Seasons to Life
Merry CHRISTmas family and friends! We hope that you have had a wonderful year. As we all have come through Thanksgiving and are heading full speed in to the Christmas holidays, I hope you take a little time to reflect on the past year. This has been the purpose of our Christmas letter each year. It offers Ashley and me the chance to sit to back and think about all that we have successfully crammed in to one year. It allows us to bring the year to a close and begin another one!
As our biggest “bundle of joy” this year, we were blessed with a precious baby girl on June 17. We proudly named her “Abbey Rebecca Crockett.” She was born healthy and extremely alert (nosy, observant, call it whatever you want…she doesn’t miss a thing!!). I would love to say how joyous the past 6 months have been…really I would! But Abbey has been anything but calm, undemanding, simple, laidback or easy. Many people have suggested that “all babies are this way.” But I still stand firmly confident that she could hold her own in competition with the most difficult of babies. In one moment of desperation we scheduled to see a different pediatrician, as ours did not have an opening. Ashley talked with the doctor for over 20 minutes, all while I held Abbey screaming at the top of her lungs in the corner of the room. As per Abbey’s regular doctor, the appointment was later described to him as “Oh yeah, Abbey was the world’s fussiest baby with the extremely calm parents.” Let’s just say we are thankful that those first 3 months are BEHIND us.
On a good note, the past few months have been getting better. We can sit her down now (and she doesn’t have to be asleep to do so) and her eating is, for the most part, normal. She most likely thinks her medicine is a major food group. She has been sleeping great at night. We can usually count on her for a good 9 to 10 hours solid (swaddled of course in her “baby straightjacket”). This has been our saving grace! Naps are all over the place; sometimes hours, sometimes minutes…but she always wakes up with a huge smile on her face and is glad to see us. She has found her hands and feet, smiles a lot, laughs out loud, rolls all over the place, loves sporting events, loves to stand up, loves looking at trees, loves just being outside and LOVES being on the go!! The more we go, the better she does. “Being at home is just plain boring!!!” she would say.
This next section is for me to show Abbey one day, when she is the same position as Ashley and me; when her expectations are not always in line with God’s and are not the way she planned:
Parenthood started out pretty rough. It all started with Abbey’s refusal to be on her back and her arms that looked that she was doing yoga all the time. It then moved into grade 3 acid reflux (after undergoing a GI x-ray), which lead to her being unwilling to nurse or eat from a bottle without screaming from discomfort. Sitting and cuddling with Abbey was not an option, and is still not preferred by her. She commanded you to stand and bounce. Once you were standing and bouncing, you couldn’t stay in the same place; you had to keep moving. It usually required that you swaddle her and loudly say “shhhhhhhh” in her ear. If done in perfect sequence, you succeeded in getting her calmed down! Should you then change positions, you started all over again! That was our life for 3 solid months. Of course this made car rides almost unbearable, being that you couldn’t stand and bounce and walk around in the car. (The car rides are getting better. She does happen to fall asleep more frequently in the car. A ride at night, in the dark, still provides a challenge.) I don’t know how Ashley made it being at home with her. Outside is one place she loves. There’s no way to count all the miles we’ve walked outside. When I would get home from work and the sun would start to set, Abbey and I headed out the door. No, NOT in an easy to push stroller (that leaned her back too much), but in the baby carrier (which I proudly wear). Just over 2 months old, we had a visit to Children’s Hospital after finding her not breathing or responding, only to leave 3 days later with a diagnosis of “a near SIDS episode.” To say the least, she has kept the last 6 months anything but boring.
