Our Family Size

Welcome to the first Family Size Blog Carnival!
This post was written for inclusion in the Family Size Blog Carnival hosted by Kerry at City Kids Homeschooling and Patti at Jazzy Mama. Today our participants share their decisions on family size and whether or not to grow their families. Please read to the end to find a list of links to the other carnival participants.
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There has always always been only one consideration in our family when it comes to adding another child:  Do we want to?

And the answer has always been a resounding YES.

We operate on the theory that more love is better than less and that no child of ours will ever have a reason to wish he or she had never been born.  We have embraced the spiritual concept of Abundance;  we believe that our needs will always be met, that our hearts will always be full of love and that we are capable of handling whatever comes our way.

I love being the mother of 4 children, and I look forward to being the mother of more.  I love everything about conception (blush), pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding.  I feel confident that my body can continue to grow and nourish more babes.  I want another baby and the day is coming when another one will join our family.

New Parents!  Baby Anna, 2 weeks old, May 2004

One day old baby Holly with 20 month old Anna

Jasmine, 2 weeks old, January 2008

The older, wiser parents with Julian, 6 days old, July 2010

Would you believe me if I tell you that the more babies I have, the easier it gets?  The more I get into my groove as a mother, the more confident I feel that I could keep adding to our family until my time runs out.  Umm, that's my fertility, not my life! The excitement and anticipation involved in pregnancy is by far the most fun I've ever had.  The thrill of creating a new person and then getting to live in a deeply connected relationship with that person and getting to find out all the nuances of his or her uniqueness--Oh, the joy!  I get a rush of pleasure just thinking about it.

Are you waiting for the drum roll and the announcement that Baby #5 is on the way?  Alas, not this year.  And not even next year.  Beginning in 2014 we are planning on travelling for 14 months and we have decided that we don't want to do it with a toddler or baby.  So although it seems like EONS from now, we have decided not to grow our family until 2015.  And since I'm not getting any younger, we'll just have to see what happens from there!
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Visit City Kids Homeschooling and Jazzy Mama to find out how you can participate in the next Family Size Blog Carnival!
Please take some time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants below:

• The Perfect Family The family at Living Peacefully With Children isn't perfect, but the size is just right for them...at least for now.
• Family Size Carnival Zoie at TouchstoneZ discusses how she loves the extremes of being happily child-free for life to being a mom of several. And on knowing when her family is just the right size.
• Is Adoption for Me? Christine at African Babies Don't Cry shares why she would consider adoption as the socially responsible way to have a large family.
• Getting Used to Having Kids Lauren at Hobo Mama went from "probably one, maybe two" to wanting a handful, but not without some major struggles and soul searching along the way.
• Magic Number For a while, Phoebe at Little Tinker Tales has wondered what the magic number will be for their family, but now thinks she's finally settled on an answer.
• How Did You Get That Size Jorje explains how she "chose" her family size and why they aren't planning to grow again on Momma Jorje.com.
• Family Size On A Per Kid Basis Sarah at Parenting God's Children shares how plans change as families grow.
• More Babies: How, When, Why Joella at Fine and Fair writes to her daughter about when, how, and why she might get a sibling.
• Family Size Kelly at Becoming Crunchy shares how she has no idea what size her family will end up being; though she used to be sure, a few factors have recently come up to change everything.
• Thy Will Be Done CatholicMommy hasn't decided how many children she'll have. And she never will. Because, you know, she's Catholic.
• Sanity and Health Kat at Loving {Almost} Every Moment talks about sanity and health considerations when deciding on her family's size.
• Love Comes In All Sizes Melissa at Mothers of Change shares her family's journey to becoming a family of six!
• Family Size Liz at Homeschooling in Buffalo discusses how this carnival occurs less than two weeks after "closing up shop" by way of vasectomy.
• Family Size Blog Carnival Billy, a single mother by choice, writes about the size of her family at My Pathway to Motherhood.
• Creating Your Perfect Family Size Dr. Alan Singer shares insights from his new book, Creating Your Perfect Family Size.
• Our Family Size You might not be surprised to learn that Patti at Jazzy Mama can't find any reasons NOT to have more babies.
• Economics of Family Size Kerry at City Kids Homeschooling uses an economic cost-benefit analysis to determine her family's optimal size.