Oh baby ?!?

Whew - not just yet.  But DH and I are talking about when to have baby #2.  We had discussed having our kids around two years apart before we got pregnant with DD.  That pregnancy seemed to last FOREVER, but now that she's here, the time has been flying.  I can't believe we are already making plans for baby #2.  It seems so soon!

There are some things we need to take care of before we can have another child.  First of all, our insurance has changed drastically.  It is going to cost us $5,000-10,000 to have another child.  Ideally I would want to have that amount in an HSA before we conceived. 

Another big issue is our current home.  While we could probably fit two kids into the space we have now, it would be TIGHT.  The house right now is a 2br 1,000 sq ft place that's the size of most apartments.  We also want to be in a more family-friendly neighborhood than our current one is.  This is not a place where DD can go play outside due to the busy street we live on. 

The final issue is our current level of debt.  We need to pay down the debt to free up enough money to pay for daycare if DH's income has not yet risen to the level where I can quit work or drop down to PT.  A good portion of that should be gone this year, but we need to continue to keep our eyes on our goal and not let ourselves adjust our spending upward as DH starts to bring in more income.

As a planner, I love talking these things through with my husband and setting up goals for our family.  It helps me to have a timeline and a specific goal to keep in mind so I can consciously make steps to bring us closer to that goal.