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ALBERTVILLE, Ala. – A Marshall County family is embarking on a journey in life they never thought they would experience.

Eric and Courtney Waldrop have been together since the eighth grade. They got married in 2004 and they always wanted a family. “I knew I wanted a houseful,” Courtney said.

A few years later, the couple welcomed their first child. “Then we had our twins in 2012,” Courtney added.  Now their house is full of the sound of nine little blessings.

They’ve been through every emotion you can imagine, but with their community behind them and their faith in front of them, they’re ready to take it on.

The Waldrop sextuplets are the first to be born in Alabama since 2011. The staff of Huntsville Hospital had to gather equipment, prepare the blood bank and used mock drills to practice for the delivery. A team of 40 people, from different departments, waited for the alert of a code six, named for the six babies. Each baby had its own team of staff and its own team color.

They used the ROY G. BIV (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet) color order of the rainbow. Each baby was assigned a color according to the order they were born.

When it came to naming the babies, Courtney says it was important to give the babies names that were as unique and special as they are. The three boys are named, Blu, Layke, and Tag, and the three girls, Rawlings, Rayne, and Rivers,

The sextuplets will join their three other sons, 8-year-old Sailor, and 5-year-old twins, Bridge and Wales.

The process of family portraits can be daunting, but imagine the process of a photo shoot for eleven. Photographer Ashely Sargent says that she and Courtney started preparing for the first photo shoot months in advance.

Sargent says she surprised their mommy with a custom one-of-a-kind bed donated by Jennley Studio Props in Ohio. Precious little hats were crafted for the occasion by KNOTS.

Sargent’s team carried out the photo shoot in just under three hours from the time they wrapped the first little bundle of joy to the final shots of the sextuplets with their older brothers. “Bless their hearts, this was the last photo of the day and the big brothers were super tired as were the babies. But… they NAILED it and were troopers!” Sargent posted on Facebook.

“So many prayers had gone into Courtney and these beautiful babies,” said Sargent. “So much uncertainty and anxiousness… so to see them in my arms and the babies perfectly healthy is just proof that God is good.”