13 months 1 day

This morning it was 8 am before the babies woke up. So after we fed them at 9 am, it didn't really make sense to already put them back to bed for their morning nap. Instead they stayed downstairs, while I went back to bed and told Randy he could bring one up to me when they got tired, so I could help them sleep.

At 10 am Randy woke me up with two babies in his arms. He knows I can only help one at the time. He put the boys in their beds, and Tammy fell asleep on my chest. However, I could hear Sammy cry, and he cried for a long time. Finally I could not listen any longer. I got up and put Tammy into her bed where she simply continued sleeping. Emmy was also sleeping. Then I picked up Sammy and lay down with him. Now Sammy has hardly ever slept on me since coming home; I've just never been able to get him to do so. His head was up and he was smiling at me with his cute smile. I tried to get him to lay his head down and sleep. I applied some of what I do with Emmy and simply held his head down, and then he actually fell asleep! It was great having Sammy sleep on me for a change.

When they were all awake again, it was pretty much time for lunch, so I got it ready and we fed them. The food was a little liquidy, so I fed Emmy first, and then Tammy, instead of feeding them at the same time. They do better being fed in my arm than in the high chair.

Then I went to the kitchen to cook for us. After we were done eating, I looked at the clock and it wasn't really that long until their next meal. I got their church clothes ready, but then there wasn't enough time to make their dinner to take with us, so we fed them first. I then let them crawl on the floor and have fun, while getting their dinner food ready. They do grab everything on the lower shelves and play with it.

At 3 pm it was time for their nap - later than usual as their morning nap had also been later. I was again in the position that both Tammy and Emmy needed my help to fall asleep, but I can't help them at the same time. However, I was able to put one to sleep, put him down, and then got the other one to sleep and put her down. So for once I was not in bed with a baby, but free to get ready for church, which I needed.

The plan was to leave at 4 pm. Tammy was asleep in our bed, so I had my eyes on her so she would not fall out of his when she woke up. I was actually choosing my clothes to wear to church, when she woke up, so I was right there. She hadn't slept as long as usual, as I wasn't there with her, and I needed to put all her clothes on, as it was time anyway. We got them all dressed, got ourselves ready, grabbed everything and went out the door, hoping to catch the next train so we would not have to wait 30 minutes for the next one, and we did. Then we took a subway, and got to church before the beginning of the service.

It was a really cold day today, so not only did they wear more clothes, but they also had jackets with hoodies on. I think this is the cutest picture of Tammy in the stroller. Sammy pulled the hoody all the way over his face.

At church it was the first time they had assigned seats with our names on it, and the kids loved playing with the papers. Any paper is great! You can tell they are really getting older, because none of them slept during the 2-hour service. Emmy and Tammy were busy as always, crawling, walking, talking, greeting people, and playing with another little girl. In fact, we were approached twice that they were too loud and should go to the baby room. I thought people weren't disturbed by their noise and didn't really want to go to a room and watch the service on a screen. I might as well stay home and watch it online. It was already towards the end of the service and we did go to the baby room. They do have lots of toys there which they enjoyed. Actually, I had gone to that room early in the service, first with Tammy, and then with Emmy, to feed them their dinner, as food is not allowed in the sanctuary.

When the service was over, we put their jackets back on, put them in the strollers, covered them with the blankets and gave them their milk. They were definitely tired, but Emmy was the only one falling asleep on the way home. It was pretty cold, though the strong wind from earlier had died down a little. By 8 pm we were back home, and it was high time for them to go to bed.

It takes some time to get 3 babies ready for bed and put them down. Emmy came last as I had to wake him up in the stroller. At least they did fall asleep fast. We then prepared and ate our food, and it took me a long time before I was done, as cutting up my salad is so time-intensive. And so it's 2 am already as I finish writing my update, and I need to go to bed, even though I have so much office work and have not done any yet. How will I ever get it all done!