Can We Do It?

I now have a handful of posts, in various states of completion- the result of one-handed typing during the wee hours, while nursing our daughter.

I always expected to have children. I am the oldest of five children, just like my husband. We intend to have as many children as God wants us to have, although recently I've been telling people that we're gunning for 12 because we don't know and it's as good a number as any. It's fun to see their faces, and they stop asking questions I don't have answers for. We might be finished, we might not. You don't know until you get there!

We are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, sometimes affectionately (but most times not) referred to as "the Mormon church". We know that bearing and raising children is a sacred responsibility, and an enormous privilege.

In recent years, I have had a handful of women (both in and out of our Church) say "Children are harder and more expensive to raise these days. We just can't have big families anymore."

What do you think? Are kids worse behaved then they used to be? Is it prohibitively expensive to have more than 3 children? I know I have at least 3 women reading this who have 5+ children each. What do you think? If you haven't had children or have a small family, have you considered this? Do you agree?

I look forward to hearing your thoughts!