–A new addition to our lives: a little Dickey
–A LOT of love
–Our grandparents get to meet their great-grandchild
–Good timing: it’s not yet impacting my career because I haven’t started it yet!
–Teaching someone to fish, ride a bike, recycle, love chocolate, hate spiders, love the Cubbies, play catch, shop 
–Sooooo many more
Cons??? Most people might think of the cost, but I recently read this and I love it (it made me cry a little):
The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with $160,140.00 for a middle income family. Talk about price shock! That doesn’t even touch college tuition.
BUT $160,140.00 isn’t so bad if you break it down. It translates into:
*$8,896.66 a year,
*$741.38 a month,
*$171.08 a week,
*A mere $24.24 a day!
*Just over a dollar an hour.
Still you might think the best financial advice is: don’t have children if you want to be ‘rich.’ Actually, it is just the opposite.
What do you get for your $160,140.00?
*Naming rights. First, middle and last!
*Glimpses of God every day.
*Giggles under the covers every night.
*More love than your heart can hold.
*Butterfly kisses and velcro hugs.
*Endless wonders over rocks, ants, clouds and warm cookies.
*A hand to hold usually covered with jelly or chocolate.
*A partner for blowing bubbles and flying kites.
*Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day.
For $160,140.00, 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 Claus
You have an excuse to:
*Keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh
*Watch Saturday morning cartoons
*Go to Disney movies, and
*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 $24.24 a day, there is no greater bang for your buck.
You get to be a hero just for:
*Retrieving a frisbee off the garage roof
*Taking the training wheels off a bike
*Removing a splinter
*Filling a wading pool
*Coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and
*Coaching a baseball team that never wins, but always gets treated to ice cream regardless.
You get a front row seat in history to witness the:
*First step
*First word
*First bra
*First date
*First time behind the wheel
You get to be immortal. You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you’re lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren and great grandchildren. You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications, and human sexuality that no college can match.
In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there under God. You have all the power to heal a boo-boo, scare away 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.
There, did I make all of you want to run home and get preggers?! 
milftobe…oh wow
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hahaha. i made it up (as a joke, lol) and steve liked it so much he made me use it (by force)
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Let’s see, Grampa Kurt, it might take a few more weeks, but I’ll be ready. I can see it now, this kid is going to be one smart cookie. Maybe President, politics wouldn’t be “my” first choice, DR, maybe have Em’s love for animals, TeTe’s love of the sciences. The possibilities are endless. I do know, this new life will have a great set of loving and caring parents.
HERE’S TO THE “NEW” DICKEY.…!!!
Love,
Grampa and Gramma
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Grandpa D Reply:
April 20th, 2009 at 4:40 pm
You are absolutely correct Grampa Kurt “this new life will have a great set of loving and caring parents”. How exciting for us and how exciting for Steve and Emily.
Only one question? How are Steve and Emily going to handle the competiveness between us as we compete to spoil their little bundle of joy? Don’t know about you Kurt, but I’m already making plans. In fact I might go out tonite and buy a very special fishing pole and a Bass boat to go with it.
love you,
grandpa d
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names are already picked out:
if a boy.…. Kurtden Denkurt Dickey
if a girl.… Kaybeth Bethkay Dickey
All in favor, please vote now!
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Grand-mama D Reply:
April 20th, 2009 at 6:48 pm
OHHH YOU did this huh? DD? lolol
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Baby Dickey blog officially bookmarked. Congrats Em and Steve.
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Grandma Dickey has always been my mother-in-law! That is so awesome to put it in writing and it is ME! Yesterday, I contacted my favorite baby clothes manufacturer to get back on their mailing list for their sample sale. I e-mailed them today to let me know the date of the next sale, because I decided I couldn’t wait for the postcard to come in the mail. I sit and daydream about saying come jump in grandma’s lap. Words can’t describe — excited doesn’t cut it. My friend MaryJo said today, “Just think about the joy at Christmas this year and the years to come and how special and different things will be!” Steve and Em — you better get a big place!
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There are only pros kids! So you don’t go out as much, so it takes a little longer to get ready to go places, so you loose a lot of sleep, they are all pros!
And here is a new poll for your website. Poll all mothers and ask if they ever had a baby that slept all the way through the night at 6 days of age. Steve did.
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I am thinking about the future and the great life you have and are going to have!!! I am so happy for you and Steve. That is a true joy in my life. Thank you!
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