We still haven't settled on a name for this baby due on July 12th, but we've taken to nicknaming it the "Shape Shifter" because of the shifts in tectonic plates that regularly seem to take place under the skin of my belly.  Paul recently saw a picture of an infant boy who was born with three arms and suddenly we wondered if our child has that many limbs. When most people hear how active this little kiddo is, they usually reply "It must be a boy." My thought on this is "They must not know us very well, because if that's the case, it's more likely to take after me than Paul."

As of this posting, we have a little less than a month until the due date. Most things are in place for the planned homebirth and we're feeling excited and confident about our choice after taking a great homebirth education class through the Bay Area Homebirth Collective, (of which our midwives are members). I thought I'd be more nervous and fearful the closer the time came at the thought of not going to the hospital, but in fact, the opposite has been true. We are so relieved at the idea of laboring in our own home, surrounded only by the people we want to be present, and having the freedom to move about and go through the labor as we please with two midwives we trust who have attended 1,100 homebirths. For those who are wondering, yes, we're renting a birthing tub, but mostly we're assuming we'll use it just for the labor, not necessarily for the birth. But stay tuned - we'll let you know if we have a water baby (and if the baby has three arms).

By the way, we're still taking suggestions for names: first, middle, and last, for a boy or a girl, so let us know if you think of a good one.

Our beekeeper José added a new box for our growing bee community.  The three-story tower on the right is the one they're currently occupying.  At some point he may get a second queen to start the other hive (the short one on the left with the green top). 

The bees seem to be doing well, and José thinks we may have a first honey harvest in a month or two. 

Our neighbor planted some clover especially for the bees, but they have been disappointing him so far.  We've noticed them a little bit in our trees, but otherwise only see them if we watch them coming and going from the hive.  The bees come in and out through the slot along the bottom of the hive (see the close-up below).