I'm Living the Life I Imagined

A few months ago I shared that I think it's important to listen to the words of Thoreau and live the life you have imagined. While I don't know what Thoreau had in mind when he uttered those profound words, I know I always imagined being part of a big family. And since fate would have it and I am an only child, I knew I had to make that large family myself . . . well, with my hubby's help of course!

However, after giving birth to two beautiful girls, the life I imagined and the life I knew diverged and I took the road more traveled. Sorry Mr. Frost! But after a combined total of 96 hours of labor, umpteen ounces of pitocin and an epidural that went in like a sledgehammer hitting an ice pick, I decided two kids were enough. After being enveloped in the chaos that is raising kids, I decided two kids were more than enough!

Six years later, I changed my mind. Not because my hubby and I weren't completely thrilled and content with our two daughters, but because we wanted to live the life we imagined when we were dating. We imagined having four kids.

So seven years after our second child was born we welcomed our third daughter to the family! And the life we lived blossomed and the life we imagined drew nearer.

But of course we couldn't stop with just three! Even though three kids can definitely be considered a "large family," we wanted our third child to have a sibling close in age so she wouldn't feel like an only child when her older sisters moved out. (Sniff. Sniff.) And again, we imagined having four kids!

And now we do. I'm pregnant with our fourth child . . . our last child . . . our life as we imagined child.