hotel errrrrbody.

last stop!

embassy suites!

now now now... before you go and think we're all high rollers and all that.... put yourself in my shoes,

39 weeks pregnant.

wild, almost out of control toddler.

lots of bags and toys and stuff.

we needed room to breathe, room to play, room to try and be normal while cooped up in a hotel for 5 nights... and when you go to a regular hotel, you get two beds in one big room.  i think i would have driven myself crazy, my child crazy, my momma crazy, and my husband crazy (when he returned "home" from work)

so, we opted for a place that had a "living quarters" and a bedroom.

and it was magnificent.

[here's gma and romes, running around at the yummy free breakfast, that we pigged out on every morning....yes, omelets and pancakes and oatmeal, oh my!]

and then, we kept thinking we were getting into our house, and then it kept getting pushed back.

gma abbi and uncle cam even came to help paint, thinking we would have the keys...but it was a no go.

so they hung out at the hotel too.

let me tell you..... it was a party.

ha.

[uncle cam helping with bedtime!]

but hey.  they have free happy hour, where most of my group got to partake in a few brewskies each night, while i chugged free fountain dr peppers, and roman ran around like a wild man.

the hotel folks got to know us pretty well.

and yes, i got the looks and the questions of when i was due, and why i was at a hotel.

but those questions don't bother me like they do some preggo girls, i mean, heck....i too would be curious to know why such a waddling preggo woman would be living in a hotel.  do tell! they begged.

i asked the hotel manager if i got some sort of prize (errrr....room discount) if i was to be the first one to bring a newborn home to the hotel.... and he didn't really promise me anything.  dude, did he know how badly i wanted to be promised something! anything! a badge! happy hour all day! a free night stay!  but nope.

[daddy, romes, and momma all shared that king bed for 5 nights, oh, and baby too

.... baby was clearly in that bed too...]

it was still snowing.  even though it was march 20-something....it was blizzard mania.

which was great for romes, gma linda has super powers and halls tubs of snow up to our room so he can drive his trucks in it.  thankgoodness for grandmas.

we could see our room from the breakfast spot.

it was sort of fun to get dressed in the mornings, head out to the elevator and ride down to a hot breakfast.  i think i could be a NYC momma.  just get me a bugaboo and we'd be off on our adventures.  what kid doesn't like starting his day by riding an elevator!?!!

every time we drive by the hotel, roman recognizes it and asks to go there...

he remembers throwing money into the fountain, playing with gma and gpa, and riding the elevator, and watching the snow plows... it's sort of bitter sweet when we drive by, i remember all those things too... and those final days wondering, "am i going to have this baby today?"  or  "am i going to lose my  mind today?" 

:)

occasionally we would leave the hotel, for things like frozen yogurt, but mostly, we hung out there.

it was like a mini vacation.

a great way to end our crazy trek.

i mean, don't ask us what we had to pay to stay there that many nights....

but there comes a time when you just do what you gotta do.

you only live once, and we're pretty glad we lived this one up.

there's our little kitchen back behind mr leif, the foot masseuse. 

we got pretty creative with our meals.

below, i give you:

blueberries, steamed green beans in the hotel microwave, and microwave mac and cheese.

BAM!

a little fresh, and a little processed.

take that!

a mighty fine lunch for little romanator.

and then it happened.

we got THE call.

the one that says, you can have the keys!

so tuesday was spent tearing our carpet (thanks dad and donavan!) and other random demo work...

mr leif rounded up whoever he could get to help that tuesday,

and again, the body of christ is amazing.  

friends came and helped and served and we were so grateful.

. . .

so, it would finally happen, the next day, on wednesday, march 27th, we would move "home".

i think i had 4 mini cups of dr pepper that night at happy hour.