I, for one, am delighted that the Brangelina twins have arrived, and mom and babies are well. The birth certificates show that Knox Leon was born at 6:27 p.m. and his sister Vivienne Marcheline a minute later. Knox weighed in at slightly over 5 pounds, and Vivienne weighed 5 pounds.

Darryn Lyons, owner of Big Pictures, a celebrity photo agency in London, estimated that the twins’ official photos will be worth between $15 million and $20 million. “I’ve never known a set of pictures to be worth this amount of money,” he said. The only other photos that “would possibly come that close is Britney Spears giving birth to an alien,” he said.

What $15 million can buy [Numbers are approximates based on average cost]:

— 6,912,442 dozen grade A eggs
— 5,016,722 Big Macs
— 3,713,790 gallons of gas
— 1,153,846 packs of Pampers diapers
— 75,000 iPhone 3Gs
— 67,567 years of Netflix
— 12,500 37″ flat-screen LCD TVs
— 8,333 bullet-proof vests
— 4,838,710 tall lattes
— 882 2008 Honda Civics
— 115 4-year Harvard degrees
(Note: When daughter Shiloh was born, the press paid $1.4 million for photos of her, and the money was donated to charity. It’s expected that Brad and Angelina will also donate to charity whatever big bucks the twins can garner.)
Since women have been giving birth to twins since at least Esau and Jacob, and even I managed to birth twins (for the record, not by C-section, and the girls weighed 6 pounds and 6.5 pounds–try THAT for labor Angelina), and lately women have been delivering babies in groups ranging from three to nine, what’s the world finding so enthralling here?
Angelina’s doctor reported that as she was giving birth to what’s been called the most famous babies in the world,she was “speaking and laughing with her husband.” Hmmm. Does the doctor have information not yet provided to the hoi polloi? If not, then I’m also befuddled as to the fascination with the babies-both by birth and adoption-of a couple who’ve yet to give birth to a marriage.
Maybe focusing on Hollywood royalty and their baby bumps distracts us from presidential races, genocide in the Sudan, rising gas prices, Iraq, layoffs, off-shore drilling, stock prices…you know, life.
Provided for your amusement:

FROM BABY CHIC 101: Team Jolie-Pitt spent more than $140,000 on organza bassinets ($800), versailles cribs ($3200) with matching changing tables ($2800) and armoires ($4500), silk gliders and they even installed two crystal chandeliers  at a cost of $899 each. But they bought basics, too - - lots of cashmere toys and organic items. It took a team of three people from Petit Tresor to assemble the nursery.

(Note from me: These aren’t necessarily the exact items; they’re the ones I found closest in price. The cashmere toys are not pictured. Darn.)