A great week

I'm having a great week, despite feeling completely exhausted almost all the time. John's mom has been with us and it has been fabulous! I feel like a new woman with all the fruits and veggies I've been eating after a few weeks of a pretty unhealthy diet. I was just too tired to do a good job with making balanced meals. Just now, she made us a delicious fruit salad with cashew cream and Sam had 3 bowls! Then she took him out for a little walk. Having the extra hands with Sam is so great too- especially because John has kicked into overdrive with his work. Wanting to be settled in our eventual home sooner, he has been working all day and several hours at night. Having company while I'm stranded at home without a car is completely great- I go a bit stir crazy without some people interaction during the day. Oh and while I'm on the subject of all the good help she's been giving us- it has been so nice to have a more experienced and gifted voice helping to choose out paint colors, furniture, bedspreads, flooring, etc. So I'm feeling really thankful about all that.

We have done a few fun outings together, particularly a trip to the Tweechol Botanical Gardens which have beautiful topiary, a small zoo, paddle boats, and a tram car tour of the whole thing. It is so beautifully maintained and we all had a really fun time. I'm looking forward to taking my nieces and nephew when they come in October.

And it turns out that our friend, Kathryn, is going to be able to come up here for the weekend from a course she's doing in Bangkok. John and I have both been wanting to see her so much but weren't sure if it would work out. It will be so good to have a good friend here with us!

Other highlights of my week:

-an amazing prenatal massage from my doula
-berry smoothies that I try to get every few days
-seeing Sam get ready to be a big brother (putting the baby doll to sleep, trying on his old baby clothes, watching videos from when he was a newborn, etc)
-getting a bike with training wheels for Sam (among many many other things from a great family that is leaving Chiang Mai today)
-watching Monk with John at night
-having a bit of time to pray for the birth and for Sam and his brother

I'm just five days from my due date now (Aug 2nd) and am trying to be ready just in case the baby comes early or near on time. I think if I could guess, I'd say that I think he's going to come 7-10 days late, but we'll see. I've felt some contractions (the kind that are hardly noticeable at all) but no other big signs of labor yet.

I'll post pictures eventually...