We're Having a Baby, My Baby and Me!: 24 Week Recap: Beach Baby!

Beach Bump @ 24 Weeks!

Well, week 24 was pretty awesome, considering Drew was gone the entire time. I had my 24 week checkup w/ Dr Belle Monday afternoon and I'm proud to say that while the weight is starting to creep a little higher, I haven't gained NEARLY what I was afraid I had and Dr Belle was really impressed with how I looked and how I was measuring!
In an attempt to maintain whatever sanity I actually have left, I kept myself busy while Drew was gone with dinner with Daddy and Tracie @ Peckers on Monday (what better way to start out the week than with family and Hot Ranch!??) Tuesday I enjoyed a night in my pjs, cuddled up with Greyson and some Nothing but Noodles and caught up with my beloved Real Housewives. Wednesday I had dinner @ Bonefish w/ Sean and Chris - it's always entertaining to get together with two of my faves! Thursday I packed and Friday I worked half a day and then Brandon and I were

BEACH BOUND!!!

The view from our condo.

Momma makes it a point to plan a trip for us every year. It started out with our 25th birthdays in NYC (which of course were 2 years apart). And last year we all decided to do an annual trip, just the 3 of us. Last year's Savannah trip was guaranteed to be a lot more wild than this year's Myrtle Beach venture because I wasn't 6 months pregnant. But we all wanted one last trip before the baby gets here. So MB bound we were :)

There is no doubting that Brandon is my absolute favorite person to road trip with. We have the most fun EVER and that's something that's never changed. I remember how I taught him to play Mary Had a Little Lamb on my portable keyboard to pass the time in the car going to Mamaw's when we were little. And how we'd trip out on the short ride to Butler in the morning and then to work @ HSBC afterschool in the afternoons while we were in highschool (including the time that Brandon had an asthma attack while we were rocking out to the rap part of Montell Jordan's "This Is How We Do It"). To this day, none of that has changed. We listen to old school rap and R&B (most of which we both know every word to) and laugh uncontrollably at the stupidest things. This trip was absolutely no different. 'Uncle Boo' and 'Sister' for life.

It's a Brother & a Sister Kinda Thang.

We kept seeing all the signs for a Myrtle Beach tourist attraction known as "Sparkys" (a hole in the wall dump that sells an impressive amount of fireworks as well as stupid, useless 'treasures' as Brandon and I refer to them). It's the kind of place that we'd pass when we were little and knowing we'd beg for every ridiculous thing in the store, Momma and Daddy would never stop. So, being almost 30 and having our own car, we decided to make the detour and shop a bit.

Pug Pic #1

This store had it ALL. I peed about 5 times while we were there (surprisingly clean bathrooms considering all of the bikers that had stopped there on their way to the beach for Bike Week) - and Brandon purchased $70 of fireworks. That's right - $70. Most of which are blue, to honor his new nephew. In true Brandon/Drew/BROTHER fashion, there was no way Drew was going to miss out on the fireworks show, so Brandon decided that he'd wait until next weekend (Memorial Day) at the lake to set them off from the dock.
I found a few ridiculous items I didn't need, but HAD to have. However, I somehow talked Brandon out of buying this 'treasure':

I'm not even kidding.

We finally (after a good 45 minute detour) hopped back in the car and made it to the BEACH, where momma was waiting! We relaxed for maybe like 7 minutes (thanks to our completely necessary and totally worth it pit stop), and headed to the Flamingo Grill, where momma had made reservations. It was the best filet oscar I'd ever had and I while I missed my standard dirty martini with the blue cheese stuffed olives, the virgin drink the bartender made for me was fun.

Flamingo Grill, sans Pugs.

Friday night we attempted a game of Trivial Pursuit, which quickly turned into the most ridiculous game ever, never really deciding a winner, just which of us was dumber. I took the cake. And I'm not even ashamed 1) I have preggo brain - normally I'm WAY smart and 2) it was the 'Genius' edition. Seriously, who even buys that??

Saturday it was rainy, but that didn't stop us. We were at the beach and we were bound to make the best of it. So, I put on my new maternity bathing suit, B put on his trunks and we rocked it out on the porch overlooking the ocean.

