A New Do for Baby Dew

It's been fun to see the nicknames that have developed for Crew.

+Crew Bug
+THE Crew Boss

My favorite though, is Baby Dew. This comes from cute little Tessa Mills who calls Crew by this name. It has definitely stuck- we love it!

Baby Dew was in desperate need of a new hair do. We were constantly being told he had "old man's hair" (we had a GREAT comb-over going on). And after a few previous hair trims, it was time for the real deal. The poor kid will be fighting the infamous Merrick Cal Licks the rest of his life. I'm thinking he has 2 in the front and at least 2, if not 3 in the back!

Before



After


Mohawk!

December Fun

Wow! Another month has gone by and it has sure been a busy one...I just don't know where to begin!

Christmas Tree- We went with the Seamons Family to go and cut our tree, a family tradition. We even got Crew all decked out in his new snowpants and coat. He actually was pretty happy in his "Ralphie" outfit!







Goose Hunting! (Pictures to come- thank you Marcee for watching Crew so I could get some fresh air- it was wonderful!)

Jed and Marcee's graduation from BYU-I and Crew's first swim!




Christmas!


We started cereal! I can't believe he is 4 months old!


We are so grateful for all of our many blessings and the wonderful year which we have had. We are truly blessed and recognize the miracles that have happend in our life. The trials we have gone through have made us stronger, including laying on a couch for a 1/3 of the year! Our miracle baby has completed our family, and has filled a spot in our hearts we didn't know we had. It is amazing how such a little person can bring such a huge spirit into your home. We are grateful for all of our friends and family and the huge support system they are to us. We couldn't have made it without you!

Time to get caught up!

Yet again, the time has gotten away from us! The last couple of months have seemed to come and go and now the holidays are here and in full swing. I have seemed to have gotten back into my old routine of a full, busy schedule, so life feels somewhat back to normal. Here are some of the highlights of the last couple of months.

Hunting! It was a little hard to watch these hunting months to go by without being able to participate...it's been many years since I haven't gotten a least one big game animal in a season. This year I got to stay home and hear about all the adventures and stories- but I'm not complaining- I'll be back next year. No elk this year for Austin, but he did get his deer out behind our house. This area is only open for two points on the general tag, but we won't complain. It's not everyday you can make it work like this. It was too easy to be called hunting. There's quite a story to our adventures this fall....this is what we saw one morning in our yard, two days before the season opened, eating my grass and tress...remember, we can only shoot two points!

I know this wasn't the same criminal, but I just want them to leave my trees alone!!

A few days later, while Crew was down for a nap, there was another herd of 4 does and 2 TWO POINTS that walked right behind my back door. I could have shot a deer during nap time, but somebody had my gun with them in their pickup instead of leaving it at home and carrying HIS gun. I won't name any names, but I think he learned his lesson....

Here's one of the many Super Saturday projects I did for different wards throughout October and November. We had some fun projects! Photo blocks, pan etching, a gospel ABC quiet book, tiles, boards....if you can't tell, this is where most of my time went to!

Crew first started to show us a small smile around 6 weeks old. After that, for quite awhile, Austin was the only one that could get a smile out of this kid. Now of course, he's smiling, giggling, laughing, and making all kinds of fun sounds which absolutely makes my day! Those moments are the joys of motherhood!

First starting to smile with Dad.

Smiling like a pro!

Yeah for a fun adult (+Crew) weekend in McCall. Some friend's found an awesome cabin to rent for the weekend, so the Excursion was packed and we were off! It was good to get away and enjoy a relaxing weekend after the busy, harvest season.

At Crew's two month appointment he had doubled his birth weight (already!) and continues to be a healthy, growing boy! Here's a picture of him in his blessing outfit a few days after turning two months old. We blessed him November 1st and want to thank all of our family that came to support us. Austin did a wonderful job and gave a beautiful blessing to our special boy!

