We're moving!

we like our current apartment very much. it's got lots of light, it's very spacious with large bedrooms and large living room. it's been Ella's first home (and it's very similar in everything except the size to the other apartments we lived in in the same building, so it kinda feels like our first home too).
but
there have been little things that always bothered us about the building.
we can't have a dishwasher. we have to do our laundry in a common laundry room (with old machines that break all the time, and either over-cook your clothes or they're still wet when the cycle is done). the elevators break all the time (it's sheer luck that we were never stuck in one!)(that actually makes laundry more of a hassle, not to mention having to add 5-10 minutes to our commute just waiting for the elevator).

each of these things on its own is something that you can definitely live with. but put them all combined, add the cockroaches, and the fact that Ella is an ornery back driver despite all our effort, and it's just too much.
the cockroaches have actually been the last straw.
we've been fighting them since this spring (we never had a problem until this year). the management is "dealing" with the problem by sending a guy to spray every once in a while, but they keep coming.

to make a long story short (well, shorter. i already spent a long time telling it), we're moving out, and moving into a place closer to work.
the new place is also a high-rise, close to the lake, the park, and the science museum; it's a 20 minutes walk to work and 5 minutes drive to Ella's school. laundry is still in the basement, but we'll have a dishwasher, a brand new refrigerator, and elevators that actually work.
it would have been perfect if could also have a balcony... but can't win them all.

we're moving next week.

i'll miss the neighborhood and the park, being close to restaurants and stuff (not that we use them a lot, but there's the option!), but this is definitely the right thing to do - if not for us then definitely for the little munchkin.

i hope Ella doesn't miss the old apartment - the only home she ever had. i hope she doesn't get all confused and frustrated because things are not where they're supposed to be. it must be so hard to have the world change around you and not understand why! i hope she doesn't think that we're there temporarily and keep expecting to go back. i hope she won't get angry at us.