We know God has a plan for his daughter. We are so glad He chose us as parents to care for her. We know He loves her more than we ever could. Looking back over those first few months they really brought Ashley and me closer. It was tough though. There was a lot of passing back and forth. A lot of “whys?”. A lot of 9:00 pm dinners and only one of us eating at a time. We questioned why God would choose this child for us. It was clear we have a special relationship. God knew we could walk down the path with Abbey and our marriage come out stronger. Never did we turn on each other. When one was down or frustrated, the other stepped in. Neither of us feel as if we got taken advantage of. We feel sure another reason is because we were blessed with an unbelievable support system. The friends and family that made us dinner, came to visit, and the numerous offers to baby sit. We promise we will take you up on them one day; we just don’t feel it’s right to leave such a difficult child with YOU.
Life before Abbey included me completing my first marathon in February (God knew there would be no time for running come June). It was by far the worst pain my body has ever felt. Credit for me finishing goes to a great childhood friend, Drew, who came all the way from California to run it with me. Thanks Drew! I am still working for Alabama Power and Ashley is still working for Morrison’s. We feel fortunate that she has been able to cut back to only two days a week. Other than adding Abbey we are just rolling with life.
Ashley’s family is doing well. Beth is off to a great start in Pharmacy School. She just keeps excelling at whatever it is she wants to do. It is a joy to know such a driven young woman. Mr. Erwin is doing well. Staying busy outside as usual. He is eligible to retire from the Birmingham Fire Department, so maybe one day that will be included in my letter. I will fill you in on Mrs. Erwin in a bit.
As far as my family goes, I can say happily, and sadly, that my grandmother, my last grandparent, went to meet her Savior. The timing was right though. Her quality of life was not getting better, but starting to decline. Modern medicine worked perfectly; it allowed our family to gather and say goodbye. We had PEACE letting her go be with her Lord. We thank everyone for the support you showed our family. She will be missed.
Marcy is busier than ever these days. If it’s not work, it’s running to the next event for one of the boys. Tyler is now playing football at MY high school (I can’t believe it). He was able to get some playing time as a sophomore, so hopefully he will work hard over the next year and keep improving. Owen is still 100% boy. It’s so much fun to watch him play. Mom had two awesome vacations. One was with a close friend (my God Mother) to be the road crew for her son Drew (who ran the marathon with me) in a 100 mile race in Colorado. The other she flew out by herself to California to have a girl’s trip with some old friends.
While I could thank a ton of people for their encouragement, meals, time, prayers, and offering of a ton of other things I want to highlight one person. Without the support of Mrs. Erwin, Ashley and I would have been in a much larger mess. First and foremost, before Abbey was born she agreed, with excitement, to keep Abbey on the days Ashley works. We are so thankful and excited that Abbey will get to grow up with her Grandmama. Second, I cannot tell you the hours she has put in with helping us out. She would drop anything just to give Ashley a much needed break. She had her own life and still had her own time demands, but never hesitated to help us out. I am sure I have said to her a hundred times how thankful I am and I guess she got sick of hearing it. One time her response was, “Davy, there are seasons to life and this is my season.” How great to know we can 100% count on Mrs. Erwin. We are truly blessed to have you in our life. Thank you, yet again.
To wrap things up here are some special memories of 2010 (not necessarily in order):
Finding out we were having a girl, Abbey being born, Abbey being baptized, the awesome lunch with family and close friends that followed, choosing Abbey’s God Parents (Kacie, Matt, Adam, and Amy), discovering that Abbey has one, and only one, dimple, my grandma holding Abbey for the first and only time, Abbey laughing out loud for the first time, Prevacid, Zantac, Carafate, Reglan (Abbey’s vigorous medication regimen), “Babymoon” trip to Savannah, buying a motorcycle on impulse, selling it 6 months later, eating a years overdue dinner with the Smiths, running the Mercedes Marathon the following day with Drew, attending Ashley’s best friend Amy’s graduation from Dental school (Congrats Dr. Wilson), visiting with family after Grandma’s funeral, celebrating our 4th wedding anniversary at the George Strait and Reba McEntire concert, Alabama winning their 13th National Championship, Ashley presenting Beth her “white coat”, first run Ashley and I successfully took with Abbey in the jogging stroller, and lastly, being able to share all of our memories with YOU!
