Thank you, but I didn't ask for your opinion.

We found out Layla was a girl when I was 20 weeks pregnant. Tomorrow she is 10 months old. When people asked us what we were having and we told them a girl, usually the first thing people said was, "well that's great! So you're done having children since you have a boy and a girl, what more could you want". This wasn't typically a question, it was a statement of fact. It used to offend me that people would just assume because we have a girl and a boy that we were done. Many people added to that statement that they think we shouldn't have any more children because why on earth would you want more than 2 children if you already have a boy and a girl?? People still do this today, as I assume they will until I get pregnant again. Some women tell me how lucky I am I don't have to be pregnant again (again, they are assuming we are done having children). This does not offend me anymore because I have learned that people have their own opinions and can think what they want, especially when it comes to children and how you should raise them. For some reason they believe if they tell you their opinion over and over again that it will, too, become your opinion. First let me say, why do people think just because we have a boy and a girl all is right in the world and we are done having children? Has anyone ever thought that having a male and female was not my goal in the first place? Second, why is just having one of each desirable? Am I not, or anyone else who wants children, allowed to want more than 2 children if the first 2 happen to be opposite genders? Second, I am NOT done having children. I want LOTS of children. How many I want to have is none of your business, quite frankly. That is for me and Chris to decide. If you think we should have just 2, then keep that thought to yourself. Yesterday a woman told me that having 3 children is bad because then someone always feels left out. Just go for 2. Why would she assume that I did not come from a family of 3 children? This woman also told Chris that she thinks tattoos are defacing your body after her and him just talked about his tattoo. Let's just say she lacked tact. So, to sum up: 1)we want more than 2 children 2) how many we want is for us to decide and change whenever we want 3) keep your opinions about how many children a couple should have to yourself. Thanks for stopping by.

C-C-Cicada (read like cha-cha-cha-chia)

Growing up I remember hunting for cicada shells, skin, whatever you call it, at night with my dad and brothers. I used to love doing that. Every year summer rolled around and I heard the sound of cicadas I would instantly be happy because I was reminded of my fun "cicada night hunts". However, because of the cicada swarm of 2011 in Nashville I hate the sound of cicadas. I am not joking or exaggerating when I say that there were hundreds of thousands of cicadas flying around town last summer for 2 full weeks. I hated leaving the house. I lost count at how many times I got pelted in the head or face by a stupid cicada. The worst part was they screamed when they hit you. It was horrifying. And I was 7.5 months pregnant back then, so trying to speed walk from my car to the door with a 1.5 year old was hilarious. Just to creep you out, here's a picture of a tree during those 2 weeks.

Terrifying, right? That's how every tree looked. Gross. So this summer when the cicadas starting singing, I immediately got shivers down my spine. The fond memories that used to flood my mind were no longer even a distant thought... all I could picture was what those trees looked like and the sound they made when they hit you. Yesterday afternoon when my little family was coming inside from a walk, Chris spotted a cicada coming out of it's skin. He pointed it out to Josiah and all Josiah wanted to do was touch it. He kept saying "touch it, touch it, touch it". I quickly peaced out with Layla. I was coming down the stairs after I had put her down for a nap and Chris said "Josiah has something for you mommy." I thought that he had taken the live cicada and wanted to show it to me. I started to freak out, but Chris assured me it was just the skin. Josiah had it on his shoulder (something I used to do and thought was hilarious). Chris then told me that Josiah touched the cicada over and over again, and then he showed me this:

Hopefully, next summer, I won't be horrified at the thought of cicadas and I can enjoy hunting cicada skins at night with my little bug man.