Moving Nightmare

So...we moved to Elk Grove and now we're moving back to Natomas to our same house in less than a week. We stayed 2 whole nights in the Elk Grove house and had to get out of there as soon as possible due to an awful, putrid smell that permeates the whole house (because it IS the house itself that stinks) and it's just plain dirty. We think it might be rotting from the inside out, and there were definitely pets living there sometime in the recent past.

"Didn't you smell this when you first looked at the house?" you might be thinking to yourself... NO! The owner had just painted and had all the windows open, a breeze coming through and some new carpeting, so that's what we smelled. On the first day we received the keys, we went over to do what we expected to be some minor disinfecting, and immediately encountered the smell, as well as a very dirty house that had allegedly been cleaned by the owner, but is in dire need of a professional team of cleaners. Needless to say, we were miserable, worried about the smell (what it was and what it was doing to our baby's health), and wanted out immediately. The landlord, who turns out to be a very nice man, graciously let us out of our 6 month lease, but we did need to pay for one month. We have the house for that long too, so we have a really expensive, stinky storage unit for all of our possessions. The smell has unfortunately attached itself to our stuff though. I noticed this as I was bringing a box of random kitchen items back to the Natomas house. We're going to thoroughly wash everything, but you can't really wash a mattress or couch. [I'm doing a lot of deep, slow breathing these days in order to try to prevent myself from TOTALLY FREAKING OUT].

All in all, this has been a very costly, very disappointing experience. However, there's lessons and love in every situation. Our family and friends have been very supportive, and we're so fortunate that the new landlord let us out of the lease and our old landlord welcomed us back (of course we had to sign that 12 month lease which started this whole thing in the first place). Regardless, we are so grateful to be able to move back into our clean, good smelling, safe little house and neighborhood. It's been professionally cleaned (carpets and the house itself) so that's a positive.

Currently, we're looking for professional movers. (We will not ask our friends to move us again a week later. It was a long, tough move and we just can't do that to them again). In the meantime, we're crashing at Oma and Papa's. They have been a wonderful blessing to us (as always) and are making this time of transition so much easier on us. Oma is doing our laundry, Papa is making us amazing Americanos, the cooking is wonderful, the house is clean and smells good, and Ella is being doted on. Life goes on; we'll be okay.

Love to all!

Mama C