Bearing in mind

So it seems that 3/4ths of the world/ward is pregnant...again. Didn't we just do this two years ago? Aren't our poor nursery workers deserving of a break? Isn't our sacrament meeting loud enough with the gajillion kids we already have?

The answer to all three questions is YES! And personally it's great. Babies are cute. And God did say to "multiply" and replenish the earth. Not just add but multiply. I'm just glad we're done with math. I'd have to buy a bigger van. We'd need a bigger kitchen table. I don't want to do diapers again...EVER! And the twins are finally big enough to get into serious trouble without any help from the older kids! Oh wait......

So Easter has been on my mind for about a month...when the twins got into the storage room and started hauling the plastic Easter eggs out in droves, gaggles and Dora backpacks. I now have a slew of half-eggs littering my house. I think the Easter bunny may be on vacation this year. Probably not. I'm starting to run out of Halloween and Christmas candy.

Easter this year will be special. Not that it isn't other years but my oldest daughter has the same unfortunate situation as my wife: on a regular basis, her birthday will be on a holiday. Although on a more regular basis, Adeena's birthday will be on General Conference weekend. As it is this year. She gets Easter, General Conference and her birthday all on the same day. She's excited. I'm glad because she'll hate it as adult.

And the week after Easter/GC/Adeena's b-day, I get to baptize Ethan. I know. I can't believe my #2 is 8 either. Scary. But the good news is that means he is going into scouts and that means Dad gets to get his power-tools on and make stuff...I'll let him touch the pinewood derby car once it's done. ;-) I'm just excited because I hope it will help him be a better person and I have a few good memories of being a scout. Just a few.

Till next time...

**Edited to fix what seemed like a cynical comment but really wasn't meant to be**

Hearts on your sleeve

February is finally here. Valentine's Day has long been one of my favorite holidays. Being a hopeless romantic for most of my life really helped. Of course, until the Valentine's Day my first year in college, I never actually had a girlfriend to dote upon. For eleven years now I've had a beautiful wife to give flowers and chocolate and try to plan romantic things for...but something was different. As the years have progressed, my excitement for the holiday has waned.

It's not that I love my wife less...if anything it's quite the opposite. So I took to some soul searching to figure out why it was that I get less and less worked up for what was my favorite holiday. Here is what I have learned:

1) Valentine's Day is different when you can throw every dollar you own at it because you don't have a mortgage, to buy food, pay utilities (always higher during this stretch of the year)

2) Valentine's Day was a chance for me to let girls I liked, know I liked them because I was too chicken the rest of the year.

3) I try to show my wife how much I love her all year long so I'm not trying to pack a year's worth of love into one day. Plus, a marriage should be built on consistent affection. You can't make up in one day for 364 days of neglect.

4) Our Anniversary is at the end of November which I feel is a much better time to celebrate our love. Doing it again 2 and a half months later after paying for Christmas is a litte more difficult.

5) What I wanted romantically vs. what I had were worlds apart back then compared to now where they are pretty equal.

6) I don't have hours upon hours every week to think about it because I have other things which are more pressing.

And 7) I really suck at planning more than a few days or a week in advance. In high school I flew by the seat of my pants. On my mission we planned one week at a time. Most of my college classes have assignments done on a weekly basis. As a poor high school student it was easier to delay planning and still pull something off. Now I need to plan a baby-sitter, make reservations and figure out how to pay for it.

So over the years I've learned that Valentine's Day for many is an excuse or a reason to show the one they love how much they care but when you try and show it on a regular basis Valentine's Day transforms into a simple reminder once a year that if I haven't celebrated it at least once a month the other 11 months since the last time, I need to step it up. I love my wife. I'm lucky to have her and I'm thrilled she will be my Valentine for eternity. And I'm grateful that if I try, every day can be Valentine's Day with her.