Diagnosis...

I have 'diagnosed' or 'labeled' baby M as a 'high-need baby'.

This includes things like: needs to be held all the time and in constant motion, hates being confined (swaddled, carseat), demands (by high pitched screaming) whatever he wants, erratic sleep (not a good napper), and various other 'features'. I was at my wits end the other day with him. I threw my hands up and begged for help. We walked around the block the other morning at 3:00 am in the baby carrier, nonetheless. The whole time I was crying and begging God for help. We thought there was something wrong (medically) with him. He drains my energy daily with his demanding demeanor. Now that I have a label for him and understand that there is nothing wrong with him, I feel much better. I believe that God will give me the strength I need to deal with him. I know I am not spoiling him by carrying him all the time, it's what he needs. It makes it all less frustrating to know that it's just his personality. It doesn't, however, make it easier to be sleep deprived but that's what you get with kids. Stay tuned for more exciting updates.

Risking life and limb....literally

Well, The Big Guy has returned.... by the grace of God. If anybody is familiar with the Boundary Waters / Canada this time of year, you would know that now it is snowing. Which most of us can figure out puts the temperatures in the high 20's. Interpretation - it's cold. Highlights of a trip like this include

1. Packing as light as you can because everything you bring you must also carry.
2. Driving 10+ hours to get there in the middle of the night.
3. Sitting in an aluminum fishing boat for 4 hours so you can be dumped in your canoe out in the middle of (only you and God know).
4. There is NO communication between you and civilization until your return (keep in mind if you get hurt in the middle of nowhere, you must be able to fend for yourself- completely). I don't know about you but I'm pretty sure if I broke a limb and had to canoe hours upon hours to get help I'd be dead.
5. You must carry a canoe plus 80 pounds of gear on your back while hiking through the woods and climbing over trees and whatnot to find a campsite or the next lake.

So after a week of fun like this, the guys headed back to the pick up point to be towed 4 hours back to the outfitter when a huge wave tipped the canoe and all the gear. Thank God they all were wearing life vests. Long story short they floated in 50 degree water for 90 minutes to get to shore. Hypothermia had set in and thankfully nobody lost consciousness. Somebody happened to be headed back as well and saw this all take place and went to get help. They were eventually rescued, but if you have ever watched Survivorman you might have seen a scene like theirs. Stripped down to their skivvies in 20 degree weather huddled around a cook stove and shaking violently. He's back and it scared the boy a bit. Needless to say, there will be no more camping trips like this. So yay we both survived the week. I'd rather take my chances with two kids.

From the land of sanity

Curiously enough, both boys have been relatively good this week. We had a couple of days of crabbiness out of Baby M, but not bad. My dad came for a visit during the worst of his days, you would know. He seems to get feisty when company comes, probably because he's over stimulated. Flippity has been his typical 4 year old self. Pushing the limits of everything. He's so independent almost to a fault. We both have similar personalities which is proving to be a bit of a challenge. Maybe it's just because I'm the mom. The first day of school was today for Flippity. Baby M and I had to go chasing all over God's green earth to get The Big Guy's paycheck which was supposed to be direct deposited in our account last Friday. Long story short, the paycheck is MIA and so his hospital had to reluctantly cut another one for me. It may be just me, but I was under the impression that most of us actually NEED our paychecks on payday for things such as, oh I don't know, mortgage and car payments! So here's to a good week of sanity for me! 3 days to go.