Ball three! Take your base...

Well, I think it's taken about two days too long for it to sink in, but last Wednesday, Ciria and I found out that we are having another girl. We are very excited about our third daughter. Believe me, the less uncertainty we have in our lives right now the better.

Having children is a wonderful blessing. I was telling Ciria the other night that I can't hardly say a prayer without marveling to my Father in Heaven that he has allowed me to sire and raise children. Sometimes I catch myself thinking about it, and at first I think, well, that's just how life goes, but then it hits me--not everyone, or every couple can have children, or at best they have an excruciatingly difficult time conceiving, or bringing a child to full term, or maybe they just adopt if they can, but only after tens of thousands of dollars were waisted on fertility methods. I know specific couples in each of these situations, and I honestly understand their desires to have children, and I empathize deeply with their struggles, and am saddened to the core when I think of them. I know Ciria feels the same.

Then, I think about all the children easily born to people who make much less than acceptable parents, or to people who find their children a burden or inconvenience. This thought just makes me mad, so I move on with the notion that Ciria and I are at least trying to be acceptable parents or better, and don't subconsciously relegate our children to the stature of pest, or parasite or even necessary evil.

So, not to cheapen my joy any, but suffice it to say, I am going to be an even bigger pile of goo come August when my third daughter looks at me with those big eyes and melts me into capitulation. Oh, I'm so screwed....