Baby Moon

We went on our "baby moon"/anniversary trip this past weekend to Carmel-by-the-Sea. It was nice to get away and not think about the nursery or baby classes. We also ate a ton of really good food! Carmel wasn't quite what we were expecting, though. The crowd was mostly older, and the weather was cloudy/foggy and cold. I guess I had a hip beach town in mind, something like Newport Beach. The shops and dining were similar to that I suppose. It's probably a lot better when the weather is nice.

We had a good time at the Monterey Bay Aquarium even though I had to sit down and rest every 30 minutes. We also went on a short, flat hike in Point Lobos Reserve. We saw a group of bird watchers with huge, expensive camera and binocular equipment - they had spotted a baby owl (some rare species) hiding out in a tree. We also saw some seals chillin' on some rocks in the ocean. My calves and hips are feeling all that walking today!

Some photos from the aquarium and hike:The one above is of a display about how male sea horses actually carry and birth the babies. Must be nice for those females!



The food was by far the best part (Lawrence agrees, it's not just that I'm pregnant!). Dinner the first night at Forge in the Forest was just ok, but breakfast at Friar Tuck's on Saturday was good, and a good deal. The owner chatted us up from across the restaurant and gave Lawrence tips about how to deal with a teenage daughter. It was fun. Dinner at da Giovanni's on Saturday night was the highlight. The owner came over and talked to us a few times and the owner's daughters both wanted to talk about babies. One was trying to conceive and the other had a 12-year old. The 12-year-old's mom said she gained 88 pounds when she was pregnant and I had to try my hardest not to drop my jaw - she was only MAYBE 5 feet tall and skinny and fit-looking! She said she started at 100 pounds, so that means she nearly doubled her weight! She showed no signs of that weight now, and said breastfeeding was the secret to losing it fast.

Speaking of breastfeeding, Lawrence and I went to our Kaiser class on the topic last week. I have read a book on breastfeeding and several other books that cover the topic in at least one of the chapters, so it was mostly review for me. We watched a video, which was good, but it was pretty long for what it showed (just several examples of babies feeding, over and over). Lawrence said he didn't get anything out of it either, so it seems like it was basically a waste of time. Oh well, at least it was free!

In other news, Lawrence put the crib together when we got home from Carmel, and moved the glider into the nursery. The furniture isn't in its final resting place yet, so I'll hold off on pics until this weekend :)