In general I would describe myself as a positive person. I TRY to see the good in things, and while I can certainly spiral down a negative path, I do my best to avoid that as much as possible.
It’s hard to describe how it has been adjusting to a family of 5 without thinking through all the overwhelming and challenging parts of it. There has been overwhelmingly positive and joyful parts, full days of pure happiness and ease, but in general the last *almost* 3 months are best described as a mix of chaos and pure bliss.

In the spirit of full disclosure, Emily arrived riiiiiiiiiiiiight before preschool let out for the summertime. And riiiiiiiiiiiiiight at a really busy time for Justin’s business. And riiiiiiiiiiiight before a very full editorial calendar for me. I fully admit that I did not set myself up as well as I had hoped for maternity leave. So the work/motherhood/wife/stable human being balance imploded and I found myself extremely overwhelmed. The bottom line is, newborns are tough. Her first 4 weeks since birth were fairly easy because she slept so much. Then at around 5 weeks or so she started staying awake more, expressing more opinions and feelings, and then the 6 week growrth spurt struck. And it was a completely full week of fussiness and crying. And since then, there are good days and hard days, and I think she’s just a normal baby that way. Even chill babies have fussy days. I certainly wouldn’t describe her as a high need baby at this p...