Pros and Cons

I have been doing a lot of thinking about our upcoming birth and starting to get really excited! But of course there are a few nagging fears that come along with parenthood.

Pros:
- A new and precious life!
- Unconditional love for our child
- Family getting to meet her (especially grandparents and great-grandparents)
- Ready for the next step in our lives
- Raising a child in a Godly home
- Teaching her to dance, sing, read, write, ride a bike, kill bugs for mommy :), and love the Lord!
- Loving her!
- Seeing a combination of me and Brian in human form! Amazing!
- And SOOOO much more!!

Cons??:
- Free time becomes a thing of the past
- Dirty diapers
- A lot less sleep
- Less money

But just today, I read this and thought it was really good..... (http://www.surfinthespirit.com/finances/child.html)

The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with $160,140!! That doesn't even touch college tuition. And that is per child!

But $160,140 isn't so bad if you break it down. It translates into:
- $8,896.66 a year
- $741.28 a month
- $171.08 a week
- $24.44 a day
- Just over $1 per hour!

Still, you might think that the best financial advice says don't have children if you want to be "rich"...but it is just the opposite.

What do you get for $160,140?
- Naming rights - First, Middle, and Last
- Glimpses of God everyday!
- Giggles under the covers every night
- More love than your heart can hold
- Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs
- Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies
- A hand to hold (usually sticky)
- A partner for blowing bubbles, flying kites, building sandcastles, and skipping down the sidewalk in the pouring rain
- Someone to laugh yourself silly with no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day

For $160,140 you never have to grow up!

You get to:
- Finger-paint
- Carve pumpkins
- Play hide-and-seek
- Catch lightening bugs
- Never stop believing in Santa Clause

You have an excuse to:
- Keep reading children's books
- Watch Saturday morning cartoons
- Rent Disney movies
- Wish on stars

You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets and collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas, hand prints set in clay for Mother's Day, and cards with backward letters for Father's Day

For a mere $24.44 a day, there is no greater bang for your buck!

You get to be a hero just for:
- Retrieving a Frisbee off the roof
- Taking the training wheels off the bike
- Removing a splinter
- Filling the kiddie pool
- Coaxing a wad of gum out of hair
- Coaching a baseball team that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream anyway

You get a front row seat to history to witness:
- The first step
- The first word
- The first bra
- The first date
- The first time behind the wheel

You get to be immortal. You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you're blessed enough, a long list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren. You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications, and human sexuality that no college can match

You have all the power to heal a boo-boo, scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever, and love them without limits, so one day they will, like you, love without counting the cost!

It's the best investment you'll ever make!

Any "cons" pale in comparison to the amazing blessing that our little Hannah will be!! We can't wait! :-)