What fun I had writing this letter, as usual. We had a great year and we are so blessed. Merry CHRISTmas, everyone!
With Love,
David, Ashley and Abbey
Our favorite quote of the year, in reference to Abbey,
“At least she’s cute!”
Merry CHRISTmas family and friends! We hope that you have had a wonderful year. As we all have come through Thanksgiving and are heading full speed in to the Christmas holidays, I hope you take a little time to reflect on the past year. This has been the purpose of our Christmas letter each year. It offers Ashley and me the chance to sit to back and think about all that we have successfully crammed in to one year. It allows us to bring the year to a close and begin another one!
As our biggest “bundle of joy” this year, we were blessed with a precious baby girl on June 17. We proudly named her “Abbey Rebecca Crockett.” She was born healthy and extremely alert (nosy, observant, call it whatever you want…she doesn’t miss a thing!!). I would love to say how joyous the past 6 months have been…really I would! But Abbey has been anything but calm, undemanding, simple, laidback or easy. Many people have suggested that “all babies are this way.” But I still stand firmly confident that she could hold her own in competition with the most difficult of babies. In one moment of desperation we scheduled to see a different pediatrician, as ours did not have an opening. Ashley talked with the doctor for over 20 minutes, all while I held Abbey screaming at the top of her lungs in the corner of the room. As per Abbey’s regular doctor, the appointment was later described to him as “Oh yeah, Abbey was the world’s fussiest baby with the extremely calm parents.” Let’s just say we are thankful that those first 3 months are BEHIND us.
On a good note, the past few months have been getting better. We can sit her down now (and she doesn’t have to be asleep to do so) and her eating is, for the most part, normal. She most likely thinks her medicine is a major food group. She has been sleeping great at night. We can usually count on her for a good 9 to 10 hours solid (swaddled of course in her “baby straightjacket”). This has been our saving grace! Naps are all over the place; sometimes hours, sometimes minutes…but she always wakes up with a huge smile on her face and is glad to see us. She has found her hands and feet, smiles a lot, laughs out loud, rolls all over the place, loves sporting events, loves to stand up, loves looking at trees, loves just being outside and LOVES being on the go!! The more we go, the better she does. “Being at home is just plain boring!!!” she would say.
This next section is for me to show Abbey one day, when she is the same position as Ashley and me; when her expectations are not always in line with God’s and are not the way she planned:
Parenthood started out pretty rough. It all started with Abbey’s refusal to be on her back and her arms that looked that she was doing yoga all the time. It then moved into grade 3 acid reflux (after undergoing a GI x-ray), which lead to her being unwilling to nurse or eat from a bottle without screaming from discomfort. Sitting and cuddling with Abbey was not an option, and is still not preferred by her. She commanded you to stand and bounce. Once you were standing and bouncing, you couldn’t stay in the same place; you had to keep moving. It usually required that you swaddle her and loudly say “shhhhhhhh” in her ear. If done in perfect sequence, you succeeded in getting her calmed down! Should you then change positions, you started all over again! That was our life for 3 solid months. Of course this made car rides almost unbearable, being that you couldn’t stand and bounce and walk around in the car. (The car rides are getting better. She does happen to fall asleep more frequently in the car. A ride at night, in the dark, still provides a challenge.) I don’t know how Ashley made it being at home with her. Outside is one place she loves. There’s no way to count all the miles we’ve walked outside. When I would get home from work and the sun would start to set, Abbey and I headed out the door. No, NOT in an easy to push stroller (that leaned her back too much), but in the baby carrier (which I proudly wear). Just over 2 months old, we had a visit to Children’s Hospital after finding her not breathing or responding, only to leave 3 days later with a diagnosis of “a near SIDS episode.” To say the least, she has kept the last 6 months anything but boring.
