Great Advice

Be forewarned this post is not for the squeamish! Last Thursday I went into the kids room to check on them before I went to bed. I usually just peek in, but that night I walked in because Sierra was sprawled out on the floor and I noticed one of her dolls in Gideon's bed- too much bedtime fun I thought. I reached in to retrieve the doll when I noticed that Gideon's skin was crawling with bugs. I screamed and woke up the entire house- wouldn't you? We moved the kids to our bed and got them back to sleep then went about the horrible process of discovery hundreds of bed bugs bedding with my children. I was beyond grossed out and literally felt sick thinking about them crawling all over the kids at night. It's been a nightmare since then trying to eradicate our home of them. Before the exterminator could come, I had to wash every article of clothing in our home and bag it up (yes, winter clothes, blankets, towels, everything!), and move everything from closets and bedrooms into the living room. Ok, we live in a 800 square foot apartment- the closets were stuffed full and the living room was filled with our couch. It was pure craziness doing it all, but we did it and the exterminator came Wednesday. Thanks to our T-bird friend Clint who let us stay with him while the bug juice filled our apartment (and Jen who offered her home). I've been slowly trying to get things back in order but the thing is I keep finding more bugs. We called the guy back and asked if it was normal and he said no and that he would be back today. So now I've halted all unpacking until I found out what to do next. I have a feeling this will be a long process. It's staggering to think about the costs of all this. We had to throw away one mattress, Gideon's bed, Sierra's beloved doll house, lots of toys, sheets and baskets. The bug guy alone cost $485 (yes, the apartment refused to pay for it saying it was an "unusual" bug and they only treat for usual ones). The biggest cost has been our peace of mind. Sierra constantly talks about bugs and won't sleep in her bed (so we gave Gideon her bed and let her sleep in a chair). It's all just so disgusting. Hopefully by next week I'll be able to see a silver lining in all this. The best advice I could give anyone right now is ALWAYS check for bed bugs when you sleep in a motel- no matter how nice it looks, and especially if it looks crummy. If sheets or mattresses have little spots on them (fecal matter and blood), or you wake up with little red bites get out of there quick.

Sierra and Gideon were good sports about spending ALL day in the laundry room. Drowned bed bugs from Gideon's bed.
The kids having fun in the midst of major chaos.