Two, Four, Six...Eight?

Do you recognize this house? If so, you must have cable! If you happen to have $325,000 USD handy, its yours! Its located in beautiful Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. It offers you a mere 3446 sq. ft., 5 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, covered deck, and two sets of Whirlpool washers and dryers...

Say what?

Yup, if you didn't already know, this is the former home of Jon & Kate. Jon & Kate Plus 8, that is. That's a reality show about a family with a set of fraternal twins, and fraternal sextuplets. Now I'm not really an avid watcher of the show (we have Peasant Cable, AKA rabbit ears), but I have seen a few episodes when visiting those lucky few who do have cable.

Those kids have captured the hearts of America with their adorable little faces, and I think ultimately, people are just dying to know how a person stays sane with EIGHT kids! One of the few shows I watched was on potty training. So they had three of the little girls learning, with all of their little potty's side by side. Fairly adorable.

The sad part is all of these infidelity rumours lately. I personally don't get how you even have time to have an affair when you have 8 kids, but that's just me! I have no idea what's true and what's not, but I don't get why people who are on the brink of divorce buy a $1.35 million home. Now if you want to read the specs of that one, check this out! I mean, at a measly 6,200 sq. ft, how on earth will these people get by? ;)

So I figure if I'm going by Jon & Kate's standards, with two kids, we should be living in a 1,723 sq. ft. home. I guess if we finish our basement we'd be in the 1,500 sq. ft. range. So still just a touch shy. But just think, once we hit the 10 kid mark, we get to be in the 7,500 sq. ft. range. We'd have to have 14.5 children to reach the 10,000 sq. ft. mark. Hmm, maybe I'm onto something...I'll have to propose that one to Rob when he gets home!

Speaking of that bit. The decision. Yes, yes, you know the one. How many kids to have? "The decision" starts out like this...

"Who are you going to date?"
"Is he/she the one?"
"When will he propose?"
"When will you get married?"
"Where will your honeymoon be?"
"Where are we going to live?"
"When should we start having kids?"
"When should we stop?" Or for some..."Do we ever stop?"

We are working on the last question on the list. Definitely not leaning towards the never stopping end (just to clarify!). I think we are coming to the conclusion that we will stop at two kids. A highly personal decision, and one that I can't really get all technical with, but for us, for now, it works. Some people whip out 15 bible verses and 10 pages of statistics on why they are having "x" amount of kids. Hmm. Yeah, there are definitely opinionated people about this very subject. I'm of the mind its up to each family, for each family's very personal and private reasons. I don't really see there being a blanket answer for each and every family. Although I may not necessarily agree with "OctoMom's" decision...sigh...

We hope to adopt one day, ideally a sibling group (2-3 kids). I'm thinking a few more years down the road. I was adopted, so I obviously am in favour of it. Rob also has a heart for adoption. During my time working in Foster Care I saw numerous sibling groups needing a home. An unbelievable amount. So I really can't say adopting is for everyone, but if I'm going to be as so bold to say anything about procreation, I would say that maybe people should stop and consider adopting in order to achieve their highly desired number of children. Give those kids a forever home. Because, sadly, many of them, if not most, will never have that.

I feel very blessed to have been able to have two children of my own. That too is a gift some people will never get to experience. And one that I do not take lightly. I have known many people who have felt the grief of infertility, and repeated miscarriages. When I stop and think of how incredible a task childbearing, and ultimately child-raising is, it boggles my mind. I mean, me? Seriously now. Some days I still feel like a child myself! And probably act like one someday's too!

Part of me hates the idea of stopping, but another part of me embraces it. Don't get me wrong. I love my kids. But I'm also not one of those women...oh yes, you know the ones! Back in her pre-pregnancy pants on the way out of the hospital, hair done, nails manicured, little row of obedient children following along behind.

"Oh, I just love being pregnant. Its like the greatest thing ever. Oh, and that giving birth bit - just LOVE IT!"

Yeah, no. Not me. I am completely amazed at God's creation and our ability to procreate, but I mean, there has to be a better way. Seriously, why couldn't the boy be the one carrying the baby, or heck, nursing. I'd happily share!

So for now, I don't see us topping Jon & Kate's numbers. Although I'd gladly take their old house! Think of all the garage sale fabulousness I could squeeze into that "little" number!!!