17 months 19 days

This morning they woke up at 8 as usual, and we fed them breakfast, then Randy took them downstairs, while I went back to bed. Christine had made lunch for everybody yesterday, so I just had to warm it up, which gave me more time to sleep. Our friend Sonja arrived some time in the morning to help. I got up, warmed up the food, and then everybody came upstairs to eat. It was green beans with bacon and potatoes, and everybody enjoyed it. I'm no fan of green beans, so I passed.

Then I put Tammy to bed, and Sonja went downstairs with the boys. Randy decided to go to the grocery store because of Valentine's Day tomorrow, but I didn't think it was the greatest timing. The rest of the afternoon, until leaving at 4 pm, was stressful. I tried to get their food ready to take to church with us, but kept being interrupted. Emmy was pretty cranky, and so my presence was required repeatedly. Just after 2 pm Sonja and I started feeding the boys. Randy usually feeds Sammy, so I hadn't done it for a while, and he gave me a hard time. He kept trying to grab the jar and put his fingers into it. I was glad when Randy finally returned, and let him finish feeding him.

The girl woke up with all the noise we made. So I got her out of bed, and then put the boys to bed after they were done eating. Now it was Tammy's turn to eat. It would definitely be easier if they all slept at the same time instead of one after another. I passed Tammy on to Sonja, and finally got to finish making their dinner and packing it plus all the snacks, and get their clothes ready. Sammy then woke up at a good time, then Emmy, and we started dressing them all, which takes time. We still left the house on time at 4 pm, though we had to go back twice for stuff we had forgotten.

We said good-bye to our great helper Sonja, and went to the S-train platform, and still even had quite some time to wait. It was cold, but they usually pull off their gloves - and hats - quite quickly. After getting off the train, we still had a subway to take, and then walk to the church. We arrived there before the service started, and it was great being back there after a few months of lockdowns and being in Mali. We got seats in the back of the church, and enjoyed seeing friends again who mostly commented on how much they had grown.

The service started, and Emmy and Tammy started running around making friends with everyone. There was a 2-year-old girl and a 6-month-old boy that they were especially interested in. While I was following them, Randy took Sammy to the baby room to feed him his dinner, as no food was allowed in the sanctuary.

Then Emmy decided to go all the way to the front, and Tammy followed, and so did I. He started climbing up the stairs to the stage, and I kept pulling him back down, and then Tammy started doing the same, and I kept pulling them both down for quite some time. I think it amused a few people. I guess they were ready to preach! The founding pastors in the front row then took Tammy and put her between them on a seat, and Tammy simply sat there unmoved, like a big, good girl. I let her and the pastors enjoy each other for a while. Then they started with communion, and I took them both back to our seats in the back.

After communion I took the two of them to the baby room so they could eat their dinner. The 6-month-old boy was there for part of the time, and so was the 2-year-old girl, which they enjoyed. Tammy and Emmy ate all their food, while interacting with the other children, and playing with the toys. Then Randy came with Sammy, as he was crying, and so we were all in the baby room. After a while we decided to try to put Sammy into this activity seat they had there, and he enjoyed it and stayed in it for quite some time. The other children left, but they were all happily playing.

As the pastor was finishing his sermon, we returned to the sanctuary. Once again they were heading straight to the front, and they both got to sit with the founding pastors again until the service ended.

We talked to a few people, and then started putting their coats on and putting them back into the stroller. They had sure had lots of fun tonight, and didn't even seem tired. We finally left at 7:15 pm; little did we know that it would take us an hour and a half to get home.

We walked to the subway and took it back to the train station. I knew that the alternative of taking the subway was not possible because of the elevator they were renovating, so that we could not get to the second subway. From the train station it is just one stop with the regular train, and a few with the S-train. In any case, it's just a few minutes. However, it was a 30-minute wait, which seemed long in the cold weather. Then the train in the opposite direction arrived. I spontaneously decided (big mistake!) that we were better off taking that train, and then the subway home from there. It was just a few minutes on the train, and then a long walk to the subway. When we got there, I remembered what I had seen on the news: the nuisance of that elevator being renovated, so that there is no way to get to the platform if you depend on it. What were we gonna do?!? I was tired and ready to just throw in the towel. Two majorly important elevators being renovated and unusable for months. In the end, there was only one option: take a train back the way we came. So I looked up where and when it would leave, and off we went. Once again we carried the strollers a few steps up into the train. And then the same train conductor that had said good-bye to us earlier was surprised to see us again. It was the same train we had arrived with, now going the opposite direction! I told her why we were back. We would have been home half an hour earlier had we waited that initial half hour. As it was, it was nearly 9 pm before we got home, and the kids were getting cranky, though nobody seemed that tired or interested in sleeping.

Back home, they were happy to be out of the stroller, and we put their pj's on and put them to bed. They were all a bit restless for a while, waking up again and crying, especially Emmy, but now they have been quiet for a while. Needless to say, coming home so late has pushed everything to later, and so it's 2 am now and I have not done the dishes or cleaned up yet.