27 months 27 days

Day 850. Last night I went to bed just after 11:30 pm. Tammy came to join us in bed immediately, and as soon as she had laid down, Emmy came. Sigh. So much for getting some good rest. The night was better than the previous one, but they toss and turn and Tammy sometimes cries for her rabbit or milk, and so it was a restless night, being awake a lot. Plus I could not breathe through the nose which dried out my mouth and cracked my lips.

It was 7:15, when I heard the door bell. Everyone was still asleep, but I got quickly out of bed, waking up Emmy in the process who then woke up his sister etc. It was Paul who came to get our shopping list. I was tired and a mess. After he left, I started making their breakfast. We only had a tiny bit of oatmeal and a few eggs left. I made the oatmeal for Tammy and me, and made an omelet for Randy who shared it with the boys. The boys also had the baby cereal. They didn't eat hardly any watermelon this morning.

After breakfast I cleaned them up and dressed them, and then we opened the advent calendars. We did it all fast today, as all I wanted was to go back to bed. At 8:30 I closed the door and lay down. I had put the changing pad into the living room, so that there was no reason to  come to the back. It took me a while before I fell asleep. At 10 am  I decided it was time to get up and work.

It was nice to be working quietly, without interruptions, for a change, and I don't know how Randy kept them from banging on my door the whole time. At 11 am Paul arrived with our groceries, and so I went to the living room. The boys are already over their cold, no fever, and were doing great today. They were playing with Margit, while Randy was back tinkering with his project. After Paul had left, I started cooking. It wasn't even noon yet, when we sat down to eat.

Today they were all eating a little. Tammy picked all the pasta out and left the meat, so I gave her more pasta. And then they found out about feeding the cats and starting throwing meat on the ground for them. They then all had some yoghurt, but the new pineapple is too sour for them.

I washed them all off in the bathtub, we dressed them, and then it was bedtime. It was 12:45. Sammy fell asleep quickly, but the others were still pretty active. It was just after 1 pm before they fell asleep in my arms - Emmy on my right, and Tammy on my left. I waited a little bit before getting up, which is not easy in a waterbed, and with them both lying right on me, but it worked. This was my chance to get more work done, while they were asleep.

When Emmy rose up around 2:30 - too early - I quickly reacted and lay down next to him, and he fell back asleep. I had a kid on each side and fell asleep as well. At 3:30 I woke up and decided I needed to wake them up as well; Sammy had already slept nearly 3 hours at that point. I got them all up, and paid the price with all of them being really cranky and clingy. Margit was already there, but they wanted us to hold them, and they don't like sharing Mommy or Daddy with a sibling. I tried to go back to work, with a child or two on my lap most of the time the rest of the afternoon. I picked up Sammy a few times, when he was cranky, and he enjoyed looking out the window, when I was working at the computer. I actually managed to write a new newsletter in the midst of all of that, but I did not take any pictures today, and that's a first. Margit was playing with the kids, and she's been great with Sammy who has now warmed up to her and does not cry any more, usually. Randy went back to his project, and I was at the computer, and so she was the one with Sammy most of the time, unless I picked him up, when he got too cranky.

At 5:30 it was time to go to the kitchen to start making dinner. Tammy was watching animal videos on my phone at that time, and she continued in the kitchen, but not for long. They came to get banana, pineapple and salami from me, but once we sat down to eat just before 6 pm, neither Tammy nor Emmy were interested in anything on their plates. Tammy threw a fit again until I let her sit in my lap. Then she did pick up some watermelon and ate it, and even checked out the omelet. And she had me feed her a yoghurt.

Then they all went into the bathtub. I was feeling even more miserable in the afternoon, my nose constantly runny, coughing, and with a fever. All the kids have more or less a runny nose, and Tammy was coughing just a little bit tonight. After the bathtub we got them ready for bed, and by 6:45 they were all in bed. I lay down between Emmy and Tammy, and then it took 90 minutes before they were finally both asleep. Very long 90 minutes of me feeling miserable and having to fight with them to get them to lie down and sleep. I tried to get up a few times, but that didn't work. I was glad, when I could finally do so and go get something to eat before going back to work. I'm hoping for an early night tonight, and would love some kid-free sleeping time to start with.