Crew's Pictures

I had Crew's newborn pictures taken when he was 11 days old. We had an amazing photographer and I can't brag enough about her. Laura Farris works out of her home and is the most patient and detail oriented person I have ever met- but it shows in her work- I am so excited about the pictures we got. It was hard to pick a few to post on here! Enjoy!

Princess Jenna

Between the baby and wedding, my little sister was feeling a little neglected and forgotten about, but she soon found out that her day was coming! Jenna was voted as the sophomore homecoming princess for Jerome last week...so we headed down Friday night for the half-time show of the football game to watch the royalty be presented. Seeing Jenna all dressed up was fun- and out of the norm....we had to all convince her she couldn't wear her boots with her dress. She protested, but after seeing how far she had to walk in heels and in front of SO MANY people, we really should have let her! We are so proud of Jenna for the great example and good friend she is to those around her. She is always so full of fun and laughs - we love you Jen!

It was interesting being back in J-town for a football game. Lot's of good memories for both Jed and I. We saw a lot of teachers and faculty we hasn't seen for awhile. Jed couldn't believe he used to play in front of such a crowd. Our "small town spouses" were a little amazed by the scene. I think Austin realized it isn't the norm to be able to pull up to the football field in your pickup to watch the game...it's a luxury! :)

Mr. and Mrs. Jed Seamons

The day after we got released from the hospital, my brother Jed and his fiance Marcee were married in the Twin Falls Temple. We were so, so grateful that we were able to make it and share their day with them. It was a beautiful and hot September day, but we enjoyed seeing so much family and meeting Marcee's family as well. The reception turned out beautiful - it was amazing to see how everything came together so well. Not bad for planning everything from the couch and using online shopping! Marcee's dad built all of the barnwood decor- including the arch, fence, and trellis'...they turned out amazing! The best part is that I got to keep these and add them to my wedding decor - yeah! We are so excited to have Marcee apart of our family - we are feeling so complete now with our new sister-in-law and our beautiful baby Crew.... Life is Good!!

Pictures from the reception. Everything turned out beautiful!

Crew Allen Merrick

Our baby is here!

Crew was born Thursday, August 27th at 1:59 pm. He weighed 5 lbs. 11 oz. and was 19 inches long. My water broke around 2:30 am that morning- after Austin had just taken 2 Tylenol PM's because he couldn't sleep...what a fun drive for him to Boise! After being admitted and still having no contractions, we started Pitocin around 7 am, had an epidural (the BEST thing ever!) around 9 am, and was fully dilated around noon. We started pushing around 12:30 pm and finally got him here at 1:59. I was exhausted. The last few moments before his debut got a little tense- his heart rate dropped and he was just not coming very smoothly- they called in the vacuum to help him out on the next contraction, but somehow (with the help of a great team) they got him out. Things got a little interesting after this- Crew came out very blue, but they got him breathing very quickly, they realized he was breathing way too fast and was not adjusting to life very well. NICU was called in 4 minutes after he was born, they arrived at 7 min., and Dad and Crew were off to the NICU about 15 min. after he was born. Not very fun for Mom, but I knew he was in good hands. 3 hours later I finally got to hold my baby and we were told that he had suffered Respiratory Distress Syndrome. He was basically breathing too fast, and they had him regulated before I even got to the NICU. He never had to have oxygen, and has been great ever since. After that we had a few glucose problems, which lead to a jaundice problem, which lead to Crew being "fake baked" for two days under the lights. We were finally released Wednesday to come home- a very long awaited day! 6 days in the NICU was more than enough for me. The stress of being there was hard, but as Austin and I looked around us, we realized how lucky and fortunate we were to have a healthy baby boy that would only be there a few days. It was quite the experience and some of the things we saw would break your heart.

Crew has truly turned into our miracle baby. The doctors are absolutely amazed that we made it to 37 weeks, a number no one thought was possible. And I can’t believe I made it on the couch for 16 weeks!! He was worth every minute and we are just so happy to be home. We are completely in love with our little boy!