask me how we got on the subject).
mom: who's ron jeremy?
shannon: oh, you don't want to see that movie. it's really bad.
everyone: what?!?!
shannon: anchorman!
adrianne: no that's ron BURGUNDY!
shannon: oh. then who's ron jeremy?



oliver has been growing bigger already, which is bittersweet. he gets cuter by the day, and more alert and in control of his motor skills. we are, of course, convinced that he is a very advanced baby. which i am sure he actually is.

our son is born

oliver patrick peters was born at 4:18pm on wednesday october 31st, weighing in at 7 lbs 8 oz, measuring 20 1/4 inches long. he is gorgeous and amazing.

here is the abbreviated version of his birth:

i actually went into labor monday night. i thought it was braxton hicks or false labor, even though the contractions were painful and regular enough to keep me awake all night. so i went into work tuesday morning, where the contractions grew more regular and more painful. i was still in denial, though. i called the doctor's office at bryan's request and they informed me that no, this is real labor, and to get myself to a hospital. so i finished my meeting and my dad drove me in. :)

unfortunately, the contractions weren't regular or painful enough (and, we found out later, the hospital apparently had closed its doors to all non-emergency cases as they were full), so they sent us home to wait it out. by 1am wednesday, the contractions were not regular enough to go back, but they were painful enough to make me desperate, so we drove back to the hospital. i had progressed since my last visit, so they were able to keep me. they tried morphine, which didn't help, but once they got me into the room they gave me a painkiller that made me loopy enough to sleep for a few hours. some time later (the timeline is a little fuzzy at this point) i got my epidural, which is pretty much my favorite thing ever. the rest was cake. i slept all afternoon, pushed for about 40 minutes, and we had our little boy.



he is absolutely fantastic and we're all learning how this works together. looking into his sleeping face or his bright eyes, i am filled with a love that can't be described. he's generally pretty good about his schedule, so for the most part, i've been able to get some good naps and not be totally at wit's end. bryan's been the hero, doing everything around the house and making sure i have everything i need. the dogs are adjusting as well; ally doesn't have too much of an issue (and likes giving him kisses), though moose is still pretty unsure and kind of mopey. but for the most part they're hanging out and being cool. we've been happy to have all of our pre-made meals, and have learned a few lessons so far. i'll report back on all that some time later.

some pictures and video are posted on http://bnut.org/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=91, and more will be posted soon.