Baby #9 – And Why We Keep Having Kids

Pregnancy, Birth & Babies

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Our family is growing again! Welcoming new babies has become second nature for our household but the idea of 9 kids is pretty crazy for most people to wrap their heads around. Here’s a little insight into why we keep having children and a bit about large family mothering.

Our family is growing again! Welcoming new babies has become second nature for our household but the idea of 9 kids is pretty crazy for most people to wrap their heads around. Here's a little insight into why we keep having children and a bit about large family mothering. Our family is growing again! Welcoming new babies has become second nature for our household but the idea of 9 kids is pretty crazy for most people to wrap their heads around. Here's a little insight into why we keep having children and a bit about large family mothering.



Our family is growing again! Welcoming new babies has become second nature for our household but the idea of 9 kids is pretty crazy for most people to wrap their heads around. Here's a little insight into why we keep having children and a bit about large family mothering.
We announced a little bit ago on Instagram that we’re expecting another baby next April! This will make number 9 for our family and we’re super excited. We obviously really enjoy children over here at the Wiscombe household (and clearly don’t mind missing out on sleep and quiet and personal toilet time, etc – HA!)

But in all seriousness, I wanted to tell you guys a little bit about why we have a family this big and what’s behind our motivation to keep having baby after baby (after baby…). We’re not really crazy (OK, maybe just a little), we just feel really passionate about the importance of family and have decided to dedicate most of our time and energy to these little ones, especially during our child-bearing years.

First of all, Luke and I have always felt really strongly about having a large family and expect our kids will learn lots of valuable lessons as they grow up with a passel siblings. Things like kindness and selflessness, how to work and how to play together and most of all (hopefully) how to love a family member even when he or she makes you crazy!

We’ve encountered lots of opposition along our path of having babies. People from within our immediate families to strangers on the internet have teased us or criticized us for continuing to grow our family, even when it wasn’t any of their business (let’s be honest). But we try to take it all in stride because, above all, we feel that God wants us to keep having children.

We are pretty religious folk (we’re members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) but we don’t have anything against birth control or family planning or even stopping at one child. We actually believe that family planning is a super personal and important decision that shouldn’t be taken lightly and should be completely between the husband, wife and God.

Our family is growing again! Welcoming new babies has become second nature for our household but the idea of 9 kids is pretty crazy for most people to wrap their heads around. Here's a little insight into why we keep having children and a bit about large family mothering.

We also believe that each of us existed as spirits before being born on earth and that there are billions of God’s children who need to be born into a family and given a chance to have a body. This is the main reason why we think it’s so important to give lots of little spirits a chance to come and live with us!

By no means do we think we’re perfect parents (not even CLOSE) nor do we have tons of money to spoil all these kids and give them everything they want. But we CAN offer them love, acceptance, a good education, a roof over their heads and adequate clothing. We have enough money to feed them, time to play with them and will eventually learn enough patience to deal with all the chaos. But that last one might not come until we’re grandparents….

It’s a big, messy, LOUD, riotous zoo over here most days, but with each child comes love – SO MUCH LOVE for these little ones! It’s hard to even begin to explain. And even though each new addition to our family brings a lot of stress and more demands on our time and energy, each child brings more joy than we ever thought possible. And the joy and growth that comes from raising this big family has ALWAYS been worth it…and I expect it always will be.

P.S. In case you missed it…it’s a BOY!

IF YOU LIKED THIS POST, YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:

Coaching for Moms Struggling to Find Joy
Family Pictures and Life With 8 Kids
The Pros and Cons of a Big Family

Gender Reveal photos by Photography Hill

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4 Comments

  • Reply
    Elisabeth
    December 3, 2018 at 5:29 am

    O Bonnie
    I Love this post and agree completly with every Point. First of all children are a huge blessing and we,too, are beyond thankful for our own bunch of Nine children ❤️
    All the best for your pregnancy and the new baby
    Elisabeth

    • Reply
      Bonnie
      December 3, 2018 at 1:49 pm

      Thanks so much, Elisabeth! It makes me sad when it’s hard for people to appreciate having children or when others want them but are physically unable to have them. They are a (loud, wild) blessing indeed! 🙂

  • Reply
    Gemma
    May 30, 2021 at 6:13 am

    Hi Bonnie. Thanks for writing this. Just found out I’m expecting no. 9 baby and tbh it was/is scary. I don’t believe in abortion and I don’t trust adoption would give a baby the best or the love they deserve (my own personal opinion). I have encountered a lot of opposition to me having more kids too and I do sometimes wonder if they are right, whether I have done the right thing or if I’m even good enough for them… But after reading your post, it echoed my own feelings, I love them, they’re beautiful, God wanted me to have them (I kinda don’t have a choice, I trust God in this decision). It’s huge and the UK is a lot harder to raise 1 child in, let alone 9, but love will have to do… Love is better than money (and sleep) any day.

    Thanks for giving me the grounding I needed in this moment of madness, just need to work out how to tell dh… Eek!

    • Reply
      Bonnie
      June 2, 2021 at 9:26 pm

      Congratulations, Gemma! And thanks for commenting. Babies are beautiful and wonderful (and exhausting and maddening :). SO much of it is hard but it sounds like you’re doing the right thing: trusting in God and giving up obsessing about the things that don’t matter. I know you can do this, and your children will love and honor you forever for your sacrifices. XOXO

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