We're Having a Baby, My Baby and Me!: 18 Week Recap: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

18 Weeks - Pregnant in HEELS.

18 weeks kicked off at my favorite place in the world - my momma's house on Lake Murray, SC! My good friend, Mandy, and I decided we needed some girls only - no boys allowed R&R and since my step-daddy Tom was out of town for the weekend, we figure the lake was the perfect place to get away for a bit!! (We knew the guys would appreciate the time to themselves as well - and considering that Ohio State lost Saturday night and was kicked out of the March Madness tournament, I'd say we picked a good weekend to leave). We left Saturday morning and relaxed with pedicures and the fresh lake air! It was so nice to get away for a little bit. Being pregnant you don't realize how much you have on your plate and how much even the mundane day to day activities such as an 8-5 job or balancing the checkbook wears you down. To have a little more than 24 hours with no schedule and no one to worry about was really nice! We even had dinner reservations at Steven Ws for Saturday night, but cancelled them last minute in lieu of putting on pjs and eating whatever we could find in the fridge. While I was looking forward to a nice dinner out, I was so happy to make the cancellation call and put my comfies on and just relax.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.

It was a really relaxing getaway, but of course, nothing lasts forever so back home and back to the grind!! Thankfully, with the Easter weekend approaching, I only had a 4 day work week!! YAY!! I had lunch with sweet Ms Elaine on Monday, a Sub Station 2 rendezvous with Neff on Tuesday and thankfully Wednesday and Thursday sped by. Then it was back to the lake, but more on that in the 19 Week Recap.

There wasn't much to report on the baby front in week 18, other than I REALLY started to feel him kick. Gone are the days of the random swimmy, fluttery popcorn-ish feelings. Now I'm talking full on judo chop blows! Cohen moved around so much on Tuesday that I don't think he slept all day. But he must have worn himself out because he didn't move half as much on Wednesday. It's always so exciting to feel him move - I just sit there and giggle to myself! And if he does it in the middle of the night (during one of my 6-7 midnight potty breaks), I'll lay there with my hand on him until I fall back asleep. I can't wait until everyone else can feel him move - or when I can see him move inside my stomach, but from the outside - it sounds a little weird and very 'Alien' to think of the moving life inside of me, but it's the most amazing blessing and I love every second of it! I still can't believe it's happening to me - and that it's almost half over!

WEEK 18 CRAVINGS: GREEN GRANNY SMITH APPLES. Again. I have decided to replace the saying "an apple a day keeps the doctor away" with "an apple a day builds a strong BAYBAY". I plan on copyrighting it, so if you'd like a tshirt order placed, just let me know. I'm also a sucker for these new V8 VFusion Sparkling drinks. They come indivdually canned and they're not that cheap, but they look awesome in a wine glass and are REALLY good. Plus, they contain a full serving of fruit and veggies, so how can I not justify the $4 for a 4-pack?

My dinner on Tuesday night...and Greyson trying to steal it from me.

WEEK 18 "Dose of Daddy": So there's this joke that since Drew and one of his best friends, Kevin, will both have sons (Damon is Kevin and Shavon's 11 month old), Cohen and Damon are inevitably going to be instant BFFs as well. Which, I'm sure they will. However, when Kevin and Drew get together, trouble usually ensues. And we all live in the same neighborhood. So the fact that the kids will be about a 2 minute bike ride from eachother's houses is sure to fuel the fire when they're old enough. There have been talks of tree climbing, fights over girls, front yard wrestling matches and dirt bike races. The scariest thought was when Kevin and Drew shook to seal the deal that one day they'd alternate having to explain the boys future escapades to the cops (and of course keep the details on a highly strict 'need to know' basis from me and Shavon). While us mommas laugh it off, our fears became somewhat reality last week when Kevin pulled into our yard to have Drew help unload his new 4-wheeler. As Kevin and Drew were laughing and saying things like 'Dude, I can't wait to get the boys on this', all I could think is "oh my gosh, one day my kid's gonna be with Damon on the back of this thing and while Shavon and I are having heart attacks, the guys are gonna encourage every bit of it". Two things are sure to be true: 1) I'll be a nervous wreck, being the momma of a sure-to-be curious, athletic and mischevious little boy and 2) he'll get it 100% honest from his daddy.

I like to call this picture "Daddy Danger" or "A Glimpse into my Future".

WEEK 18 "To Remembers": Not all maternity shirts are created equal. And just because something is labeled as 'maternity' doesn't mean it's necessary designed to cover everything that one may think a maternity piece should. I learned this lesson the hard way this week when I got ready for work on Wednesday morning and put on a new navy blue Liz Lange "Maternity" shirt. The problem was a) the maternity shirt didn't even come close to housing my maternity boobs and b) I unfortunately came to this realization after I got to work and there was no tank top or cami to put on underneath it. However, I consider myself a fashionista, and clever when I need to be, so I looked around my office and found a stapler. I have been known to temporarily hem a pair of too-long pants with a stapler, but this shirt is made of delicate material and it's really cute on (not to mention it wasn't on the clearance rack), so while a stapler would have fixed the problem, I didn't want to destroy it. Plan B: I always have super glue on hand. You never know when you're going to need it and when you actually have it, you'd be surprised at how often you really do use it. But as I contemplated it, I realized that while the super glue may temporarily fix my problem, I may have trouble pulling the shirt back up over my head when I got home after work. So, back to the drawing board. I looked around once more and HARK! There was my answer, a shiny paper clip laying on my desk in this gleam of light from the window behind my desk. I'd like to think God put it there just for me! So, I went to work with what I had and tacked my boobs back in their rightful place (at least from 8a-5p). I present to you the end result...in all of it's OfficeMax fixed glory.