So Much to Look Forward to

The past few days I've been thinking a lot about how many  milestones we are going to be reaching next year.  Ruth will turn 8 years old in April and will be baptized.  Gareth will be starting Kindergarten.  Ronan WILL be potty trained.  I think part of the reason I've been thinking so much about all this is because I can see that we will soon be entering into a new phase of our lives next year.  We won't be in the "bearing children" or "having and taking care of babies" phase any more.  (Even though we'll still call Ronan "the baby.")  We will  be in the school-age children stage... or something like that.  I am very much looking forward to this phase and here are some reasons why:

1. School-age children can actually do chores without causing me MORE work.
2. School-age children can (mostly) wipe their own bums.
3. School-age children can quietly sit and read (instead of fighting or watching tv) ...(some of you might argue this, but I assure you, my children WILL do this or they will be banished to their rooms)
4. School-age children can play games with me that I actually enjoy.
5. School-age children can help me with my homework. (it's true...my school-age siblings can testify of that).

So yes.  While I will miss the baby stage of our little family, I am happy to be moving on.  I am so thankful and happy to have these awesome kids in my life and I'm even more happy to be sharing them with Jonesy (who is awesome).