Five Hundred Twenty Five Thousand Six Hundred Diapers

If you are familiar with the theme song from Rent, you will understand the title of this blog.  It is a song that questions how you measure a year in your life.  Prior to having children, I probably would have measured my life in paychecks, compliments from my employer, and drunken outings with my friends and husband.

Now that I am a mother of two under the age of two, my life is measured in love...like the song references.  My love is demonstrated through a lot of things (that aren't always glamorous) - sloppy kisses, baths, spit-ups, and time-outs...just to name a few.

I have decided to answer the question, "How do you measure a year in the life?"  Today I made a point to talley the ways I measure my life - in paper towels, diaper changes, bottles, and trips up and down the stairs.  If every day were like today, this would be an accurate measure of a year in my life:

Paper Towels: 2,555 per year
Diaper Changes: 3,650 per year
Bottles: 2,920 per year
Trips up and down the Stairs: 6,935 per year

It's true.  I went up and down the stairs 19 times today - sometimes carrying my 31 pound boy and 16 pound girl at the same time.  Most days I am physically and mentally exhausted from the above stats.  However,  I think being a mother has helped me to measure my life in more important things than income.  Thank you to my babies for making diaper changes and bottles my new currency.  It's a dirty job, but somebody's got to do it.  I'm glad it's me.

Ephram, Derrick, and Melissa

The five people who read my blog have already heard this story.  I apologize for repeating it, but it is too weird not to write about.

Last Thursday, my mom and I took little Ethan for a very healthy lunch at McDonald's.  He was more interested in the play land than the food.  As I stood there watching my son become best friends with a five year old named Dillon, another little guy joined the mix.  He was the exact height as Ethan and immediately walked up to Little Ethan and "tickle tickled".  Anyone who know my little guy knows that he is obsessed with walking up to people and tickling them while saying "tickle tickle".  The new toddler's dad walked up next to me and I asked how old his son was.  As it turned out, Little Ephram was born 8 days before Little Ethan.  I'm fairly certain that Little Ethan is the Caucasian version of Little Ephram.

That night, Big Ethan and I headed out for Japanese food.  Ephram and Eliza...I mean Ethan and Eliza were at Zannie and Sampa's house when we were on our date.  We sat at a table with another couple and their two children.  We talked to the couple all through dinner.  Their children were two months older than our children - same age gap between them.  When dinner ended, we shared our contact information and asked each other's names.  The couple that we had been talking to all night were named Derrick and Melissa (a creepy resemblance to my in-laws' names - Eric and Melissa).

I guess the moral of this story is that when you feel alone, there are people out there that are living very similar and creepily parallel lives to your own.  The other moral is, if God comes to you in a dream and tells you to name your son Ephram, you do it....that's what Ephram's dad taught me.