Day 698. Last night I was so exhausted that I could not go on whatsoever and fell into bed just before 11:30 pm. At 2:30 Emmy came to my side, and I walked him back to bed, and that was it. This morning it was different in that Emmy did not come to me but went straight into his siblings' beds to wake them up. When I walked into their room just after 6 am, he was in Sammy's bed, and everyone was awake. We let them play - and tear things up - until getting up ourselves. It wasn't even 7 am yet, when we sat down for breakfast.
After breakfast, we went downstairs to worship God and pray and read the Bible. Tammy wanted ALL their Bible out this morning. When Randy came with his breakfast, I went upstairs to clean up and then do office work. It was only 7:45 am. I was very tired, as always, but started working. I didn't have much time, though, as my Mom arrived at 9:15, which was great, as we don't see her often. Randy took advantage and took a break but ended up going to the grocery store.
In the meantime we were having fun downstairs. Grandma was reading books with them, pushing the swing they were in, and just having fun. We also got the instruments out. Then they wanted to go outside, and as we were not planning on going anywhere today, I opened the door and let them out. We also got the vehicles out for them to use. I tried to keep them away from the sand, but they went to the tear in the tarp instead and still got their hands in it. Everyone had fun, and time went by fast. I didn't have time to cook, so I just warmed up some jars that need using up, and we had some leftover chicken to go with that. At 11 am we all went upstairs, and Randy returned right at that time as well.
We put them into their high chairs, and then Grandma said her goodbyes. Especially Emmy kept talking about Grandma the rest of the day. They ate their chicken quickly, but were not interested in the baby food. So I got out some bread, butter, salami and cheese to make a typical Austrian "sandwich". They'd already eaten bread like that at their dance class, but not at home. They definitely liked it! Then I brought out the icecream that Emmy is always asking about during the main course. And every time he asks me where Daddy is instead of sleeping and I tell him he's gone shopping for food, he says "Eier" (icecream). In fact, he's always very concerned when Daddy is gone.
I cleaned them up, dressed them, and put the boys to bed. Emmy needed a little time, but by noon he was asleep. Then I put Tammy to bed, who always needs a while to fall asleep, but at least I don't need to sit next to her bed. It won't be long before we'll need to give her an opening to her bed as well, which is gonna change everything again.
Randy and I ate our lunch, and then I went back to work. I'm always more awake right after eating. As time goes on, the tiredness returns. When Emmy woke up after nearly 2 hours, Randy sat down with him, but Sammy had woken up as well. Even though I was barely functioning by that point, I picked up Sammy and played with him. I knew Emmy would not lie on Daddy's chest for long, and then all the boys went downstairs, and I went back to bed to close my eyes this time. It was a rude awakening for me, when Tammy woke up, as I was not ready yet. I sat down in the chair with her, and she rested a little bit on me, but it was time to eat, and I called the boys to come back upstairs.
At that point everything was really tough because of my tiredness. I cut up some fruit and got out the cereal with fruit jars and peanut butter and opened the balcony door. They were having fun, but not eating that much. Sammy needs a little more time, and so it was a while before everyone was done and going downstairs. I had about 90 minutes left to get some work done.
At 5:30 I stopped to make dinner. As I heard them cry quite a bit downstairs, I called them up before I was done with everything, before 6 pm. They ate a bit at the table, and all finished their food in the bathtub. Then it was bedtime. Tammy and Emmy were up in their beds again, and after a while I simply left them. I came back a few times, especially to keep Emmy in his bed, and at some point they fell asleep. I got my food, ate, and went back to work.
Now it's 12:30 am, and everything is done for today.
