M.I.A.

Yikes, I've really been M.I.A. this past week haven't I? Guess I have some explaining to do then, eh? Well, for starters, we didn't get the house... and after praying about it we decided not to get it BEFORE we heard we didn't get it. I don't even want to get into the logistics, or the reasons... just that God is showing us the way. We are looking at an apartment, yes another apartment, down the street today. The ONLY reason we are looking at this apartment is because it's managed by the company that originally managed the one we are in. Our current landlord is horrendous. Horrible. Irresponsible... I could go on, but I'll stop there. So, it's pretty much the exact kind of apartment we're in now, same price, same amenities with the added bonus of a deck. It would be a huge weight off of our shoulders to be back with a rental company we trust and actually know us and have worked with us before. So that's that... I'll update later on how that goes.


Last week was Valentine's Day and we were supposed to have Boogie's pictures taken by an AMAZING photographer on Monday, but she got sick and had to reschedule so we decided to take our vacation a little early (which as you'll read later on was a good thing). We left Monday afternoon after J got off work and headed to Gatlinburg, TN. We actually decided to stay on the interstate instead of going through Cosby like we typically do because it had been raining and such a lot that day and didn't want to hit any ice on the way. We ate dinner in Sevierville and finally made it to our hotel around 7ish. We stayed in a phenomenal hotel, it's called the Bearskin Lodge. I've actually posted about it before but we didn't end up staying there during the trip we had planned on in that post. It's on a back road very close to downtown Gatlinburg and it is so so so cozy. It's decorated like a mountain cabin, and the rooms are SO nice. We stayed in a King Suite, it had (obviously) a king sized bed, a pull-out couch, a gas fireplace, a whirlpool tub, and a city view. My only complaint is that there wasn't a rocking chair... but obviously most hotels don't have those! But with a child who doesn't sleep unless she's rocked and nursed... it made our nights a little bit difficult!


On Valentine's Day we decided to drive to Sevierville to eat at our favorite restaurant for Breakfast, the Apple Barn. If you have never been... please go, they have a phenomenal breakfast and their apple fritters, apple butter, and apple julep are to die for! Boogie also LOVES their apple muffins! Then we headed back to Gatlinburg to spend the rest of our day. We headed to the aquarium first, which was quite affordable this time thanks to the hotel management at our hotel who gave us a free pass! We were so excited to see Boogie's reaction to all the fish and ocean animals, the last time we were there she had just turned 3 months and could care less that we were surrounded by such beauty! She had a ball this time though! She also thought all the fish were 'balls', lol! She'd put her hands against the glass and just talk and squeal at the fish, it was wonderful! The best part was getting to see the giant sea turtle in the largest tank, Boogie loves turtles!


The rest of the day we spent walking around downtown Gatlinburg exploring the shops and such, we even decided to kill some time by visiting Ripley's Believe it Or Not... but honestly I wasn't all that impressed! Our day ended at The Melting Pot. I wasn't as impressed this time around, mainly because they had only ONE four course menu to eat from... meaning non choices. Kind of takes the fun out of it! But it was still yummy, and Boogie didn't scream the entire time like she did last time!


Since we went to dinner super super early as to not disturb the couples without children (seriously, we ate at 2:15pm), we decided to go ahead and go to Sevierville again to shop at some of the stores in the Tanger outlet. We didn't really need anything, but we thought it would be fun to look anyways. I actually found some great deals at Osk Kosh B Gosh and Naartjie (which is my new favorite store btw).


Wednesday morning we packed up our stuff and headed home, we stopped about 25 minutes from home to eat breakfast at Cracker Barrel and then stopped at a store in downtown Asheville to get a few used diapers and then we finally made it home. THANK GOODNESS.


The rest of the week is a bit of a blur... I watched a friend's baby on Thursday... and then Friday. Oh Friday. The morning and afternoon were completely normal... and then that evening the norovirus hit me. The norovirus is the virus of DEATH. It is absolutely miserable. I couldn't move, lay down, hold my child, nurse my child... it was awful. I was confined to the recliner in a reclined sitting position, and J had to help me in and out of it because I was so weak from vomiting and dehydration. I never want to relive that again. Thankfully my mother in law came and stayed the night and helped with Boogie, who was SUCH a good girl. She handled everything so well and didn't hate me the next day for not holding or nursing her ALL night. Saturday morning my mom came over when J went to work, I was done getting sick and feeling much better but I was incredibly weak and VERY dehydrated. I had a fever and a monstrous headache and was extremely dizzy. I felt that way pretty much all day until I was able to get re-hydrated with water and Gatorade. I was able to (and felt comfortable enough) to nurse Boogie around 2 that day and thankfully there was still milk to be found!



Yesterday was better, but I was still weak... Boogie and I spent the majority of the day in the recliner resting and her nursing. She was very cuddly, which I'm thankful for... I felt terrible that I couldn't be near her Friday night. I didn't want her to get sick and took some medication that wouldn't have been safe for her if she had nursed (truthfully the medicine didn't do squat... but I was hoping it would give me some relief). I'm still weak today, but I've been able to get up and move and play with Boogie a bit more today. Oh and to top off that weekend... due to not nursing Boogie for almost 16 hours dear Aunt Flo paid a visit after 61 days of not seeing her... yay.

That pretty much sums up our week... I will update again with what we decide to do with this other apartment and with pictures from our trip. Hope everyone else had a MUCH better weekend than we did!