How many kids?!

So with already having four kids (two boys and two girls) and announcing that we are expecting twins, we have had some interesting comments. Mostly we have only told relatives and people within the (LDS) church whom tend to have the same types of belief about having children. But I have had enough comments about the amount of children that I want to pull together my thoughts on this.

First of all, I don't think there is any "magic number or combination" of children to have. I don't think you need one of each gender (as if they were suppose to be a matched set like Salt and Pepper). I don't think you should have the same amount at your mother, sister, friend, or anyone else. I do think that you and your husband should agree on it (and I leave that to other couples to decide how they feel). And while I do feel that we all should have children (speaking as a world) I do not feel that it is anyone's place to tell others how or when they should precede on this topic.

I have had discussions with people about their "limits". I think my SIL summed it up best when she said that she was happy with the children that she had and if she were to add more, than she would probably go crazy. I agree with her. I don't want to be crazy with my kids. I want them to remember me as a fun, happy mom who was there to help them out.

Personally I think that a mother should have as many as she feels good about. A relative recently commented that she would be holding her family at X kids and was glad I was filling any "Grandma" needs with my brood. I laughed (because although Grandma's never mean to put any pressure, you always see the delight in their faces when you tell them that you are expecting a little one). But as anyone who knows me, that doesn't affect why we decided to have more children.

We decided, well actually lets give the complete story - I decided that I felt it was time to have another baby. I am well aware of my age (37, for all those who still think I am in my twenties) and know that with age comes added risk and slower recovery. Jeff and I had talked of having two more, but were not sure if that was really going to happen. I told him how I felt. He knew of this for a while and contemplated it. One night we went to the temple (for those not LDS, the temple is a "more holy" for lack of a better way to describe it - worship place). Jeff was contemplating life and where we were when a scripture came into his mind referring to having more children. He felt peaceful about this, so we proceeded. The plan was for one more, but we were blessed with twins.

Well, we think this is probably the last pregnancy for me. But as we try to seek the guidance of the Lord, we leave it in His hands.

My last thought is that we are entering into the Creation process with God. We are agreeing to bring His children to earth, give them a physical body, and be responsible for teaching them them things they need to know and do to return to live with Him. I take that responsibility seriously.