Decisions, Decisions

I have finally come to terms with the fact that we won't be having any more babies. Don't get me wrong - I love my kids, and am not wishing my time away, but I always thought I would have 3 or 4 kids. However, a string of bad decisions and bad luck financially has meant we can't really afford to have more - or at least, by the time we can, we will be ready for the next stage of vacationing with our kids, and enjoying raising them instead of having them. I am not totally at peace with the decision - as in, we will not do anything permanent about it for a few more years, but we are selling all the baby stuff we are done with (I justify it with the fact that I can always repurchase the items if we do have another one down the road). Another decision we have come to, is to convert our dining room back into a bedroom, giving each kid their own room. This will buy some more time in the house before we need a new one, and may help us sell it if this area continues to attract more student rentals. We hope to begin renovations this summer and be done by the fall. Expect to see before and after pictures. I must admit, it does feel good to have made those decisions, because it means we have a plan for moving forward - and we can start selling the baby stuff and other furniture we won't be using in this house (and would be okay not having in the next house - or don't want to store until that unknown time). I am excited to purge, clean out the basement, reclaim that space, and organize it! And by converting the dining room, we will need to redecorate the living room (which will then become the living/dining room), and I am excited about that. I have the whole thing planned out in my head - now we just need to save for it because I refuse to put it on credit. No more buying things we can't pay cash for.