The Lawsons did Dallas!

What!?
September 14, 2007

Lately, people have been asking me if James is an only child. We've gotten the question four or five times in the last month, and I'm taken aback with every single asking. I think it's the wording of that question that surprises me the most. "Only child"...it's such a decisive term.

We're Mormon, and somewhere along the road, you've probably realized that Mormons tend to have large families. Actually, I'd like to set the record straight-- Mormons are nothing short of high volume baby production plants. I once met a family at church with twenty-one children. That's abnormal of course, but five or six is not even worth a second glance.

Yes, my religion is singlehandedly responsible for the world's overpopulation conundrum and the associated doomsday scenario. So naturally, people are starting to wonder why our family's not contributing.

James is two-and-a-half, and yes, he's the only child that I have. But no, he's not the last one I'll have. Well, at least I don't think he'll be an only child forever. Jared is one of five children--so he'd never stand for that.

Ok ok, the rumor is accurate. I have actually given away all of our baby things. But that's only because we're moving across the country!

Yes, it's true that I know about thirty women who are pregnant or postpartum and I don't even have the slightest twinge of jealousy. But that's not abnormal, is it?

And I will openly admit that James is starting to become a whole lot of fun. He can swim independently, he can go fishing with Jared, and we might even put him on a mini set of skis this winter.

Right now, as I type, James is pretending that his giant dinosaur toy is eating his double-decker bus toy. C'mon, that's cool! Like really cool. A baby can't do that stuff. Why would I want a kid who doesn't know how to do a rhino roar or simulate the sound of an explosion while playing trains?

Just look at that picture up there. James is really starting to be adventurous! I just don't want to screw up this fun with, you know...a baby.

But that doesn't mean that James is destined to be an only child, does it? Really, I don't want that, I just don't want a baby. If I could order up one big brother and one toddler twin for James, I'd do it in a second. But that's much easier said than done.

I think I'd like to have another baby when James is four or five. In the mean time I've got races to run, and trips to take, and jobs to land, and a business to start. A few more years would be perfect, really, really perfect.

But what am I supposed to do with my baby hungry husband? He "oohs" and "ahhs" at pictures of newborns, he test drives the double strollers at Target, and worst of all he says things like, "Let's have another baby!" and "I think James is ready for a sibling!"

And then there's James, who asks me everyday, "Mommy? Dabes have a baby brudda, too?"

Jared wants a baby, James wants a baby, and me? I want a boat.

I'm officially outnumbered.