Always with the 'A'.

And ALWAYS with the drinks!
(Mine's on the right).

Cheeeeyahs!!

We finally decided to get ready and entertain ourselves at the Outlet stores. We shopped until my poor feet couldn't take it anymore, and were heading out when I found a Motherhood Maternity outlet. SCORE. So while momma and I were in there, B ventured to a sports store across the way. As I was paying, he came back and momma was showing him a Braves onesie...then (in true Brandon fashion) he completely set the bar way too high and put these 'prizes' for Cohen on display:

Clearly spoiling Cohen is going to be Uncle Boo's specialty.

After shopping, we headed to one of my favorite places ever - Broadway at the Beach! And by this time, we decided it was happy hour. So we ducked into Key West Grille, where I had the best (and most expensive considering there was NO alcohol in it) pina coladas.

Pirates and Pugs - what more do you need?

We made one last stop at Joe's Crab Shack (another personal fave and I still hate they closed the one in Charlotte). I desperately wanted some Crab Balls. Don't judge - they're amazing. And Joe's is the only place you can get em!

We wear our sunglasses at night.

Notice the little asian kid to our right who totally photobombed us.

Brandon's disgusting, but visually impressive drink "for Cohen".

Our original plan was to leave Sunday. However, when we got up the sun was shining so bright and we'd spent our 'Beach Day' Saturday inside, so we all foiled a plan to stay...which is exactly what we did. And it may very well had been the best decision the 3 of us had ever made. We spent all day having fun in the sun - maybe even a little too much 'fun' because this preggo got a little more shrimp-esque than I like. ***SIDE NOTE: I have to mention in case my Mamaw is reading this, that I applied sunscreen every hour and was very precautious...the Myrtle Beach sun just loved me a little more than I could handle this time around. And as I sit here almost a week later, I can tell you it's completely soaked in and I already have my 6mo dermatologist checkup scheduled for October.***
The tender skin was so worth it though.

Seriously, you can't recreate memories like this!!

He made his first mark in the sand. LOVE.

Sunday night I wanted crab legs...so after driving around Myrtle Beach for what seemed like FOREVER, we stopped at a MB landmark that I've always loved driving past, but have never had the pleasure of experiencing for myself. We dined, at the extremely appropriately named GIANT CRAB.

"Tommy" is 25 feet tall, 35 feet wide, and weighs 4.5 tons"
Southern Awesomeness.

More impressive than Tommy the Crab, was Brandon's ability to house a sampling of almost every item on the 170 item buffet. I can't lie, this kid put the preggo to shame. And it was awesome.

ONE of Brandon's 4 plates.
BRILLIANT.

Sunburned and feeling really glutonness, we went back to the condo and went to bed early. Afterall, in return for our extra day at the beach, we had to leave before 7:30 the next morning.

Like they say, all good things must come to an end. :(

WEEK 24 CRAVINGS: Seafood. Appropriate. And I got my fill at the 170-item buffet.

WEEK 24 "Dose of Uncle Boo": Since Andrew was MIA in Cleveland all week for his new hire training, I'm dedicating this week's 'Dose of...' to Uncle Boo. I'm still not sure what he was trying to accomplish in this picture. I think he was trying to dig his legs into the sand as far as they'd go. Or maybe he was trying to create some kind of failed optical illusion. Or mayyybe he was trying to see what it would be like to be a midget and only 3 feet tall. Whatever the reason, I give you one of the funniest pictures of the weekend.

Normal? Never.

WEEK 24"To Remembers": Momma and Brandon and I have shared MANY a beach trip together...and I remember all of them with fun and fond memories, but this was by far one of my alltime faves. While we all love our significant others and all of the fun they bring to the table, there's nothing quite like it being just the 3 of us. There's never a 2 minute span that goes by without us laughing, or where one (or all) of us is saying or doing something completely stupid. But that's the best part. That's what memories are made of. I'm beyond blessed to have the tight-knit relationship that I do with the amazing family that I have...and I cannot wait to introduce Cohen into the craziness of it all.