The Best Lunch Ever!

This past weekend, Nina took several of us out to lunch in celebration of Cole's impending arrival. We went to my favorite restaurant (and the location of our wedding reception), Lightfoot, in Leesburg. It was the best lunch ever. The food was incredible, and the company was even better! Lightfoot is such a special place for Tom and me, and it was the perfect location for our celebratory lunch. The girls loaded me up on some last-minute items for Cole - from a Kohl's gift card to cute outfits to a gift certificate for a manicure. It was really a perfect afternoon!

In case you haven't heard, I am really ready to meet our son! After the lunch at Lightfoot and the special gifts, I really feel ready to go. His room is ready, his clothes are clean, his diapers are ready, and everything is in its place. Come on Cole! We're ready and excited to meet you!

Cole Thomas at 38 Weeks

Here's this week's update from babycenter.com:

Your baby has really plumped up. He weighs about 6.8 pounds and he's over 19 1/2 inches long (like a leek). He has a firm grasp, which you'll soon be able to test when you hold his hand for the first time! His organs have matured and are ready for life outside the womb.

Wondering what color your baby's eyes will be? You may not be able to tell right away. If he's born with brown eyes, they'll likely stay brown. If he's born with steel gray or dark blue eyes, they may stay gray or blue or turn green, hazel, or brown by the time he's 9 months old. That's because a child's irises (the colored part of the eye) may gain more pigment in the months after he's born, but they usually won't get "lighter" or more blue. (Green, hazel, and brown eyes have more pigment than gray or blue eyes.)

We're full-term baby! Come on and join us anytime - Cole! We're ready for you!

Red Beans and Rice

I love this recipe because you can make it with stuff from your pantry - no fresh ingredients needed... that sounds bad, but it's actually quite good.

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 cup uncooked regular long-grain white rice

1 can (10 1/2 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Chicken Broth

1 1/4 cups water

3/4 cup Pace® Picante Sauce

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 can (about 15 ounces) kidney beans, drained

1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Sour cream

Sliced pitted ripe olives

Heat the oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the rice. Cook and stir until it's lightly browned.

Stir the broth, water, picante sauce and chili powder into the rice. Heat to a boil. Reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook for 15 minutes.

Stir in the beans and sprinkle with cheese. Cover and cook for 5 minutes or until done. Serve with sour cream and olives.

Cole Thomas at 37 Weeks

Here's this week's update from babycenter.com:

Your baby is now considered "full term," even though your due date is three weeks away. If you go into labor now, his lungs will likely be mature enough to fully adjust to life outside the womb.

Your baby weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel (like the stalk of a Swiss chard). Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long. But don't be surprised if your baby's hair isn't the same color as yours. Dark-haired couples are sometimes thrown for a loop when their children come out as blonds or redheads, and fair-haired couples have been surprised by Elvis look-alikes. And then, of course, some babies sport only peach fuzz.

Yippee - 37 weeks! I can't believe we've made it! We're pretty much ready for Cole. I'm in full-blown nesting mode... I'm working on my fifth load of laundry this morning, and it's only 11:00 am. In the last week, I've cleaned and organized the pantry, Syd's special cabinet, and the guest room cabinets. I really can't control myself.

New Neighbors

So - we're pretty sure we have new neighbors. We have reason to believe this because:

1. All the sudden, there are cars always in the driveway of the neighbor's house (it used to be pretty much deserted).

2. There are two new dogs that live (and bark) on the property.

Anyway, I expect we'll get to meet them sooner or later. What I didn't expect was to find these two roaming the neighbor's property:

At first glance, I figured they were Canadian geese, but clearly - they're turkeys! Gobble, gobble, gobble. I assume they are wild turkeys and not free range turkeys that are owned by the new neighbors! We shall see!

Happy Easter!

This Easter was very low key, but nice and relaxing! We started the weekend by opening gifts from and dying eggs with grandma and papa Drumheller. Sydney even got a super cool eagle hat!

On Easter morning, Sydney and I looked all over the house for her basket before finding it in the living room! Who knew that the bunny delivers toys? She received a very cool Little People airplane. After all that excitement, we went to Jodi's. Sarah graciously found all the baskets that the bunny had hid there, including special baskets for Cole and "Gamma" Drumheller. After a spectacular brunch, we headed back to the house for naptime and playtime.

Easter evening, we went to grandma and papa Bergeman's house for Easter dinner. Sydney really got into the spirit of "playing" with Max. When it was time to go, I think Max was a little thankful that Sydney was on her way.

Cole Thomas at 36 Weeks

Here's this week's update from babycenter.com:

Your baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. He now weighs almost 6 pounds (like a crenshaw melon) and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. He's shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered her body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected her skin during her nine-month amniotic bath.

At the end of this week, your baby will be considered full-term. (Full-term is 37 to 42 weeks; babies born before 37 weeks are pre-term and those born after 42 are post-term.) Most likely she's in a head-down position.

Yeay! Six days to go until full term! 27 days to go until our due date. Cole will be here before we know it.