Mother by Numbers

   I was recently asked by a random new mom in line at the grocery store how I made it with twin babies. People say this to me all the time. They say things like, "I can barely manage my ONE child, I couldn't imagine having 2 at the same time." I felt the same way when I found out I was having twins. You can ask my mom, I actually hyperventilated! no joke. I think God really won't give you something he knows you can't handle. That is the cliche answer that I usually give when asked this question, but this time I said the first thing that came to my mind. I told that new mom that parenting is like a color by number activity. You kind of know how it's going to turn out in the beginning, but the more you color, the more beautiful it becomes and the more sure you are that it is what you thought it was in the beginning. I don't know if she understood where I was going with that or not, but it makes a lot of sense to me. I don't know if I'm always doing the right things as a mom or not, but the older my girls get and the more they grow and learn, the more confident I become. 

   In the car on the way home that day I thought about what I had said to that woman. I thought about it literally. Like, if I had to put my motherhood experience thus far into numbers what would they look like. And I came up with this...

1- the number of babies I prepared myself for the first time I found out I was going to be a mom.

2- the number of babies I ended up with the first time I found out I was going to be a mom.

3- beautiful girls I'm currently raising.

4- the amount of hours it takes to clean a room shared by two tween girls. ugh, so gross!!

5- the date on the calendar when all of my kids were born. 9/5/03 & 11/5/08

6-  years Maizy Kate has been on this Earth, testing my patience and gaining 1.6 freckles a day.

7- times I hit the snooze button on Monday mornings.

8- years I got to be a stay at home mom.

9- the number of Capri Suns Maizy can drink in a single day if I let her.

10- the absolute latest I can stay up at night in order to function the next morning. 10:00pm, that is sad.

11- my big girls. 11 years old going on 18.

12- years I have been married. 12 years ago my family began to exist.

13- times I have seen the Austin & Ally episode where Trish and Dez dress up like Zayliens. (if you know what this means, you've seen too much Disney Channel in the last year also.)

14- the record number of minutes that has gone by without anyone saying "MOMMY!" between the hours of 4pm and 6pm on a week night.

15- slices of bread my family can go through in a day. 

16- red lipsticks Maizy has collected and stashed in a purse under her pillow, and she thinks I don't know.

17- basketballs in my house right now. Why? I have no idea.

18- times I have to say "go to bed!" every night before my kids start actually moving toward their rooms.

19- socks that are missing their mates in Maizy's dresser at this very moment. Where is that black hole?!

20 x infinity- the amount that Maizy says she loves me. And the amount that I love her and the big

girls. 

   Your numbers might look different, but when your picture is all colored in, I bet it's the same kind of beautiful.