When you’ve got nine kids, it takes a lot to support them. And for the Waldrop family, the stars of Sweet Home Sextuplets, six of those kids came all at once — which means hand-me-downs aren’t exactly going to do the trick when it comes to scrimping and saving. Luckily, we suspect that money from having your own reality TV show on TLC will help go a long way. Before they ever started filming, though, both parents had been working. 

In the first episode of the show, Eric and Courtney Waldrop introduced themselves to the cameras and talked a little about what they did. “I own a landscape company based in north Alabama,” Eric shared. “And on top of owning my own business, we live on top of 40 acres. 20 acres of it is a working sheep farm. We have, like, close to 100 sheep right now.”

'sweet home sextuplets' star eric waldrop's sheep farm

Photo Credit: TLC

While that’s extra income, it also takes a lot of time and effort. And once you’ve got nine kids, six of them babies, well, time is something you have in short supply. “We’re worried, when the babies come, if he’s going to be able to take care of the sheep,” Courtney continued. And later in the episode, when they were heading out to a doctor’s visit, the sheep came up again. “So how are you going to take care of [them] after we have the babies? And work? And coach? The sheep have gotta go,” Courtney told her husband. “One way or another, we’ll get it done, baby,” Eric responded. 

The 36-year-old mom had to step back from her job, too. Before having the sextuplets, she was working as a first grade teacher at Albertville City Schools. “I’ve taught for thirteen years, but right now I’m out on maternity leave,” she explained in the premiere. “When we started back to school, I worked about a week. And then at about 24 weeks [pregnant], I was put on pretty strict bedrest, which was very, very sad, because I’m really missing what I do.”

'sweet home sextuplets' star courtney waldrop at work as first grade teacher

Photo Credit: Courtney Waldrop, TLC

According to AL.com, she had her first week away from work in August of 2017, and it seems that she hasn’t gone back just yet. She’s also done work as a photographer and even has her own Courtney Waldrop Photography Facebook page, though it looks like she’s taken some time off from that in recent years, too. And who can blame her? She’s certainly got her hands full at home, and we suspect that it’ll stay that way for the next few years at least. 

Now that the babies are born — and have been given unique names like Rawlings and Blu — the landscaping business is the family’s main source of income. Eric isn’t going it alone, though. His company is called Robinson & Waldrop Landscape Group, LLC — he’s the Waldrop, and his business partner, Jeremy Robinson, is the Robinson. The two friends attended high school together, then community college, before they both majored in landscape horticulture at Auburn University. They graduated in 2004 and started their company in the spring of 2005. The company’s bios also mention that Eric’s partner’s wife is the principal at Albertville High School — think there’s a chance that Courtney introduced them?

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