Saturday, January 7, 2012

Hello!

Well, with the much needed help of some beloved sisters, I've finally done it! I've created a blog. I do believe I am one in a small handful of others who have not already accomplished this great task!

Why a blog? I guess I feel like life is going by so quickly. I'm a 43 year old mother of nine, who can't even remember my own name on some days. There are so many wonderful moments that happen in my every day life, and I guess I don't want to forget them. In a home of this many children, life is constantly throwing exciting new things at you, and in spite of all the chaos, I want to remember how very special my life is.

So...
Nine A Plenty.

A little history on my life. After trying for 10+ years of fertility treatments, I had the amazing blessing of adopting my sweet and very special Keely. She was 15 months old at the time and was my whole world. I always knew that I would love easily, but was surprised by the instant power of the love I felt for her. It was overwhelming. And my life of nine began.

After a heartbreaking divorce, I met Ricky. He had 6 absolutely darling kids that he was raising, and in a whirlwind of craziness, we decided to join forces! He informed me that he felt like he was done having kids, and I told him, "That's great! Because I couldn't help you if you weren't!" We thought seven was GREAT! So our blended family fun began.

One month after getting married, I started feeling really crummy. Eventually I took a pregnancy test, then ended up sitting on the edge of the bathtub looking at the results...POSITIVE. There's no way to describe my thoughts and feelings at that moment. I had fought so hard to be ok with the fact that I would never physically give birth to children of my own. There had been so much heartache and despair that I had worked through. And now I had 7! I thought life was complete. But...SURPRISE! I was pregnant and 9 months later, Luke entered the world and changed all of our lives. Our little bundle of joy was our greatest miracle. He healed hearts, he connected us all to each other and helped us to all feel like a family. So EIGHT! Eight was ENOUGH! We were busting at the seams in our home, but felt so happy and blessed.

Another surprise pregnancy ended in a very painful miscarriage. But EIGHT was still wonderful and was certainly still enough.

After a yard sale where all things relating to pregnancy and babies was sold...ANOTHER surprise pregnancy. I couldn't believe it. Nine months later, Lucy entered the world and again a little tiny baby changed our lives. She has been such a joyful little cutie. She is number NINE, and nine really is plenty.

Our family is not your typical family. We are blended. We have kids who struggle daily to deal with the effects of divorce. But, we have worked really hard to build a family that is strong, a family who loves one another, and a family who makes the best of what we have. And the best is pretty darn good.

So, that's my life in a nutshell. I love my nine. I have only given birth to two of them, but I love the other seven as my own. They are my greatest joy. And they are mine.

Nine a plenty...here we go.

7 comments:

Unknown said...

Yay, I love that you have a blog! I can't believe you have 9 children. Do you remember girls camp and both of us looking at those beautiful girls and thinking we would never have one. We both adopted and then surprise pregnancy. Wow!!!

Heidi's Heartland said...

I have always loved you "RONNIE" since those wonderful girl camp days and I have watched you grow, feel sorrow, have trials and now this blog makes me happy - because you are doing great and I love you all the more!

Love ya!

Melissa Jones said...

Who better to do this than you!!!!! Im so happy you did it!!!! I love you my friend!!

Brian, Paula, and Niko said...

I love it! You are truly blessed m'friend! I'm looking forward to hearing your stories!

Judie and George said...

Your posts make me smile. Happiness is a wonderful thing.

Laura said...

Love your blog. I didn't know your story. That is so amazing! Your family is so sweet!

Liz said...

Hey Ronnie, I just read this story and it brought me to tears. It really hit home for me. My husband and I will soon be going on 4 years of infertility. We have done various treatments including in vitro. No luck. I am so happy that your life is full now. You deserve all the happiness that is available out there. And you are a great person to help those kids through the trials that divorce brings. I know, because you helped Sariah and I so much! We still talk about you and how awesome you were. You helped us forget our troubles at home when you would hang out with us. You also helped us to hang on to the few shreds of self confidence we had, which has luckily grown a lot. Thanks for your story. It helps me to keep on hanging on! Love you!

Post a Comment