Bat in the house!

So after our last vacation to Austria/Germany we got home and had the windows and doors open to air out the house. That is a thing there in Italy, "airing out your house." Especially our house because we have so much mold! We should have learned our lesson after a bird flew in the house but we didn't so we had the upstairs balcony door open and we can't put the screens down because Charlie walks right through them. We got home and opened everything up around 8 and I put Reid in his swing, near the door. All evening we were kind of in and out of the living room unpacking from your trip and getting the big kids ready for bed but there was not an adult in the room the whole time. 

Around 10 we put the big kids to bed (except Finley because she never goes to bed anymore....) and Dave and I were in the living room. All of a sudden I can see something out of the corner of my eye and Dave starts yelling, "there is a bird in the house!" I screamed and threw a blanket over my head then he yelled, "NO! It is a bat!!!!" so then I started to scream some more! Him and Finley ran out of the room into the hall and I just sat on the couch with a blanket over my head yelling. At this point Quinn was crying in the hallway and Finley was terrified and ran in her room and shut the door. I finally crawled to the hallway while this bat was flying in circles around the room. Once in the hallway I yelled at Dave to "get the baby, get the baby!"At this point the bat was swooping down and flying in circles! It was terrifying. Dave ran into the room and grabbed Reid and then I shut myself and the kids in the bedroom and left Dave to figure out what the hell to do! 

 

A little while later, Dave is can't find the bat and the kids are asleep. Reid and I were hiding in the hallway (luckily we have a door that shuts off the living room from the rest of the house so we knew the bat had to be on that side of the house) and I snapped this picture. I put it on social media just for fun because it is like Jumanji over here and that was the start of a very stressful few days! 

A friend who had also lived in Italy and had a bat in her house mentioned that we would have to get rabies shots! I had no idea what she was talking about and come to find out, YES they recommend everybody who is in a room (either sleeping or a child that can't talk) with a bat needs to get rabies vaccinations just in case because rabies kills you and is not something you want. I would not have minded too much if it was anybody else except for our 2 month old baby where there is no protocol or really any studies on giving a rabies series of vaccinations to a baby! 

The next morning Dave still didn't see the bat and we emailed our landlord to see if he could help us out by having somebody come over and look for it. At first he wasn't too concerned because he said they are good for mosquitoes but then I responded that because of base and us being Americans (the recommend protocol) would be that we all have to get rabies shots. Then he said he would be over in 10 minutes with a park ranger. The park ranger was super nice and spoke great English (after saying that he spoke "a little" English) and found the bat sitting on top of our A/C unit as soon as he walked in (which was a relief because I had closed the playroom door and I really didn't want to have to open that mess in front of my landlord.....). He climbed up the ladder and picked up the bat, it started to make a weird chirping sound. My landlord and the park ranger couldn't get over how cute he was and after looking at some pictures, he really was a cute little guy. I told him I needed the bat in a box so it could be taken to base and they thought that was a little strange because the bats here don't have rabies. Well, if it means I don't have to give my little guy 5 SHOTS then sorry little bat, you are getting dissected and tested for rabies. 

Here is the cute little bat, the kids named him Fuzzy. They talk about Fuzzy and say he had to go to the doctor. But after the doctor checked him, Fuzzy was going to go live with his mom. We will always have a special little place in our hearts for Fuzzy. 

Later that day we went in to talk to Reid's doctor about what we needed to do after talking to Public Health. The women on the phone was a little shocked when I told her there were 6 people in the house, she confirmed the number "6?!"I spent 4 hours in the clinic with all 4 of my kids between waiting to see the doctor and trying to decide if we should do the shots or not. I'll save you all the details but after some researching by Dave, our pediatrician, my sister and a family friend doctor we decided that since we were testing the bat and should have the results back by Friday (within the acceptable time frame of waiting for the initial shots) we would wait until Friday. It was so stressful, I just didn't know what to do. I hate that feeling of being his mom and doing what is best for him but not knowing which is the best! 

So Friday came and surprise, Thursday was a German holiday (where the bat was mailed to for testing) and they wouldn't have the results back SO we had to go ahead with the initial 2 shots anyway! I was so mad and sad and scared. Reid was a champ and cried for all of 2 seconds (he actually cried so much more the next day when I took the bandaids off) but I cried so much!!! Everybody was great and I really love the guy here that does the immunizations, he is always so great with myself and my kids. Then around 10pm that night we got a text from a doctor in the clinic who said they got the results back and the initial results were negative! Which was nice to know that we did not have to continue with the 3 other shots but I wish that had come in about 6 hours earlier! So the saga of Reid and Fuzzy came to a happy ending for everybody except Fuzzy but he will always be remembered by the Jarnot family.  

 

 

 

 

The next day Quinn and Dave got to attend their first Father Daughter Dance and Quinn was so happy. She had a great time and still talks about how much fun she had. I loved that they were able to have that special time together. 

I stayed home with the rest of the kids and Finley decided that cleaning up "is going to take forever!" while laying on the couch and watching TV. She is hilarious and makes me laugh everyday. 

 

Our favorite view while eating gelato. 

 

 

We had a great Sunday and spent the day eating at our favorite pizza place, followed by gelato and time at the park and finishing the day with water fun as Dave cleans the walkway with the pressure washer. It was a really fun day and Quinn even said it was "the best day ever!" I love the days we spend together enjoying our little slice of Italy. 

Italy is good, life is good.