2 years 28 days

Day 759. Thank God last night was finally much better; it had been quite a while since I had a few hours in bed without kids keeping me up. I fell into bed at 11:20 pm. Emmy came to me twice, and I put him back to bed twice, and that was it. After that it was just after 6 am, before he came again and got to stay, and he even fell asleep again. By then Tammy was with us as well, and Sammy did not want to be left out and so he joined us as well. At 7:15 we all got up for breakfast.

After breakfast we went downstairs, where I turned worship music on. I had some "Barbapapa" books and a stuffed animal from the same 70s kids series to give them, and they were very excited about them and wanted to read them right away. Unfortunately we lost their favorite Bible on our Austria trip and have been unable to figure out where we left it.

When Randy came with his breakfast, I went upstairs to clean up and then work. Now that we're getting up an hour later than before our trip - at 7 instead of 6 am - it's about 9 am before I get to sit down at the computer to work. And I only have until 10:30, when I have to start cooking, so that's not very much time at all, but I try to work as efficiently as possible.

A few minutes after I started cooking Sonja arrived. I made something I hadn't made in a long time and underestimated how long it would take, and so it was nearly 11:30, before we sat down to eat. Tammy liked the fries more, and Emmy the meatloaf. Neither one of them ate much. Sammy surprised us all. Randy kept wondering where the boy who is known to eat little was putting all the food. He seems to like meatloaf a lot and would not stop eating. As for the other two, no pudding for them. I dressed them - no need to clean them - and Sonja went downstairs with Tammy. I was gonna put Emmy to bed, when he started eating another frie, and so he did get a pudding after all.

The boys went to bed, and with a little encouragement, they were soon asleep. Then it was Tammy's turn to go to bed, and after a while, she was also asleep. Randy left for the grocery store, and I went back to work. After only about 40 minutes of sleep, Emmy showed up. I put him back to bed and stayed with him. However, when Sonja is here he'd rather be with her than sleep, and so I finally had to take him downstairs.

I went back to work, but got so tired that I finally allowed myself to close my eyes. I should have done that the last few days already. Thanks to that short nap I'm writing my update without my eyes falling shut tonight. Sammy woke up, when Randy returned from the grocery store, and I never noticed it. I woke up, when Tammy woke up and came to me at 2:30. She had slept around 2 hours, and was also eager to go downstairs to be with Sonja. I started working again, until 3 pm, when we called them all upstairs for their afternoon snack.

Now that's it's rather cold outside, we all sat down at the dining room table. Sammy ate a jar of cereal with fruit, while the others had a variety of fruit, salami and cheese, whatever they were willing to eat. By 3:30 they were done and went back downstairs. And I went back to work.

I'm still behind on office work because of our trip and trying hard to catch up. I worked until 5:15 and then went downstairs to tidy up with them. I'd like to do that at the end of every day with them so they learn. And it's so much nicer to have it clean once a day, and start the next day that way. And Tammy surprised us. She started putting toys on the shelves and just kept going and going, while Emmy put one thing on the shelf and went back to playing. Tammy however did not stop until she was done. Really impressive! And for that she received 20 cents for her piggy bank that she got to put in herself. Emmy whined, when he didn't get anything. Maybe he'll join in tomorrow.

By about 5:45 pm we all went upstairs for dinner. Everyone sat down at the table, while I was getting food ready in the kitchen and bringing it to their plates one after another. It worked pretty well that way, even though they don't get as many different types of fruit as when I get it all ready before they come to eat. Tammy once again took her diaper off, as she had done every other meal today, and went to the bathtub to get in. She even put the diaper in the diaper trash can! Emmy went in next, and then Sammy who needs a little longer to eat. They were having fun with the faucet again, while we were putting the rest of the food into their mouths. Emmy was very tired since he had slept so little, and came out first, while the others continued playing.

By 6:20 pm they were all already in bed. Emmy was about to fall asleep, but then he seemed to wake up again. All three were awake and fighting sleep. After an hour of trying to get them to sleep, I was just worn out, and I was hungry and wanted to get my food ready. I finally got Emmy to fall asleep, Sammy fell asleep as well, and Tammy was getting there, asking for Daddy, who came and took my place sitting by their beds. He ended up falling asleep as well, and therefore eating late as well.

I got to eat and then went back to work. Now I still have to clean up, and then hope to go to bed at a decent time again. And fingers crossed, we have a few hours in bed without kids again.