party of 5

Yesterday I was glancing at a registration card Michael had filled out for a computer product he had bought, and one of the questions it asked for demographic purposes was about the number of people in his household. Next to that question he had written the number "5"...my initial reaction was something like, "Five?? Why would he put five? Is he trying to mess with their statistical data or something?" Until it finally dawned on me that, although the child in my womb doesn't technically count under that statistic, for all intents and purposes we do have 5 people living in our house. It was lucky I was standing next to a chair because I had to sit down. Just a few years ago (5, actually) we were getting married and it was just the 2 of us. And just barely before that I was a party of one, living a missionary life. And before that I was part of a large household, but no one I was related to because they were roommates in college. And just a few years before that I was living in my own household with my parents and we were a family of seven. SEVEN. That was a full-fledged, full-of-bodies, sometimes-too-many-people household, from my point of view as a child. And suddenly within 5 years of marriage I find myself TWO PEOPLE AWAY from that demographic!

I think I need to go lie down with a cold rag on my head. Please wake me in 30 years when they're all grown up.

*(Although I've learned more in the last few months that a parent's work is NEVER done, you don't ever stop worrying about or doing things for your children, and sometimes you find the need to sacrifice things for them, even when they are adults. Sorry, mom & dad, if you didn't know what you were getting yourselves into when you started having kids 40 years ago. Thanks for sticking with all of us anyway. We love you.)

But I'm afraid that before I know it, my family will have gone from something like this: (the Snows, circa 20 years ago)


To something like this: (the Snows, 3 years ago)


Yikes..................

Bring it on.