My Journey Into Motherhood

      As I told you in my last post we are a large family of 8. I thought I would share a bit about our family. As a girl growing up I always thought I would like to have a large family. I would even say I wanted 4 to 6 kids. Of course people would just laugh at me, but from the time I was a young girl I loved children, especially babies (I still do).  Fast forward a few years  until I met my soul mate. The man that God created me for. (Did you catch that?) I said "the man God created me for". You see the Bible tells us that Eve was created as a helpmate to Adam. She was created to help him, to be his companion.

Anywhoo...  As I said I met the LOVE of my Life, Dennis, or as I refer to him my Hunky Hubbs, in High school. I was 16 he was 18.

(I think this pic was about Christmas 1995?)

                                                     
 Aaahhh, young love :D   We were married in 1996 and Baby #1, Noah, came along two years after we tied the knot.

 

(Noah's 1st Easter. He had just learned to sit alone)

      

We spoiled him mercilessly... I think we still do :D
Three years later and born on her brothers birthday our beautiful princess Megan-Ann made her appearance.

 (the day of Megan-Ann's dedication)

  We were so happy and felt so blessed by God. But soon I would face a difficult time in my life.

 When Megan-Ann was 15 months old I found out very unexpectedly that I was pregnant again. Sadly, that pregnancy ended too soon due to it being an ectopic pregnancy. That my friends is a very long and sad story to tell at another time. It took a long time for me to be able to conceive after that ectopic pregnancy. The precious baby had grew too large and tore through my left  Fallopian tube destroying it. The surgery left me scarred inside. I was told I might never have any more children and I should feel blessed because of the 2 that I did have. But, I felt empty. I wanted more children. I prayed and prayed and sought God. 

Four incredibly long years later our precious Declan was born! PRAISE GOD!!!! You know that story in the  Bible when Hannah petitioned the Lord for a baby and then God finally opened her womb and blessed her with Samuel and she gave him back to God saying "For this boy I prayed, and the LORD has given me my petition which I asked of Him. So I have also dedicated him to the LORD; as long as he lives he is dedicated to the LORD." Let me tell you I could relate to Hannah. 

(Declan spring 2013)

I feel Declan has a special call on his life. Even his name means A MAN OF PRAYER. He is going to be our evangelist, I just know it! :D

When Declan was 3 we felt the call to become Foster Parents. Our first placement was a young girl that was only with us for 3 months. Our second placement was a brother and sister duo. Devin was 9 and Kayleigh had just turned 2. That was a BIG adjustment going from 3 to 5 kids. Whew!!! 

In 2009 Teagan was born. God is so faithful!!!
 

         (pics were taken at Teagan's dedication)

He is our little red-headed tyrant!! LOL!!! He is all boy let me tell you!!!  

We had the privilege in making Devin and Kayleigh a permanent part of our family. They were adopted in September 2011.

(the day we all became one BIG happy forever family)

So there you have it. The story of our 6 kids.... What a crazy ride we have been on. Everyday is filled to the brim with chaos, love and laughter . These kiddos are loud and crazy, but I would not trade a single moment in time that I have spent being their Mother!!! They make me a better person.

(my crazy kiddo's celebrating Kayleigh's 7th birthday)

I'm glad you came with me on my little journey down Memory Lane. I'll be discussing our homeschool plan next time.

Blessings,
Amy