Phew!

Wow, it seems like lots has happened since I posted last. I think bullets will work best today:

• My parents and sister were here for a whole week. It was a little crazy, because my mom can't drive or do everyday things as easily (because she broke her shoulder right after Christmas and it's taking a long time to heal), and of course all the new-baby craziness! But we had so much fun, and they were all so helpful.
• Dan got a short throw-up bug last Monday. Marissa got the same bug Saturday at 4:30am. Dan obviously handled it himself, but this was Marissa's VERY FIRST sickness, and it was awful. She handled it so well though, and mostly managed to get to the toilet/bucket on time. She was so pitiful and cuddly (see pics below), but she's completely back to normal now (aside from not having ANY appetite). The hardest part was keeping germs away from Arianna. So far I haven't gotten sick, but I've been extremely obsessive about hand-washing and Clorox-wiping. My hands are bleeding from all the washing!
• Arianna has still been sleeping amazing at night. We've been trying to go to bed at 10, but she hasn't gotten the memo yet. But by midnight she's usually asleep, and sleeping for 5+ hours, then 3 or 4 more after that. I've been waking her up with us around 9 every morning, and she's starting to take naps around the same time each day already. I've had several 7-8-9 hour nights, and I've been waking up to go to the bathroom/check on her, then I go right back to sleep! It's totally crazy, and I love it, but I keep reminding myself it can't possibly last forever!
• She makes up for all the sleep at night by nursing literally every hour most of the day (except when she takes 2-3 hour naps, or is in the car seat). I really don't mind, except when Marissa wants me to play with her, and except for the fact that nursing is still excruciatingly painful sometimes. Again, I keep reminding myself that it won't last forever, and the pain will go away eventually.
• I am really enjoying her new-baby-ness much more than I did with Marissa, because the pain with Marissa was MUCH worse. I am working on a comparison post about Marissa's birth/newborn-ness and Arianna's birth/newborn-ness. If only I had the time, hehe.
• Arianna is a hiccup queen! The poor girl hiccups multiple times within an hour time period, multiple times each day! Sometimes it's just funny, but sometimes it really ticks her off!
• Marissa is growing up so fast: She used to say "pin-pass" but now pronounces princess correctly! Boohoo...
• I am totally swamped by laundry. Since my parents and sister were here I have all their sheets and towels. Which is a lot, but not horrible. But on top of that, I have tons of extra sheets from Marissa's sickness - two sets from her bed (we thought she was done, but she wasn't!), and our flannel king set (which doesn't even fit in the washer all at once!) cuz she joined us at 4:30am, plus all the pj's she got nasty, plus towels and blankets we used around the house that day. PLUS all the regular laundry that I let myself get behind on since Arianna was born. I didn't do any except for Arianna's clothes, and I didn't really trust Dan to do it properly. I am slowly getting caught up, but the hardest part is folding and putting it all away!
• It has been sooooo gorgeous outside! We were outside for a long time talking with some neighbors, and Marissa got tired of playing on her bike. She went inside through the open garage, opened the door to the mudroom, got her green stool, took it back outside, and put it in front of the front door so she could reach the doorknob! I just cracked up when I saw what she had done
• I keep forgetting to write down how Marissa says Arianna's name: Yah-yanna - it's so cute! And she holds Arianna's hand and makes her wave to people saying "Hi, my name is Yah-yanna', Marissa is my big stister!"