11 months 12 days

Today they are exactly 9 months old biologically!

I succeeded in going to bed a little bit ealier last night. This morning was very tough getting up, though, and Randy was so kind to feed them all their lunch meal, while I crawled out of bed and got our food ready. Time was short, as we had to leave the house at 1 pm, and it got pretty stressful to be ready on time.

We have a lot to learn about our new neighborhood, an arey of Vienna I don't know at all. And so it was a totally new experience today, walking to the clostest tram stop and taking the tram north to go to the government office and offficially change our address. Because of Corona you have to get an appointment online, and 4 people is the maximum number of people, so I had to get two appointments back to back. We finally found the place and were waved straight to a free employee, even though we were early. But there were hardly any people there! The boys had slept on the way there, but not Tammy. She stared at the two ladies working desk to desk the whole time, without a smille as she was also tired, and the ladies really enjoyed looking at her. The boys also woke up while there.

It didn't take us too long before we had to find our way back home. We went a different way to stop at a grocery store, and got home at a decent time.

The babies were all tired, and I was impatiently waiting for our friend Anna to arrive to help us. I put Sammy into his bed, where he can sleep there, while the other two were crying downstairs, even though Randy was with them. Anna arrived at the right time!

Her arrival meant that it was time for Randy to leave and go to the old apartment to get everything ready for Saturday, when the rest gets moved. The babies wanted me with them, and Anna had a hard time getting them happy. In the end she succeeded in putting them to sleep, with one baby on each arm. For a whille they were all sleeping, and I was able to get work done. I got quite a bit done, moving stuff and clearing the areas for the coming furniture, as well as the IKEA furniture delivery tomorrow. The babies were still unhappy after they woke up, and for the second day in a row it was Tammy who had a really hard time, not so much Emmy. We had to put a second row of boxes around their play area after both of them had already climbed on top of a box, and we only have that little opening we can close up to get in and out. While I was working around there, Tammy was watching me and crying, wanting to be with me.

As time went by, they finally got over it and started playing nicely with Anna and each other. It was getting late, but all three had slept so long so late in the afternoon, that their bedtime was pushed to later. I put Sammy to bed first, and he was not ready to go to sleep yet. After Emmy and Tammy had played for a while, and Anna was close to having to leave, we went upstairs so I could put them to bed. Anna left, and I ended up giving all three of them some milk which helped them fall asleep. I like that I have a chair right in the middle of their three beds where I can sit down and they can see me and I can stroke their heads as needed. Surprisingly Tammy fell asleep first. After giving him milk last, Sammy also finally fell asleep. Emmy lay there looking at me for a while before he fell asleep last. In fact, he often has his eyes open a little while sleeping. But in the end it worked well and didn't actually take that long. The only reason that it was late was that they had gone to bed late.

Randy returned home even later. Things over there are nearly ready for Saturday. Sometimes the babies wake up; Emmy sometimes wakes up crying because he has no pacifier in his mouth, and as soon as I put it in, he falls back asleep. Sammy also woke up hungry and I gave him some milk - not as much as he wanted (I'm trying to reduce it until they don't need it), but he did fally asleep after some complaining. And I dream-fed Emmy, just putting the bottle into his mouth, and he drinks. He had the smallest amount yet, and it's been working the past few nights, where he does not wake up hungry until the morning.

We have an early morning tomorrow, going baby swimming for the last time, and it's going on 2 am! Tonight was actually frustrating, as the new dishwasher would not turn on. And a week after they finished installing the kitchen, I'm STILL waiting to hear from Ikea when they are gonna come finish the kitchen, what was left undone.

I was glad that this morning's appointment was canceled, as I only made it to bed at 4 am. Moving is stressful for babies, and it sure has made them take a few steps back when it comes to sleeping at night. I hope they settle in soon.
Today's day is somewhat a blurr. Now that we live on two levels, it has some additional challenges. And now that their play area is on the floor and we can join them, it also creates a different dynamic. And it makes things really difficult that they don't even want to let us leave for a minute.
Today it was Tammy who had a bad day and fussed all day long. The past few days it had been Emmy. Maybe her second tooth is about to come out. I helped her fall asleep twice today, as she gets really cranky when she is tired.
I was thankful to have another lady from church come to help. I know some of you have prayed for help, and my desperation on the weekend made me take action, and now we have a different person every day of the week, and help until next week Wednesday! It makes such a difference! It's such a blessing!
Our new friend today had a lot of experience with babies and did great with them. And you could tell that the babies loved her too. He being here allowed me to get to work, cleaning up, putting stuff away and making our new apartment more habitable. It's starting to take shape, but we still have a long way to go! On Friday we get another IKEA delivery of furniture (that Randy will have the joy of putting together), and on Saturday we have a truck with the goal of bringing all our furniture and remaining stuff over from the old apartment. I can only imagine what it will look like then, with all the furniture and IKEA boxes everywhere! And lots more work!
I've really been enjoying my new kitchen and pantry, all the room we now have, and I think I did a good job putting everything where it is. I also love having a fridge and freezer where there is room to put stuff!
Randy left the house after eating his lunch late to go to the old apartment and box stuff up. He returned home late, but that was okay. Our new friend was so kind to stay until the kids were sleeping. That makes such a difference!
They were all tired tonight, and I put Sammy to bed first. We both tried feeding Tammy, but she wasn't interested. I finally got some food into her, but it was so little she woke up before midnight and she only fell asleep after I gave her milk.
However, it was Sammy who had a really hard time tonight. And he's never had sleeping issues before the move! He woke up when I put the other two to bed and took him quite a while - and some milk - to fall asleep again. Three hours later he woke up again and would only fall asleep after drinking milk. I hope the rest of the night will be quieter, as I'm also hoping to go to bed earlier and get a little more sleep.