Our Big News!

   By the way...if you are reading this before Friday night at 7 p.m. on January 31st....keep it a secret until then!

 I apologize ahead of time for the length of this post, but it is important news. But for my friends and family members who just want the news and not the story behind the news, I will mention it first so you can go back to playing Candy Crush or Bejewled. Reagan and I are expecting another child. Our 5th child. This August.

  So....you are likely going through the following reactions right now: First you thought "Holy Crap!! 5 kids!?". Then you immediately pushed that aside and thought "Congrats to them, that's awesome, but holy crap....5 kids?! Are they crazy??".  I know you are thinking these things because we thought the same thing. In fact, Reagan is only 6 weeks pregnant as I type this and I still bounce back and forth between these thoughts. I was kind of numb for a week or so and I am pretty sure I went through all the stages of grief, despite this being quite a blessing and a miracle. I was still shocked, angry, in denial, and finally acceptance. For a couple who almost didn't have any kids and gave up again trying for kids when we had 3 and wanted to have a 4th, this 5th child is quite the surprise. Reminds me of the time I used to like to buy the 5th pitcher of beer at a bar in Council Bluffs because if you bought 4 pitchers....the 5th one was free. However, I don't think this 5th kid will be free...far from it. In fact, the latest report says it takes over $200,000 to raise a child from 0-18....so we are now in this thing for over a million dollars. But....it is all part of the plan, just not necessarily our plan. We were not planning on this and in fact were attempting to prevent it. But when they say certain types of prevention are 99% successful, someone has to be the 1%. Too bad my lottery tickets still don't win me anything!!

   So, if you made it this far, you get rewarded with details. We are due in August and we don't know if it is a boy or girl. We are finding out, but likely not telling. Okay, so not many details, but at least it is some. We HAVE to find out as we SOLD or DONATED everything baby related that we used to own. We didn't even keep any of our name ideas!! So we will need the full 6 months to think of names and try to remember what types of things it takes to raise a baby and try to buy them all back. You can bet that I will be active at garage sales this summer again. But we also need the time to mentally prepare. I have been having a countdown to a diaper-free house for months. I have started planning my retirement party in the year 2034 (which will now double as a high school graduation party for our 5th child!!). I have been dreaming of what life will be like once our kids sleep all night. Now, simple math tells me that about the time our 5th child will sleep all night long, our oldest child will be getting close to dating and staying out late! It is best if I don't type any more of these mathematical things that I have figured out about having 5 kids age 9 and younger. It can't be good for my short or long-term health.


  In the end, Reagan and I were highly shocked and surprised, but very excited. We know this new life was given to us for a reason and we know we won't be given more than we can handle. Someone must have thought we could handle 5, so we will. It will not be without its challenges, but it also come with many joys, experiences, stories, and endless moments of happiness. With that said, my vasectomy has already been scheduled and I hope and pray that this is the last time I will use some form of technology to announce our pregnancy (little known fact....Facebook and Twitter weren't even around when we announced we were pregnant for the first time!). Thank you for all the love and support....stay tuned for next year's Christmas card, likely written by the 7th and newest member of our family.

Love&Prayers,
Ben and Reagan

(Did you happen to read the first paragraph of our Christmas card?? I wrote it over Thanksgiving and found out we were pregnant about 2 weeks later. That whole first paragraph is hilarious now!!)