When you have a lot of children, people inevitably want to know when the next one will arrive. For the past several years I've been telling folks we are in a holding pattern because we weren't planning to have more, but we hadn't done anything to permanantly stop having them. 

For a while I said I might consider another one when the youngest was about five, but the closer that day got, the less inclined I was to reenter the world of pregnancy, labor, sleepless nights and dirty diapers. I've enjoyed sitting at homeschool outings watching  my older children play as my friends wrestled  fussy babies. I was  thankful to be past that stage.  This summer I even got rid of all my baby stuff in preparation for moving.

OK, you can stop laughing now.

Number eight is due in August. My husband and children are ecstatic and their enthusiasm is contageous.  I'm still not looking forward to pregnancy, labor, or all that other stuff, but it will be very nice to have a little one around again.