The Third Child Dilemna

Inspired by our new DS blogs, I thought I'd write about a topic on my mind at the moment...whether to have a 3rd child or not. Our kids are now almost 6 and 3.5, and the window for us to have another kid, if we want to, is rapidly closing. I've always been somewhat set against the idea, for two reasons: a) I'm selfish. I love my kids and I give so much to them, so much that I find myself exhausted at the end of the day. I have mentally accepted the fact that I will give much of my waking hours to these kids for as long as they want it, and I often make choices based on their needs versus my own. All that said, I think of the day that my son enters college and my wife and I, at not too old of an age, can begin to do many of the things that having a child at home prevents. If we have another kid, that pushes that date back another 6 years or so...that's a long time.  b) I want to do more with less, rather than less with more. I want to have an intimate relationship with each of my kids, and I find that challenging when another person is thrown into the mix. Knowing their friends and teachers, or even simply attending 3 soccer games in a weekend - these things get harder when you've got 3 kids to know and love deeply. Is it impossible? Of course not. But I strive to find quality time with my kids, and it's already hard enough as a working dad to get those precious hours. I fear that splitting our family's time even further will push us into more of a logistical role and chaos than I'd like. There are other reasons as well, such as the cost of raising children, but it's the above two that have been on my mind. Now that said, I can appreciate the appeal of having a 3rd kid. I caught myself looking at old baby pix of our daughter just the other day, and yeah, the nostalgia can be tempting. Like any parent, I can feel our older child starting to become quite independent (although she still won't get out of her own bed in the morning), and we've probably got just a few more years before her friends become the center of her world.  My wife wants a 3rd, and I can understand where she comes from. Ultimately, I don't think there's an absolute answer here. Many folks pull from their own experience - my wife was an only child, so I think she's got romantic visions of a big family. I'm from a family of 2 kids, and it seemed to work for me and my sister...I see friends of all shapes and sizes, and of course, they all seem happy (minus the first 6 months of babyhood - that sucks no matter how you slice it). Your thoughts?