27 months 7 days

Day 830. Last night I went to bed at 12:30 pm. I was thankful for the quiet evening. Tammy joined us in bed at some point, but thankfully Emmy didn't, and that way I was able to get some sleep. Emmy did come in the early morning hours and fell asleep in my arms. So it was Tammy today who woke up first, at 6:40, and by 7 Emmy was the last one to wake up, and we got up, as they were eager to see the cats.

The nice cat, Brownie, came right away. I petted her and gave Emmy a cat treat to give to her, which really excited him.

After some time we went to the kitchen, where I made a portion of baby cereal. I added some jam, and while Sammy ate most of it, the other two had some too. They also ate some watermelon. After breakfast I put their clothes on, and we sat down and read two Bible stories. Then it was time for the advent calendars. We first did the one with the little books that we had forgotten last night. It was a cute, little Christmas book about a bear family. We also opened the Playmobil nativity one, and the Christmas song one. Then I left them to get to work.

I was tired again, but up to working. Randy wanted to get our good queen-sized mattress on the floor in the living room for Sammy, and it did help. Margit came at some point and stayed with us for  a few hours. While I was working in the office, Emmy and Tammy came to me frequently, which made working harder. It was impossible to keep them in the living room. Randy was busy with Sammy, and Margit wasn't able to keep their attention for them to stay.

At 10 am I went to the kitchen to get cooking, which took me a while. The kids were getting crankier and crankier, even though they seem to snack constantly. By 11:45 I got out yesterday's leftovers to warm them up, and we sat down to eat. Tammy was crying, and I had to hold her, and she refused to eat. Emmy and Sammy were eating, though not much. They all had some yoghurt they did eat.

Today they went into the bathtub after lunch. At first Emmy did not want to, but once he was in, he was enjoying it. They figured out quickly how to switch between shower head and faucet, and that is how they play with it here. But we didn't stay in the water for long. They all came out and went to bed. It was difficult again to get them to sleep, and it only worked with Emmy sleeping in my spot on our bed, Tammy in Randy's, and Sammy in the baby bed. We had to stay with them, holding them down at times to get them to stay in place, before they finally fell asleep. It took a while. I even lay down in bed with them for a short time.

Then they were all asleep, and it was time to work, tired or not. As usual Sammy woke up first, and I took him to the living room, where Randy was. It was 2:30 pm. Emmy woke up next, and I took him to the living room as well, but then he came back to the bedroom and woke his sister up. It was about 3 pm. We were all in the living room and sat down at the table for some snacks. And then Margit returned to join us. Still, the kids kept coming to me, while I was trying to get work done, which didn't help. And as the afternoon progressed they started getting cranky again. At one point I stopped working and went to the living room to get a sticker book out again, and they put some animal stickers on its pages.

Amaga and Esther came over again as well, but didn't seem to stay as long today. Margit showed Tammy and Emmy some kids worship videos one time that they enjoyed. And then Amadou came to help put the new advent calendar together that we then hung up on the outside wall of our house. Emmy wanted to be with me, so I was holding him. As Tammy was crying inside, I let het step outside. Since they did not have shoes on, I did not let them step on the ground. I did put Emmy on the step and picked up Tammy one time, as she wanted me to hold her too. Once we were done, we all went back inside.

Fanta was helping with housework, but left at 5 pm to go to the prayer meeting, and Margit went there too. The kids were getting pretty cranky, and so I got the paper and crayons out, and they spent a few minutes drawing. As they were obviously tired and/or hungry, we already sat down to eat at 5:45 pm. I'm still trying to figure out what to feed them in Mali. I had some flatbread and Malian cream cheese, but they wouldn't even try it. This time it was Emmy who was crying and in my lap. They did eat some sausage, and Emmy sat down in his chair once I came with the yoghurt.

Just after 6 pm Fanta returned to finish with her housework, and we were about ready to put the kids into the bathtub. They were playing just as happily as in Austria, even with fewer toys. After a while Sammy came out first, and then Emmy. There was a gecko sitting on the ceiling that they had been looking at, and when Tammy was the only one left in the water, she was not happy about that and kept looking at the ceiling. She still had to wait a while before we were done with the boys and could get her out.

Emmy's skin has always been more sensitive than the others', and only 24 hours after our arrival he started having a rash. Today it had spread to most of his torso and face, and he's been scratching his hair. I don't know if it's heat rash or if he's allergic to something. Please pray for him.

I prayed for them and put them to bed. However, it was the same story once again. Emmy and Tammy wanted to sleep in our bed. And once again it took a long time to get them to lie down and fall asleep. It's tiring, when we try to get them to sleep for an hour or so.

I got some food, ate, and then went back to work. Before I could even start writing my report, I fell asleep with my head on the desk, and when I woke up, I didn't even know where I was at first. One factor is the short nights, and another factor the heat. So far we haven't noticed that winter has supposedly started; it's hotter than usual this time of year.

Emmy has been a little restless tonight, waking up and wanting  us to hold him. That went on for a while, but now he's finally been asleep for a while, and they're all in their own bed. Randy has gone to bed, so it's time for me to do the same.