3.03.2005
Day 17
Today started out so well…you’d almost think we knew what we were doing! Paige woke up around 7:00 am and we gave her a bottle of formula. She played on the blanket on the floor for a couple of hours before she became sleepy again. Her schedule says she’s supposed to eat again before she naps, but there was no way we were going to wake her up to eat. Justin spent the morning crawling all over the place, but mostly enjoying himself in the full-length mirrors.
But at about 3:30 pm, we had to go out to have the kids’ passport photos taken, as well as to do some grocery shopping to buy the Judge and the court personnel lunch (which is customary in the region we’re working in). Today was also the day our shower was finally going to be repaired, so one of us had to stay at the apartment to wait for him to show up. First Chris brought Justin down to get in Emil’s car. He was in a perfectly fine mood, but as soon as we got in the car he began to cry. He carried on until we got to the photo shop, and being the inexperienced mother, Chris forgot to bring a sippy cup of juice along. Emil ran into a deli and got him a juicebox of apple juice. His passport photos look like a commercial for Juicy brand apple juice! Thank goodness for photo editing digital photos…they erased the straw from the shot so the photos were usable! We carried him out, still screaming the whole way. Next was Paige. This time we brought a bottle of apple juice, and she was fine except when the first flash went off…then she began crying, but we managed to get the shots.
Since the landlord still had not returned with the new shower, Rob stayed home with both the children while Chris went out with Emil to do the shopping. Chris had a fine time running around the city with Emil, completing our shopping list and running errands. It felt good to be out of the apartment and experiencing the city. Rob, on the other hand, wasn’t enjoying himself quite as much! For awhile he was having fun with Justin, teaching him how to “high five” and introducing him to a flashlight. Justin was squealing with delight as he made the light flash on the ceiling! But then Paige starting feeling lousy again, as we all do towards the end of the day when we’re feeling sick. She was crying and couldn’t be consoled. And since we’re beginning to change Justin’s diet, he had several episodes of diarrhea, which Rob had the pleasure of changing! And after he changed the last diaper, Paige threw up all over Rob. It was definitely one of those “Calgon, take me away” moments. He finally put Paige down to sleep, and after a moment of screaming, she quieted down and fell asleep. And as if on cue, Justin started to cry. When Chris and Emil arrived home, Rob opened the door and looked completely wiped out holding a crying Justin in his arms. Chris took Justin into his room, where he was just cranky and overtired. We let him be and he fell asleep within minutes.
We then found out that we had to stay awake until midnight so that we could meet with our translator to prepare for court in the morning. We were not too happy to hear that, but we took the last three hours of the night to finally prepare our notes for court. Needless to say, we were not feeling too confident about being ready for the most important day of our lives.
But at about 3:30 pm, we had to go out to have the kids’ passport photos taken, as well as to do some grocery shopping to buy the Judge and the court personnel lunch (which is customary in the region we’re working in). Today was also the day our shower was finally going to be repaired, so one of us had to stay at the apartment to wait for him to show up. First Chris brought Justin down to get in Emil’s car. He was in a perfectly fine mood, but as soon as we got in the car he began to cry. He carried on until we got to the photo shop, and being the inexperienced mother, Chris forgot to bring a sippy cup of juice along. Emil ran into a deli and got him a juicebox of apple juice. His passport photos look like a commercial for Juicy brand apple juice! Thank goodness for photo editing digital photos…they erased the straw from the shot so the photos were usable! We carried him out, still screaming the whole way. Next was Paige. This time we brought a bottle of apple juice, and she was fine except when the first flash went off…then she began crying, but we managed to get the shots.
Since the landlord still had not returned with the new shower, Rob stayed home with both the children while Chris went out with Emil to do the shopping. Chris had a fine time running around the city with Emil, completing our shopping list and running errands. It felt good to be out of the apartment and experiencing the city. Rob, on the other hand, wasn’t enjoying himself quite as much! For awhile he was having fun with Justin, teaching him how to “high five” and introducing him to a flashlight. Justin was squealing with delight as he made the light flash on the ceiling! But then Paige starting feeling lousy again, as we all do towards the end of the day when we’re feeling sick. She was crying and couldn’t be consoled. And since we’re beginning to change Justin’s diet, he had several episodes of diarrhea, which Rob had the pleasure of changing! And after he changed the last diaper, Paige threw up all over Rob. It was definitely one of those “Calgon, take me away” moments. He finally put Paige down to sleep, and after a moment of screaming, she quieted down and fell asleep. And as if on cue, Justin started to cry. When Chris and Emil arrived home, Rob opened the door and looked completely wiped out holding a crying Justin in his arms. Chris took Justin into his room, where he was just cranky and overtired. We let him be and he fell asleep within minutes.
We then found out that we had to stay awake until midnight so that we could meet with our translator to prepare for court in the morning. We were not too happy to hear that, but we took the last three hours of the night to finally prepare our notes for court. Needless to say, we were not feeling too confident about being ready for the most important day of our lives.
# posted by kaztree @ 3:00 PM 
