A Girl and a Boy...Now What?

Enough is enough...but how do you decide? How do you know when you are done having kids? For some the answer is simple and concrete. For others there is no definitive answers. Some dream of many but can only have one. Others never dreamed of having any and they end up with a multitude.

I remember soon after our daughter's birth (as in hadn't even left the hospital) people were asking if we were planning on having more children. We had struggled to conceive our daughter, and even though a dream of adding to our family was in our hearts, we really did not know how to answer that question. Of course we wanted more, but whether or not the Lord would grant us more children was a huge unknown. In my heart I hoped He would allow us more children, but to say that we would most certainly have more was not an answer I could give.

When we learned we were pregnant again last fall, we were elated. We had prayed and with the help of medical interventions, we conceived our second child. We were even more excited to find out that we were having a boy! We loved being girl parents and yet we had hoped to experience the sweetness of a little boy. In July of this year I gave birth to a beautiful, red headed little fella. So.In.Love.

Once again, soon after his birth, visitors were asking about our family...but the question was different this time. People were asking us if we were DONE having children since we now had one of each. I did not realize this was such a major assumption. Apparently when you have one of each your family is complete and it's just silly to think of having another.

::via::

I ran across this little ditty about the time I was getting a little flustered with all of the assumptions. It is spot on.

I originally wanted four kids (and honestly, I still do) and my husband was content with two (and honestly, I think he still is). Our last conversation had us agreeing that we will most likely try for at least one more. However, we're not sure how this third child will come to be. Each go at getting pregnant has proven more difficult than the last and this difficulty only increases with age (I'm only 30...but still). We still believe adoption may be a possibility, but we'll have to see how we feel we should proceed when that time comes. Right now we are a ways off. We want G in Kindergarten and our forever home to be built. This gives us at least 3 years. We also don't want to rush this precious time. There are plenty of memories to be made before adding another set of tiny feet to our home.

Despite our feelings, we believe the Lord has already determined the size of our family and we trust Him to bring the number of children that He wills into our home. I joke with my husband that we could have twins in an attempt to have our third child...he doesn't see the humor, but our use of fertility meds ups the chances. We also trust God's timing for our next child despite our timeframe. We also trust Him to bring the perfect child(ren) into our lives as He sees fit, whether I am blessed to carry another child or we open our hearts and home through adoption. His plan is perfection.

Personally, it's hard to think of saying that I'm done having children. I love being a mom and love bringing new life into the world. I kind of get why these couples keep having kids...although 19 is a bit much for anyone's sanity in my opinion. My husband on the other hand looks at everything from a very practical point of view and has no problem setting a limit.

For those of you who have decided to call it quits or for those of you who have decided on "your number", how did you do it? What factors did you consider? What made your decision? I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

Linking up for Thoughts for Thursday and Mommy Moments