Seventeen!

Today my baby is 17! Wow! Shelbi is the youngest of six girls and the only one my husband, Larry, and I have together. When we married, we had five daughters by our first marriages. Larry and I decided we wanted ONE child together. Of course, with five girls, we were hoping for a boy. LOL I asked God for twin boys (figured an only boy after 5 girls would need a buddy.) Shelbi was born three days after our second anniversary. We fell in love with this dimpled, little clone of my husband. Her middle name is Layne. That is a combination of Larry's and my middle names--- Wayne and Lynn. This little baby (little? yeah right, 8# 15 oz!) became the center of our family. After all, she's the only one of the eight of us that is related biologically to ALL of us. The jealousy involved any time you bring a new baby home, paled in comparison to how much the other kids loved her. I don't think she could have been loved more if she had been twins. We were blessed! She has been such a joy, too. Well, after she outgrew colic. =)
Shelbi is a great teenager! How many parents can say that?! Honestly, I mean.

The most important thing is that she is a Christian! =)

On top of that, she's almost always on the Honor Roll. So far, only one "C" on her entire high school transcript! Yay for smart girls!

I can trust Shelbi to do the right thing. Unlike many other girls her age, she dresses modestly and is praying for God to show her the person she is supposed to marry. She has committed herself to waiting on Him (and him) and not date until that time. That amazes me!

She's compassionate and loyal to the ones she loves. She loves God, her family, and her friends wholeheartedly. Her nieces and nephews are crazy about her (especially Harlee) and vice versa.

She absolutely adores babies (any baby) and wants to be a NICU nurse one day. Seeing our pastor's 2 lb. preemie granddaughter in the NICU last year really reinforced what she believes her calling is.

This past year brought a LOT of firsts in Shelbi's life. Shelbi got her first stitches from a fall with a friend. Somehow, she and her best friend thought duct taping themselves to each other back to back would be funny! We spent a couple of hours in the ER getting stitches in the side of her head. Not so funny to me!

She had her first surgery (gall bladder) last September while we were vacationing in Memphis.


After struggling with Selective Mutism for years, she has established several new friendships and participated in family gatherings in ways she hadn't been able to before. She even gave her first ever on stage performance during a youth revival (video on blog titled "I Believe in Miracles" and the next night gave her testimony. So brave!


She watched a baby (Leon) being born! Again, a brave thing for an almost seventeen year old that's never had one of her own. Thank God! LOL


One of her best friends had a baby in March and Shelbi got her first namesake! Guess it's a good thing her middle name is unisex, because little Brayden Layne is a boy!


She got her driver's permit. Then got her license last month! (No picture of that-- too much info on it!)


A couple of weeks ago, she was allowed to go out of town with a friend and no adult chaperone. (It was just a day trip, people!)

It's been a busy and exciting year!

Happy 17th Birthday, Shelbi Layne!

You'll ALWAYS be our BABY!

With all of our love,

Momma and Daddy

We can't wait for the rest of the story!