"They all yours?"

Noah just turned one month old yesterday. I cannot believe how quickly time has passed! It seems like just yesterday when I was headed to the hospital, bag in hand, and ready to meet this sweet little bundle.

As a family, we ventured to Costco over the weekend. It was a necessity. With two kids in diapers and both of them just about out of their supplies of said diapers, we were almost in crisis mode. Traversing the entire store just four weeks after my c-section was just about too much for me. I'm sure that there are others who can do it and do it quite well; I'm just not one of them. So when I realized today that I had to make a trip to Walmart before my husband came home from work, I determined to get as few things as possible so that I didn't completely wear myself out.

While in Costco, I didn't get odd looks from strangers because of the size of my entourage. It could be that people there didn't notice because I tended to lag behind everyone else, or maybe they were too enamored by the novelty of my carrying Noah in the baby wrap, or maybe they were just too busy and wanted to get out of the store with some of their sanity intact. In Walmart, today, it was a completely different story.

Before the kids and I even got into the store, an elderly lady stopped me to peek at Noah. She had never seen a baby being worn before, and I was happy to oblige. Once I got in the store, the looks started heading my way. You could just read the thoughts on peoples' faces as they passed by us. One lady shot us a look of absolute disgust. One lady, an associate, took one look at the kids and said, "You sure have your hands full!" I smiled and said, "I wouldn't have it any other way."

By the time we made it to the register I was tired and in some pain, so I was looking for the shortest possible line to get in. We took our place in line behind an older lady, and as I got directly behind her to await my turn to unload my cart onto the belt, she struck up a conversation with me about my baby wrap. She had never seen one and asked if it was comfortable, and she wanted to know if I had a boy or a girl. Then she looked at the other three kids behind me and asked, "They all yours? Or do you run a daycare?" I smiled and politely said, "Yes, ma'am, they are all mine!" I steeled myself for having to defend our choice to have "so many" kids when this lady gave me a very warm, knowing smile and said, "You know, I have five kids of my own. And now I have sixteen grandchildren!" Finally! Someone who didn't find it odd to have "so many" children!

I learned two years ago that two children is the "approved" number in our society, and three children are allowable. Today, I learned that four children is most definitely not the norm--which I already knew--and that it can be very quickly frowned upon and even judged. What is four, anyway? It's just one more than three. :)

So, to the stranger at Walmart, the pool, or anywhere else, yes, these are all my children. Yes, my hands are full--but so is my heart. Each of these kids is a gift from my Heavenly Father, and I am so very thankful for each of them. Each one brings joy to our family in their own, special way. Each one has their own sense of humor. Each one has their own way of expressing love, and each one has a different way of receiving love. God didn't give these children to anyone else; He gave them to my husband and me, not because we're awesome parents and are up for the challenge, but because we are the perfect parents for them--and they are absolutely the perfect kids for us. We learn a lot from them, maybe more than we teach them.

So yes, these are my kids. And I am crazy in love with each one of them.