Day 935. Last night I headed to bed just before 1 am. Tammy joined us in bed at some point, and Emmy as well. Emmy was the first one up before it was even 7 am. I guess the dark room wasn't working this morning. I could not get him to stay in bed, and so his siblings were soon up as well.
There is a big, empty wardrobe in our bedroom, and they love going inside. Even Sammy tried to get in. At 7:15 I finally got up myself, and helped Sammy inside, and so all three were in the wardrobe and loving it. But Emmy was already asking for food.
I went to the kitchen to start making breakfast, while Randy started changing their diapers. Then we sat down to eat. I'm now the one feeding Sammy, and we're both enjoying it. I then cleaned them up and dressed them. We still had about an hour until leaving at that point, but the time passed quickly. They were playing, and watching the chickens outside our window.
At 9:45 we left the house to drive the two minutes to church. Tammy had to take her pacifier that she hardly ever uses with her, as well as her rabbit. We parked near the church and walked to the building. They had set up a big tent in their parking lot where the missionary brunch was going to be. We arrived exactly at 10 am, but very few people were there at that point. The advantage was that we got to sit at the first table with easy access and room for them to move around. After a few minutes they started talking on the microphone and told everyone that we were starting. I was one of the first people to go get some food so the kids could start eating. I had to go several times anyway before everyone had everything they needed. The kids ate more than I had expected. Including colored Easter eggs. Randy and I were both holding and feeding Sammy at different times. A family I have known for a long time but hardly ever talk to came and sat with us at our table, which was nice. We got to talk a little bit, even though we were very busy with the kids.
Then a speaker spoke for a few minutes. Tammy and Emmy were running around, having fun, and kept running to the speaker and back. Finally Randy grabbed them and left the tent, while I was staying with Sammy. After the speaker was done, another couple from Vienna came over to our table, and we talked briefly. Other people also said hello and talked for a minute. Randy and the kids finally returned, and we decided it was time to go home. We put their coats on and left to walk to the car. I put Emmy on my shoulders as he didn't really want to walk. Just before noon we were back at the apartment.
Tammy and Emmy were playing with their balloons, laughing and running on adrenaline, while we were undressing them and giving them fresh diapers. Emmy pulled my hair twice, at least the second time on purpose, and would not apologize. By 12:25 everyone was in their bed. I was talking with Emmy who finally did apologize, and I gave him his pacifier. Within minutes he was asleep. At 12:40 I got up to go to the living room and start working on my computer, even though I was really tired. My eyes were falling shut while writing, and at 1:45 I finally went to lie down and get a nap.
At 2:15 Emmy woke up, and he also woke Tammy up, and both of them lay down in bed with me. Emmy fell asleep, and Tammy got up around 2:40. She went to Randy and kept saying that she wanted to eat. A few minutes later Emmy woke up from all the talking, and at 3 pm we sat down to eat yesterday's leftovers as a late lunch. Then we cleaned them up and dressed them and left to return to church.
We got there at 3:45 pm, in the middle of the first session. Randy and the kids went to the baby room, while I went to our table where I stayed until break time. I ran into Margit, who was in Mali with us, who went to the baby room to spend time with the kids. At break time I went to the window to the baby room and found out that the kids had been asking for me. We decided that Margit, the kids and I would go for coffee and cake, while Randy would man our table.
We sat in the same spot every time today. I was thankful for Margit's help and could not have done it without her. We got some tea, milk and cake, and I put some on each of their plates and was feeding Sammy. The kids ate a little, then they got up to run around and play. After we were done, we all went to the bathroom to clean them up and then returned to the baby room. I stayed there for a while with them, and Randy joined us as well. The next session was already in session. I read a few books to Tammy. There were some other babies in the room, and our kids showed interest in them. We stayed in the room until the next break, then we all went to our table. Nobody was walking around looking, so we decided to go have dinner and man our table before the evening session started.
We returned to the food tent and sat down in our spot, then I stood in line to get the goulash for the five of us. I saw an old friend, and she ended up sitting with us, which was nice. She was also so kind to take this great picture of us. After the kids were done eating, they got up to walk around and interact with people, and had great fun. I was still feeding Sammy. Just before 7 pm I decided it was time to return to the sanctuary and to our table to talk to the people passing by. As Tammy and Emmy were having so much fun, I told Randy I'd go ahead with Sammy and to let them keep playing for a little while longer. I put Sammy on the floor by our table, and he was happily playing there for a while. Once the others arrived, Randy took him, while I was watching and playing with Tammy and Emmy. Very few people came to our table, and mainly those who know us and wanted to say hello.
The kids started getting tired, and I put Emmy on my shoulders and was having fun with him to keep him happy. They were waiting for the singing, and so we wanted to stay to be at least part of the beginning of worship time. Emmy was standing on a chair and fell to the ground and on the back of his head before I could prevent it. He was crying hard, and I was praying for him and comforting him.
The meeting started at 7:30, but it started with talking for the first 20 minutes. Sammy soon started crying, as he was really tired as well, and Randy went outside with him. I sat down in the last row with Tammy and Emmy both on my lap. They were both tired but fine. Then Tammy got up and took her shoes off and started pulling her stockings off. I handed Emmy to the lady next to me who had been wanting to hold one of them anyway and put Tammy's clothes back on. FINALLY worship started. Everyone got up, and I put Emmy on my shoulders so he could see better. Someone took a picture of us. Randy tried to call me, and I figured Sammy was still crying and we needed to leave. They'd had made it to the "singing" tonight and were okay with leaving, even though the first song hadn't even ended yet. I grabbed all our stuff and walked outside with them.
We found Randy and Sammy right at the entrance, with Sammy screaming his heart out. Randy said he'd been crying for me the whole time. I took him, put his coat on, and comforted him, and soon he was perfectly happy again. I used to think he didn't like me and only wanted Daddy. That is definitely changing now. I carried Sammy all the way to the car, while Randy had the other two. Sammy stayed happy after I put him into his car seat in the front and went to the back seat, where I strapped in the other two. Thank God we're staying so close to the church. We left just before 8 pm and were at the apartment just after 8.
We immediately started undressing them and getting them ready for bed. By 8:30 they were all in bed, and I stayed with them for a while until they were all asleep. Then I went to the living room to open my computer and start working. Randy was pretty tired and soon went to bed. Then Tammy started crying hard, and I went to check on her. She couldn't tell me what was wrong and fought against me holding her. She finally stopped, I put her back to bed, stayed a little and was leaving, when she started crying because of it. So I put her with Randy, and then she was happy.
I continued working and then it was Emmy who woke up crying. I lay down with him to comfort him and then got up to leave, but he protested. So I moved Tammy back to her bed and Emmy agreed to wait for me next to Daddy. I continued working until Tammy woke up crying again. This time I was able to comfort her faster and get her to sleep and not mind me walking away. I returned to work, hoping I could finish and go to bed before another one wakes up, and so far so good.
