Life with a newborn baby girl

Crazy! That has been our lives in the past few months....there is no other way to describe it. New house, new baby, new job(s) for Marc and the incredibly sad passing of Marc's grandmother. There are days when I feel like a zombie and other days where I am insanely happy. Extreme highs and lows, this is what it must feel like to be manic.

Marissa is now 4 weeks old and we are slowly getting to know her. We are getting to know the positions she likes to be held in and trying to decipher her cries. She has one cry that is like nothing I have heard before. We have named it the "hissing dragon". It's when she has herself really worked up and has cried herself hoarse. It's the cry we will do anything to avoid hearing. When she is really hungry and has latched on to the bottle she makes noises like a goose. That noise always gets a giggle out of all of us. It's the oddest thing. She is a tough audience and I have a really hard time getting her to smile despite my best attempts, although inanimate objects such as a picture on a wall or an oak banister have no trouble eliciting a big toothless grin from her. She adores her big brother and turns her head in search of his gorgeous face when she hears his voice. He can entertain her like no one else can and he has made up a wonderful song called "Don't Just Cry" for her. Inspired by her seemingly constant wailing. We all sing it now hoping that the toon will soothe her.

Despite the lack of sleep, the crying, the constant bottle making, the tight schedule that I have that seems to revolve around her, a hundred diaper changes a day and having no free time for myself..she's beautiful and she's all mine. No, you can't have her.