Are they **ALL** yours?

We celebrated Bryce's birthday recently and it was so much fun. He is so easily excited, and it was great to let him have a day to really feel special (not that he isn't special every day). I am so grateful for that little boy and the joy he brings to our home. He is a child that is just happy at heart, it is really hard to get him down (not that we try).

Anyway, so that has gotten me thinking today how grateful I am for ALL of my children. I guess we do have a large family, although the people in it are so small that it really doesn't feel like it to me. I NEVER in my life would have guessed I would be the mother of six, but now that I am here (or almost here...bring on labor and delivery!!) it just feels so right.

While we were in California a couple of weeks ago, we found a lot of people who stared in amazement, or made comments (some shocked, some kind, some really rude) at the size of our family. Pregnant mom, five kids nine and under, Dad helping to keep things under control, it can be a sight. While it has not been unusual for me to have to deal with "other people" and their sometimes snide comments, here in Utah we are not quite so out of place. This was the first time Josh has had to really deal with people staring at us or making comments just loud enough for us to hear and, honestly, it was kind of fun to watch him. Having years of practice ignoring people while grocery shopping (somehow almost all the people who are rude about our family seem to show up in grocery stores...why is that?) I have learned to ignore it or loudly proclaim to my children how wonderful they are as I pass said snippet. Josh has not had to practice this skill and ended up fuming on a couple of occasions when couples with their token 1.8 children talk about how we are ruining the earth and causing global warming and depleting the supplies of the planet etc etc. Usually Josh is the calm one and I am the more annoyed, enthusiastic, or emotional one. It was fun to have the roles reversed.

On several occasions, trendy California natives (can they really be trendy if we come across them in Walmart or Denny's?) stated snidely "Are they ALL yours" as though there is some shame that could be alleviated if we had found a couple as strays and taken them in or if we had each brought some from previous relationships or something. Then I get to smile proudly and proclaim, "Every single one," and watch the reaction. Some say, "That's great, what a beautiful family" (which is true when they aren't climbing the shelves or trying to spit on each other for fun), others simply grunt and look baffled, but some sneer and, once they actually pass (guess they have enough knowledge of manners to know such things shouldn't be said to some one's face) say something like "How selfish can you be," or "What gives you the right to force that many kids into the system," or, my personal favorite, "I can't believe I have to pay for all the kids people like that have." Like I said, I am beyond the point where these things bother me. My main concern at this point is that my sweet children will hear something and feel put down or unwanted, but hopefully I can fix that if it happens.

Anyway, the point is, I am grateful for my kids no matter how much they may break down the ozone or whatever else. I hope one day one of my little ones becomes the amazing surgeon that saves the lives of the afore mentioned snippet, and although they won't know it, they will be indebted to my super sized family.

P.S. Don't think we are looking for sympathy here, there is none needed...people are people, we all have to learn to live with each other, and maybe even like each other a bit along the way.