Time to Post Again

Well, I think my stomach just expanded over the weekend.  Yesterday morning I was sitting on the couch watching TV.  Decided to get up and felt pain and heaviness from my uterus.  I had to hobble to the bathroom. I thought it must be the round ligaments expanding my uterus, but I haven’t felt that much pain.  I’ve felt the round ligaments before and would just rub the sides of my stomach when they got sore.
I was a little worried it might be something else.  But when I laid down on the couch, it went away.  It was only when I stood or sat up. I had to skip the morning doggie walk and lay there for 2 hours!  The pain and heaviness slowly became a sore ache.  I think I didn’t feel normal til the late afternoon.  I guess that’s what happens when you’re 20 weeks pregnant (more that half way there) and still not showing significantly yet.  My boobs are still bigger than my stomach.  It looks like I have a thick waist right now.  When the baby moves I used to feel flutters.  Lately, I’m now starting to feel “thumps”

I also forgot to mention our trip to Carmel.  This was our vacation before the baby arrived.  We left Thursday Night on 10/13 and came back on Sunday.  Since Carmel is famous for it’s dog-friendliness, we took Rudy with us.  We’re starting to find that our dog gets carsick.  At first, we thought it might be the winding roads.  Nope, the dog just gets sick…I’m wondering if it’s because he has too much room in the back where he flops around.  Luckily Jay is always prepared and had Moving Blankets all over the seats and floor.

We stayed at this place called the Hofas House.  It sounds the way it looks.  Very Bavarian looking.  What you seeing the in cartoon postcard (that I will have to post later since the server seems to be having pictures loading issues), it is EXACTLY the way it looks…like a Gingerbread House.  When I checked in, they gave us a map of downtown stores and some doggie biscuits.  In the room they had a dog bowl for food and water and a doggie blanket.  It was stuffy when we got in the room.  I couldn’t find the thermostat. Where’s the air conditioner?!?  Apparently they didn’t have one.  Carmel doesn’t have air conditioning since the Hotels are usually old and the weather is usually cool.  So, to get some cool air in you have to open up the windows and open up the half door.  I felt like I was back in the dorm rooms.  But, it didn’t take long to cool the room once we opened the door and windows.  During our stay we left the bathroom window opened all the time and it kept the room at a good temperature.

Friday I took Rudy for a walk.  Even though he was on the leash, he seems very happy to sniff around at all the new stuff.  Took him back up into the room and then went to the lobby to get our Continental breakfast…not bad.  Today was Monterey Bay Aquarium.  We dropped Rudy off at Doggie Day Care in Monterey.  It was a place where he could move around and not be stuck in the cage all day.  We have never left Rudy in Boarding so it was like dropping off our child at school for the first time.  He was really scared at first, then got a little better.  The Guy there knew what he was doing to get Rudy acclimated…wait a while all three of us were in the same room.  After a while of being there, he told us a couple of times, “Ok, you can leave now”, but we didn’t budge.  We were both nervous of leaving him behind!  Previously, when I had to drop Rudy off in the morning to get his teeth deep cleaned at the Vet, he cried (softly howled) the whole time til I came to get him in the afternoon. So, off we went to the Aquarium.  It was good seeing it again.  It always seems so short once you walk around. They added a couple of things, like the Jelly Fish Exhibit (cool) and the Sharks Exhibit.  Still, it took us about a couple of hours to do the whole Aquarium.  We then went to lunch at a Seafood place (we both found not as good as the Fish Market and Very Pricey) and then went to pick up Rudy.  Boy, was he happy to see us!  We walked around Carmel the rest of the day.  For some reason, Rudy wanted to go into all the Art Galleries. Jay thought he must’ve been an Artist in a previous life.  We found a doggie store and let Rudy pick out his toy.  Couldn’t believe all the cutsie outfits you could fit your dog in….weird.  Ok, you might have thought we were weird bringing our dog and letting our dog pick out his toy, but buying these clothes for your dog was REALLY weird.  At Dinner, we went to this German/French restaurant.  Since we had Rudy, we had to eat on the patio.  Food was Pricey (as it seems to be in Carmel) but very good!  And, they gave Rudy a biscuit and a tiny hamburger patty filled with rice and garlic – for free!

Saturday, we went to breakfast.  We again had to eat on the patio since we had the dog, seems to be normal…if there is a patio, you can bring your dog.  It took FOREVER to get a seat since we could only eat on the patio.  Ordered breakfast.  I got a side of sausage for Rudy…hee,hee,hee. We were surprised at how well he was doing since he’s more comfortable around other dogs than other people.  He pretty much sat quietly – it helped that we were feeding him while we had our breakfast.  Walked again downtown and found another Doggie Store.  Bought him another toy.  Walked to a Deli and picked up lunch then walked to the Beach.  It was 5 blocks down the hill.  Rudy got excited when he was in the sand, but then started backing up once he saw the waves.  Jay picked a spot. It was near this couple that had a few blankets around and a makeshift table.  As we were eating our lunch, around we noticed that more people started showing up near the couple.  Also the couple was placing baskets of silverware and cloth napkins at each blanket…curious…then a Musician starts showing up and sets up near us.  We find out we are going to be crashing a wedding!  Who knew?!?  Nobody was dressed up.  We left before it got too uncomfortable.  As we climbed the hill, I had to rest at every single block – luckily they had a bench at every stop.  Later, our neighbor, her boyfriend, and her dog, Choto, were down in Carmel as well and met us for Dinner at Forge in the Forest.  We sat at the Patio again.  This time the Patio was called “The Dog Pound”.  This restaurant had a special doggie Menu.   You can get a  Plain Ol’ Kibble, Hot Diggity Dog, Quarter Hounder, Hen House Chicken Strips, or the Good Dog (which is a 6 oz Grilled New York Steak!)  We both ordered the “Quarter Hounder” for our dogs, which was hamburger.  Choto is tiny and only ate ½ of his.  Rudy at all his in 10 seconds flat, then ate Choto’s when we all told him it was OK and kept pushing the food towards him.  Funny Dog.

Sunday, did our finally morning walk and checked out.  Store owners were pretty nice during our stay in Carmel and  kept giving Rudy Milk Bones.  We found out Rudy does not like Milk Bones. Either he spit them out, or didn’t want them.  Basically the Dog got really spoiled, but it was all fun!  (and the threw up again on the way home)