Good Night, Sleep Tight...

...Don't let the bed bugs bite.

Innocent enough, right? Haven't we been saying this with smiles and tickles to our children for decades? I mean, who has ever really seen a bed bug anyway. Aren't they, like, cute with googly eyes and bobbly antennae?

Umm, yeah... They're not, and the Olmsted's will NEVER say this little rhyme to our children ever again.

Two weeks ago Thursday, we discovered a bed bug infestation in Madelyn's' room. She has woken up with small red spots on her body for over two months, which, in hind sight, means the bugs have been there, crawling on her and biting her for two months. I nearly vomited when that realization hit me. We spent the weekend at a beach house in mid-September, and about a week later, the spots started showing up, so I'm 99% sure that's where we picked them up. I knew something was going on with those spots, but when we asked our doctor (whom we love) about them, she said it was likely a reaction to the child pox vaccine she had gotten about ten days prior. She said the spots would go away within a week or so, but they didn't. I was so bothered by them, but I just couldn't figure out what was going on.

Then one night, Madelyn wet the bed, which is very rare for her. We were in her room in the middle of the night, pulling sheets and blankets, which we never are, and we found a little bug crawling on one of her blankets. We didn't think anything of it at the time until we found another identical bug on her pj's the next morning. Sure enough, upon further inspection, we found many more bugs crawling all over her bed frame, her pillow, and her blankets. In a flash, everything synchronized and made sense: bed bugs.

In the 11 days since that morning, total chaos has ensued in our house. Bed bugs, as I've learned, are among the hardest pests to kill because they are centuries old and have adapted and evolved over time. Only high, high heat and chemicals will kill them, and they can survive without any food for up to 18 months, so you can't even starve them out. They can lay their eggs between the ridges of a dime, and they like to burrow in the tiniest cracks and crevices, such as in a bed frame (where they have easy access to fine midnight dining) or underneath baseboards. It's not just a matter of having some pest guys come out, spray around the perimeter, and get back to life within a day or two. Even in a mild infestation (which we have been told ours is), it can take months to be sure that you've really obliterated the problem.

So. For a gal like me who tends toward anxiety and neat-nickery anyway, this whole ordeal has been extremely trying on every level -- physical, mental, and emotional. There is such a stigma associated with pests like bed bugs and lice, and I can't help but feel dirty even though our pest guy (Brandon, who has practically become part of the family in the last two weeks) assures me that he spends the vast majority of his time in clean, well-cared for homes like ours rather than cluttered, garbage filled homes that one might associate with these types of pests. Also, because you have to be so vigilant in order to truly get on top of a bed bug infestation, I now see potential bed bugs EVERYWHERE in my house. Every crumb on the floor or fuzz on a blanket or tiny red scratch on one of my kid's faces is assumed to be a bed bug until proven otherwise. Every morning before our feet even touch the floor, we get out a flashlight and inspect every inch of our beds, pillows, blankets, and bodies to see if they've survived the two treatments we've had thus far and are multiplying. We've had to wash and/or dry on high heat EVERY sheet, blanket, stuffed animal, and article of clothing in our entire house. Everything else that was in our two bedrooms has been bagged up in thick plastic bags with a special strip in there that will kill off any live bugs or eggs. I vacuum every other day just in case, despite our vigilance, one has hitched a ride on a blanket or stuffed animal and is in the living room slowly making his way back to a bedroom. This is an absolutely exhausting way to live, and the end is by no means in sight.

Furthermore, pest control is one of the most expensive things we've ever had to pay for. It's worth it, of course, because you do whatever you have to do and I certainly wouldn't do that job for any amount of money, but oh my goodness...it kind of takes your breath away.

Anyway, I am writing all of this for two reasons: 1) Oddly enough, I want to remember this time, not because of how awful it was but to remind me that we survived and encountered overwhelming generosity on the part of our family to help us get through it, and 2) to offer a few "Public Service Announcements" to all of you to help prevent you from ever having to deal with something like this. So, here is my unsolicited advice, gleaned from spending several hours with Brandon the Pest Guy in the last couple of weeks:

1. Bed bugs have become an epidemic in this country due to increased travel and increased population density. To avoid them, you must check every bed you sleep in at every hotel or house or wherever no matter how fancy or clean it is. Look for the actual bugs (which is hard because they only come out at night) or look for tiny black spots on the bed frame, mattress, bed-side tables, or baseboards which is their excrement.

2. Don't ever put your suitcase on the floor. Put it on a suitcase stand or a chair, and don't ever unpack your clothes from your suitcase or leave them lying around the room.

3. When you get back home, take your suitcase IMMEDIATELY to your washer and dryer and wash and/or dry EVERYTHING on high heat -- even the clothes on your back. Then vacuum out your suitcase thoroughly.

4. If you find small red spots on your body (or your kids' bodies), assume bed bugs first and look for them. They are very good at staying hidden, so you really have to hunt, but the sooner you can catch them, the better.

Anyway, that's about it, I guess. It's been kind of strange dealing with all of this around the Thanksgiving season, because I have to be honest that I didn't feel very thankful this season. This current bed bug infestation has really been just the latest crisis in a string of challenging things our family has been dealing with, really, for the last year. But it is true that life is all about perspective, and we are 100% in control of what we choose to focus on and what experiences we allow to occupy our hearts. By the grace of God, we fought for thankfulness in our hearts this season and very much felt grateful that bed bugs have been our worst problem and not cancer or foreclosure or starvation.

And, to prove the above point, let's end this post with some photos of our healthy, happy, currently bed-bug free children who bring immeasurable joy to our hearts on a minute by minute basis.




Madelyn and Henry playing in the biggest pile of leaves I've ever seen -- every leaf from the park behind our house! All the neighbor kids came out to jump in them one dry, sunny afternoon, and it was so much fun.

I love this shot of the trees in the park behind our house. We love being so close to a park.

Yeah, that about sums it up much of the time!

Is there anything cuter than a little boy in overalls?!

Henry smiles and laughs all the time, but it's really hard to catch them on film because he instantly becomes so fascinated with the camera. Here's a great one of him and Auntie Kelsie on Thanksgiving -- I think he just loves his Auntie Kelsie so much :)