Happy Birthday!

Today is Brittany's (the oldest) 12th birthday. We had a birthday pool party at a friend's house. It turned out great. I only had to bring hot dogs and treat bags. It was a good time for her since she'd never had a pool party before. Tthere were 27 people. She was all excited. So, later her dad taught her to play Solitaire and then we played Scrabble. (She loves games.) Anyway, it was an all around neat day.

How We Got 7 Babies.....

I was just talking with a friend recently about the McCaughey's who had the septuplets about 10 years ago. It really is a miracle that they all survived and are doing well. We have 7 children, and didn't get them all at once. But it is still really almost a miracle that we have them. When I was growing up, I decided that I didn't want any kids. None. They were somewhat annoying and would definately get in the way of my dreams of exciting careers. Kids- no thank you. But I met David when I had just turned 19 and soon and very unexpectedly became pregnant. Talk about devestation. I thought my life was over!
I was in denial for a while, then almost depressed, but after a few months I began to think that maybe- just maybe- this wasn't the complete end of my life. David was stationed in the Marine Corps in Hawaii while I was back in Alabama. (I'll post that story another day.) We got married and things began to look up. After Brittany was born I began to think that maybe this baby thing wasn't so bad after all. I became a Christian when Brittany was just a couple months old. When Brittany was a year old, I thought maybe one more would be okay, and nine months later we had a Tyler. We thought maybe we'd have another in the future, but no big rush. About a year later we moved and started attending a church with some awesome Biblical teaching. The pastor's wife encouraged me to simply trust God for what he had planned for us. Hmmm. Interesting concept.
So, I really prayed and felt the Lord wanted to show me he was really the One in control. So along came a Timothy, then 19 months later a Bethany and 13 months later a Brooke. Then about 20 months later along came a Tristan and 24 months later a Thomas. People keep asking if we will have more. And the answer is "Yes. If the Lord gives more, we will take more." No, I am not Catholic, crazy or brave. No, I am not super organized, have easy pregnancies, or supermom. I have just allowed the Lord to give me what he wanted me to receive. He, thankfully, gave me what he wanted me to have, not what I thought I wanted. It has been hard work being pregnant and delivering 7 times. There is a lot of cleaning, cooking, disciplining, sleepless nights, throwing up, laundry, bills, organizing, homeschooling, dirty diapers, and the list goes on. But it is only through the infinite grace of God displayed in my life that I have 7 precious children -and lived to tell about it. :)

Where is Courtney Lane?

Courtney Lane is actually the name of the little country road that I lived on as a child. It cuts through land that has been in our family for generations in Alabama. So, you're thinking, "You were named after a road? Coincidence?" Neither. About 18 years ago, the county instilled it's emergency response system and wanted to name all streets which had previously been noted as rural routes. My grandfather was in charge of naming our road and he very lovingly named it after little old me! So there you have it. By the way, it is my grandmother's birthday today. She passed away the year before the naming of the road.