11 months 17 days

It's already 3:20 am as I start writing this. There's just so much to do, and I'm behind on office work and other things. I did physical work until after 1 am.

I always get up when it's time to feed the babies their first meal. Our friend who's been staying with us these past 3 nights to help waited for me to get up before she said her good-byes and left to drive the 3 hours back home. Maybe others could come stay with us for a few nights to help, now that we have a guest room!

Randy and I fed the babies their lunch meal, then I cooked the adults' lunch. I needed to get done before Randy had to leave at 1 pm with Sammy to go to his weekly physiotherapy session. Normally we all go, but I knew there was a big Amazon delivery coming I could not miss, so I stayed home with Emmy and Tammy. The delivery came after Randy's return anyway.

After he left, I joined Tammy and Emmy in their play area. These days you really don't have a choice, as they'll cry if you leave that area, even if you're right outside of it and in view. When they had a bed in the old place, they were more content to play alone.

So we played for a while and then they were getting tired. They both ended up sleeping on me. At one point I was able to put them both down, and they continued sleeping for a little bit, but as soon as they realize I'm gone, they're awake and cry. So I sat back down with them, and they both fell asleep on me again. This time I stayed.

When I had been able to get up earlier, I had already prepared their second meal. When they woke back up, they were both hungry. Of course they screamed as I left to go upstairs and get their food. Since they were both hungry, I ended up feeding them both at the same time, which was a first for me. I was surprised how well it worked, and it made me look forward to all feeding them at the same time while they're sitting in their high chairs. The plan is to do that as soon as we've settled in a little and the dining area is usable.

After they had eaten, they played happily again. Right now they're learning to clap and wave and point, and I saw Emmy point at his sister one time. Tammy has waved a few times, but I'm unsure as to how intentional it was.

I had to change Emmy's diaper, and the baby staying in the play area always screams while I leave. The second changing table is right there in view, and while I was changing him I looked over, and there was Tammy breaking out of the play area! We have a smaller shelf that works as an entry that you can just push to the side, and as it was still empty, she simply pushed it and got out! And she was the happiest girl in the world at that point, no more crying!

Some time later Randy and our friend Melanie returned. Randy was supposed to go to the old apartment, where somebody from church was gonna meet him so they could clean it, and Melanie was gonna take Sammy home, but the lady postponed to another day at the last minute.

I fed Sammy the missed second meal. He's been pretty fussy lately, but it's all because of his teeth. Today we discovered that he did not just get his first tooth, but that both teeth are coming out at the same time! Now Tammy is the only one with one tooth only, but I think the second one will come through really soon.

It was such a blessing to have Melanie there, as it allowed us to work. I ended up doing what I had NOT planned to do. We had a letter from immigration in the mail. Randy's permit is about to expire and so we requested an extension a few weeks ago. I thought it was gonna be easy this time, but now they're asking for all kinds of papers again, and that kept me pretty busy, trying to find ways to get those. Please pray.

It had been a while since we bathed the babies and weighed them, and even though it was not Monday, it really had to be done. They had all eaten, and Sammy was already really tired. I bathed him first as he can't sit alone yet, and he was so tired, he screamed the whole time. I put him to bed and he fell asleep pretty quickly.

Then I went to get the other two and sat them into the bathtub, and they enjoyed the water. They played for a while and I washed them. Our friend was still there, and said her good-byes a little later, when I had put them to bed. It does not work to put those two to bed at the same time, as they keep each other from sleeping, so I'll really have to put one to bed first and then the other when the first one sleeps. Again they stood and had fun for a while, and I could not leave them, until they finally lay down and fell asleep. They woke Sammy up too who ended up having the hardest time falling asleep again.

Once I was finally able to walk away, it was time to prepare my dinner, and it always takes me way too long to cut my salad ingredients up, so I finish eating late. And then I start working. I put the baby food delivery away, and did all the dishes, loading the dishwasher. And the most important, it was time to finally move my office from the dining room table upstairs to my desk downstairs. Since we had a visitor these past 3 nights, I waited so she would have more privacy, especially at night. I tell you, it feels really good to have my desk back where I spend so much of my time! And it's right next to their play area, so I can sit here and see them. I also got kitchen carpets to protect the floor which look really great.

And then I started moving boxes and stuff, as we're putting the foil on the windows tomorrow so that people can't look in. And that's how it got so late before I started writing this And now it's nearly 4 am which is when Randy's shift starts, though he usually gets to sleep about 2 hours more.

Today Tammy weighed 8.08 kilos (+300 grams), Emmy 7.39 (+140) and Sammy 6.52 (+100).