34 months 29 days

Day 1063. It was a typical morning. When they got up, I thought the clock said 6 am, but maybe it was 7 am. Once again I would not open the squeezies for them, and then they were asking for milk. I think it was closer to 8:30, when I crawled out of bed. The night had been more restless than usual, more attention needed by the kids.

After breakfast I took them downstairs, where we read a Bible story. Then I went upstairs to work. I tried to call Paul to get some much- needed information, but it was 11 am before I reached him, so I did not have time to do what I needed to do with what I had learned. Instead I had to go to the kitchen right away to cook lunch. I already had ribs cooking in the oven - my first time ever, as they had been on sale, and they turned out wonderfully. I made sweet potatoes and vegetables to go with them, and just before noon Randy came upstairs with the kids. The kids showed me proudly that their diapers had stayed dry, which they'd said they'd try - to go potty for everything.

They ate all their potatoes, but didn't care much for the vegetables and the meat. They still all had icecream. After cleaning them up and dressing them, we went downstairs - with another new Tiptoi game. They were all eager to play it. It was a simple game for their age, and finally a game they could actually do. The only problem was that Sammy wanted to have the stick though, and he became more and more unhappy and started fussing then crying louder and louder. We couldn't even hear the stick any more. I finally got the piano out, and then he was happy playing it, while the other two could play the game.

That way time had passed fast, and Tammy and Emmy still wanted to swing. They both got to swing a few minutes, but there was no time for the Peppa Pig sticker book, which upset Tammy. She always pretends she's gonna stay downstairs, but today she followed me pretty quickly.

By 1:30 they were in bed, and I sat down by them. After a few minutes I was able to walk away and return to my computer. I did want to close my eyes for a few minutes, but I never got to it. Instead I continued working, and later regretted it because I was so very tired. Sammy woke up first, and his noise woke up Emmy who walked up to me. A few minutes later Tammy was up to. They all wanted milk and drink way too much of it. At 3 pm Randy went downstairs with them for half an hour, while I started making their dinner-to-go. After they came upstairs, we dressed them, and at 4 pm we left the house.

Randy wanted to take the double-stroller tonight, even though they don't like going into it very much any more. They were both walking to the train station, while Sammy was in the single stroller. We took the train and then the tram, then walked up the hill to get to church, where we arrived a few minutes before the service started. The kids went straight to the front to get the streamers and fabric, and Emmy did a great job using it. Sammy wanted to play with the lids of the trash cans again. Then we met a young lady who's gonna come to our house to help one afternoon per week for the next few weeks. Just before 5:30 the kids started asking to go upstairs, which we did a few minutes later.

We were not the first ones in the room today. I took their shoes off and let them run off to play. Then I left them with Randy and returned to the sanctuary to enjoy the service. I was so tired that I kept my eyes closed for most of the time. At 6:45 I left the sanctuary to go back upstairs.

When Tammy saw me, she ran straight to me, and then Emmy did too. She wanted me to sit down with her and read a book to her. She had a dirty diaper, and so Randy left with her to take care of it. He handed me Sammy who was playing with a firetruck. And then Emmy started doing somersaults, and he was doing a great job. Tammy returned, and then it was already time to go. We tidied up a little, put their shoes on and left.

When we got back to the sanctuary, the kids immediately started shouting Anna's name,a nd Sammy was the first one to reach her. She took him, and Sammy was all excited about that. For some reason he really loves her and talks about her a lot. Since the pastor had started preaching late, Emmy went into the stroller, and then Tammy did too, and we left to go home.

We walked to the tram stop, and once on the tram, they continued eating, while watching Paw Patrol. When we reached the train platform, we still had about 25 minutes until the arrival of our train, and so they continued watching and eating, as they did on the train.

At about 8:15 pm we were back home. As it had been really hot, I at least wanted them to get to rinse off and get cooled off, and they were having fun in the bathtub. It was 8:45 before they were in bed. I sat down by them. Emmy was asleep first, while the other two needed more time. Tammy asks for the milk bottle every few minutes, only drinking a few swallows every time, which is rather annoying. I'm not sure what time it was exactly, when I walked away, but she was not asleep yet. I got myself something to eat, ate, and then went back to work. Now it's after midnight.