31 months 25 days

Day 967. Last night I went to bed just before 12:30. I was extremely tired. This morning it was only 6:45, when I was woken up by Emmy coming. He never went back to sleep. Soon Sammy was awake and crying and joined us in bed, and then Tammy came as well. At 7:15 I got up after Emmy had been bugging me to.

I made breakfast, and we sat down to eat.

After breakfast I cleaned them up and dressed them; they know exactly what they want to wear every day, and it's pretty much always the same few clothes. And they throw fits, when I don't put on them what they wanted. When I then did not give Tammy the milk she wanted, she threw another fit. I went downstairs with Emmy, and she then followed. She was too upset to read a Bible story, but Emmy wanted to. Then Randy handed Sammy to me, and suddenly Tammy also wanted to join us, and so we all read the story together. Then I took Sammy to go upstairs with him. I explained to them that I had to go take him to have an x-ray taken, and immediately Tammy wanted to come along. She threw another fit, when I told her she couldn't come. I closed the gate before her nose, and she tried to climb over it which she couldn't do. Randy had to come and keep her away to protect the gate. I put Sammy's coat on and got ready myself, and at 8:45 we left the house together.

It was a cold and rainy day. We got on the subway, went to stops, then walked to the medical center. We went up the elevator and registered. I did not have an appointment; we had one last week but then we didn't make it. I knew you could come without an appointment. I filled out some papers, and we were told where to sit down and wait. We hadn't waited long, when we were called inside. A lady told me to put Sammy on the bed. So far he'd been perfectly happy, but he started crying, when I put him down. I had my face right by his, trying to comfort him. The lady put a protective vest on me, pulled Sammy's pants down a little, and then held him for her colleague to take the picture. He had moved the first time, so they had to do it second time. And that was it. His hip x-ray was done. I picked him up, and he stopped crying. I put his coat back on, put him in the stroller, and we left. We made a stop at the bank right there, when the place called me. We had left without his pictures, and so we had to go back to get them. The diagnosis is what we'll get online.

We left and walked to the subway, then rode two stops, walked a little more in the rain and were back home. It was only 9:30.

I took Sammy downstairs, then went upstairs to get started working on the computer. At 10:20 Sonja arrived, a God-sent we hadn't seen in days. After a short while Randy came upstairs to saw a bar out of Tammy's bed so she has a bigger opening to get in and out. In the process he cut himself. We're both really tired right now. At 11:15 I went to the kitchen and started cooking. At noon they all came upstairs to eat. Sonja was feeding Sammy today, and it was working out pretty well. Tammy is now sitting next to Randy, opposite Emmy, which works out much better than having them sit next to each other. Tammy ate everything, Emmy nearly everything, and they all had dessert. Then I cleaned them up, we dressed them, and Sonja went downstairs with Tammy, while the boys went to bed. It was 12:40. I sat down by them, while Randy left to go to the grocery store. Sammy was soon asleep, while it took Emmy until 1 pm. I was glad he fell asleep, as I hadn't been so sure he would at some point.

I returned to my computer to work. Just before 1:30 I went to get Tammy and put her to bed. She wanted me to stay, and so I sat down by her. However, she would not fall asleep. Even when I rocked her upon her request. And then Emmy woke up, and it was only 1:45. He wanted to go downstairs to Sonja, and so I took him. Five minutes later she woke up Sammy, and I took him downstairs. Still, Tammy would not fall asleep, and did not want me to walk away. I finally lay down in my bed with her, and by 2:20 she was finally falling asleep. And then Randy returned. I went back to work for a short time. Just before 3 pm Sonja came upstairs with the boys, and we started dressing them and getting them ready to leave. Tammy woke up in the process, and I dressed her amidst lots of tears as she was cranky after only just over half an hour of sleep.

We left the house at 3:20, walked to the subway, rode a few stops and then had to walk to a bus stop. We were trying out a new way to go there. Because we were taking the bus that can be pretty full, we only had one stroller with us. Tammy and Sammy were in it, while I had Emmy on my shoulders. I was holding the umbrella over both of us. Tammy was still really cranky and throwing a fit, when I was walking with Emmy, as she also wanted to be with me. We just about made it to the bus stop in time to catch the bus. Once again she also wanted to sit with me. An old lady nearby was bothered by the noise the children were making which always amazes me. We finally got off the bus and still had a little walk to get to the dancing school. We got there a few minutes before the class started, just in time. We parked the stroller on the bottom and walked up the stairs.

There was one other girl in the classroom, but then a few more kids arrived. It ended up being as full as it was the very first time we had come, which was also with Sonja as it was today. Then the 45 minute class of one dance after another started. Most of the songs we had done before. Tammy being so tired meant that she did not participate as much as usual. Emmy participated somewhat. I was thankful we had Sonja with us, as tired as I was, plus I'm hurting all over, especially my arms, from carrying children morning to evening all weekend. We all had a great time at the class, and then it was over.

We put their shoes and coats back on and left. This time I had Tammy on my shoulders and the boys were in the stroller. Thankfully it had stopped raining. We walked to the bus stop, then got on the bus which was pretty full this time of day. After we got off, we had to walk to the subway. Sammy was pretty cranky and crying for me. Sonja could have taken the subway in the opposite direction to go home, but I was thankful, when she came with us instead. We took the subway home, then walked to our building. Just after 5:30 we were back home.

I was extremely tired but knew I had to make dinner. Sonja went downstairs with the kids, and Randy with Sammy. I could hear them having lots of fun with her, while making their food. Just after 6 pm I was done, and they all came upstairs to eat. We sat down at the table, and the first thing they did was to hit their eggs against each other to see whose would crack. Emmy won. They wanted to peel the eggs themselves, but neither one of them wanted to eat the egg. Only Sammy did. Sonja said good-bye, and the kids went potty before going into the water. I put the rest of their food into bowls, and they all ate quite a bit of it in the bathtub. Then we got them out one after another and got them ready for bed. By 7:10 they were all in bed.

I sat down by them, Tammy lay on my chest, and Emmy held my hand. My hope had been that they'd fall asleep fast having slept so little. Sammy was asleep first. Emmy fell asleep by about 7:30, but Tammy was still awake and I had to stay until 7:45; only then did she not notice me leaving. I went to the kitchen and made myself something to eat, sat down to eat, then went back to work. I soon got extremely tired again and powered on to at least get the most important stuff done.