Is my marriage in trouble?

Ok here it goes...I have been married eight years and have 2 daughters, one that turns 4 soon and an 18 month old. My story isnt special or unlike many others. I would classify my wife and I in a sexless marriage. We have had sex 3 times in 2013. Some of you will think he is making this all about sex but its about more that to me. It is about the deeper emotional connection I feel through sex and non-intimate touch. She rarely initiates hugs, kisses, I love you's etc... I tell her my needs are important but there is always excuses of all you ever want is sex. Now I have experienced some dry spells and have felt like I have been patient. I say this because we had trouble conceiving with our first daughter(nearly 14 months) so there was a lot of sex then. Its been all down hill since, she didnt want to have sex during pregnancy, I respected that. Then the built in excuses of having young children have come. So since first child was conceived in Nov 2008 we have had sex probably around 1o times. I have started to withdraw a lot more lately especially after reading more about our issues online. Another problem we have is all through dating and married life I have been the initiator. She has initiated maybe 10 times and NEVER been turned down. I have got to the point of why try because I feel like I will always get rejected. The rejection/resntment/anger/sadness has really started to take a toll. She doesnt know what it feels like to be rejected time and time again. I would not wish that upon anyone. On the other hand she is my best friend in the world. We do almost everything together. Its almost as if we are best friends without benefits that live together...harsh I know. But I feel this way a lot. I would say the main issues in our relationship are the sex one obviously, her neglecting me for the children...sometimes I feel like she treats me like the third child. I have told her numerous times I am a big boy I can take care of myself. Also, I have realized(mainly through reading on here I need to be more assertive). I find this hard in the bedroom after years of being rejected. I see a lot of people say dont stay in sexless marriages because they dont get better. Even our friends have started to notice the toll this is taking on our marriage. It would be hard to wake up and not see my daughters everyday though. At the same time I dont want them to think its okay to live in a marriage like this, I want to set a good example for them. Thoughts? Questions? Advice?

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