30 months 4 days

Day 918. Last night I headed to bed at 1:15 am. Emmy had been a little restless, but was finally asleep in his bed. At 4:15 am both Tammy and Emmy joined us in bed, so it was a little tight space-wise. At 7 am they were up, and ten minutes later I got up as well to make their breakfast.

We sat down at the dining room table to eat, then I cleaned them up and dressed them, and we went downstairs, where we read a Bible story together. Randy was already there, so I went upstairs to finish cleaning up and then work on the computer. At 10:30 Sonja arrived, which was great, as Sammy had been crying for a while. After she went downstairs, it stopped, and Randy came upstairs.

At 11:15 I looked at the time and was surprised how late it was. I could not cook any more what I had planned but had to make something else. At noon I called them upstairs, and we sat down to eat. Then they had some pudding, and we cleaned them up and dressed them. The boys went to bed, and Tammy went downstairs with Sonja. Emmy was in bed by 12:35, but it took him until 1 pm to fall asleep. Tammy lay down at at 1:10 and fell asleep somewhere around 1:25; I had already left her before then. I sat down at the computer to work.

After less than an hour Emmy already walked into the room at 1:53, and Randy took him downstairs. At 2:25 Sammy woke up, and I took him downstairs. At 2:55 the doorbell rang and a package arrived. Tammy jumped up crying, and I immediately picked her up and took her to the door with me to receive the package. Then I got some snacks and took her downstairs to Sonja and her siblings. I returned upstairs to continue working. No nap today, but I made good progress work-wise. I could hear how much fun they were having downstairs. I could also hear Randy hammering and drilling, as he was working on a new project to make steps for Sammy. The kids were doing something new Randy had found, and Sonja told me how amazed she was at Tammy's longevity working on it. She was so very concentrated and kept going for a long time. Emmy does not have that same kind of attention span.

At 5:15 I went to the kitchen to start making their dinner. It was nice to be myself for a change and getting it all done, rather than having them stand there and eat what I cut and put on their plates. Then I went downstairs and told them it was time to tidy up. Everything was quite a mess. It took a long time, but finally Tammy helped a little, and Emmy even less. I gave Emmy 2 cents and Tammy the typical 10 cents that they put into their piggy banks. I also gave Sammy a coin to put into his. He usually gets left out, so we have to find reasons to reward him with coins as well.

After we were done tidying up we went upstairs to eat. They sat down at the table and said good-bye to Sonja. They ate a bit at the table, then got up to go into the bathtub. No potty tonight, but they both had dirty diapers. Randy had used the changing table downstairs as a work bench and so the kids had not been given new diapers. Then they went into the water and ate most of their food. I also got some bubbles, as Sammy's favorite song is "Pop the bubbles" that we play pretty much for every meal, but it was nearly empty, so we didn't have too many. New bubbles are arriving tomorrow.

We then got them out one after another, Sammy being first, and he was not happy as he was having fun. They were all in bed before it was 7 pm. I sat down by them, and Tammy lay down on my chest. Then we all started talking. Then Tammy returned to her bed, and I encouraged them to go to sleep after having sung to them. By 7:30 Tammy was asleep, Emmy close to sleeping, and Sammy wide awake and playing around. I knew I had to leave for him to sleep, but Emmy was protesting every time I got up. At 7:40 I was able to finally leave without him saying anything, and then Sammy was able to fall asleep as his audience was gone.

Instead of getting myself something to eat, I went straight to the computer to work, so I could get the project finished I had worked on in the afternoon. Then I got my food, ate, and returned to work.

Emmy got up and was looking for me crying. I put him back to bed, but he wanted me to sit by him, so I did. After a few minutes I got up and went to the bathroom, and he got up crying again. I put him to bed again, gave him the milk he wanted, and this time he continued sleeping once I got up and left.

Now I'm gonna clean up in the kitchen and then go to bed earlier for once, I hope.