We know God has a plan for his daughter. We are so glad He chose us as parents to care for her. We know He loves her more than we ever could. Looking back over those first few months they really brought Ashley and me closer. It was tough though. There was a lot of passing back and forth. A lot of “whys?”. A lot of 9:00 pm dinners and only one of us eating at a time. We questioned why God would choose this child for us. It was clear we have a special relationship. God knew we could walk down the path with Abbey and our marriage come out stronger. Never did we turn on each other. When one was down or frustrated, the other stepped in. Neither of us feel as if we got taken advantage of. We feel sure another reason is because we were blessed with an unbelievable support system. The friends and family that made us dinner, came to visit, and the numerous offers to baby sit. We promise we will take you up on them one day; we just don’t feel it’s right to leave such a difficult child with YOU.
Life before Abbey included me completing my first marathon in February (God knew there would be no time for running come June). It was by far the worst pain my body has ever felt. Credit for me finishing goes to a great childhood friend, Drew, who came all the way from California to run it with me. Thanks Drew! I am still working for Alabama Power and Ashley is still working for Morrison’s. We feel fortunate that she has been able to cut back to only two days a week. Other than adding Abbey we are just rolling with life.
Ashley’s family is doing well. Beth is off to a great start in Pharmacy School. She just keeps excelling at whatever it is she wants to do. It is a joy to know such a driven young woman. Mr. Erwin is doing well. Staying busy outside as usual. He is eligible to retire from the Birmingham Fire Department, so maybe one day that will be included in my letter. I will fill you in on Mrs. Erwin in a bit.
As far as my family goes, I can say happily, and sadly, that my grandmother, my last grandparent, went to meet her Savior. The timing was right though. Her quality of life was not getting better, but starting to decline. Modern medicine worked perfectly; it allowed our family to gather and say goodbye. We had PEACE letting her go be with her Lord. We thank everyone for the support you showed our family. She will be missed.
Marcy is busier than ever these days. If it’s not work, it’s running to the next event for one of the boys. Tyler is now playing football at MY high school (I can’t believe it). He was able to get some playing time as a sophomore, so hopefully he will work hard over the next year and keep improving. Owen is still 100% boy. It’s so much fun to watch him play. Mom had two awesome vacations. One was with a close friend (my God Mother) to be the road crew for her son Drew (who ran the marathon with me) in a 100 mile race in Colorado. The other she flew out by herself to California to have a girl’s trip with some old friends.
While I could thank a ton of people for their encouragement, meals, time, prayers, and offering of a ton of other things I want to highlight one person. Without the support of Mrs. Erwin, Ashley and I would have been in a much larger mess. First and foremost, before Abbey was born she agreed, with excitement, to keep Abbey on the days Ashley works. We are so thankful and excited that Abbey will get to grow up with her Grandmama. Second, I cannot tell you the hours she has put in with helping us out. She would drop anything just to give Ashley a much needed break. She had her own life and still had her own time demands, but never hesitated to help us out. I am sure I have said to her a hundred times how thankful I am and I guess she got sick of hearing it. One time her response was, “Davy, there are seasons to life and this is my season.” How great to know we can 100% count on Mrs. Erwin. We are truly blessed to have you in our life. Thank you, yet again.
To wrap things up here are some special memories of 2010 (not necessarily in order):
Finding out we were having a girl, Abbey being born, Abbey being baptized, the awesome lunch with family and close friends that followed, choosing Abbey’s God Parents (Kacie, Matt, Adam, and Amy), discovering that Abbey has one, and only one, dimple, my grandma holding Abbey for the first and only time, Abbey laughing out loud for the first time, Prevacid, Zantac, Carafate, Reglan (Abbey’s vigorous medication regimen), “Babymoon” trip to Savannah, buying a motorcycle on impulse, selling it 6 months later, eating a years overdue dinner with the Smiths, running the Mercedes Marathon the following day with Drew, attending Ashley’s best friend Amy’s graduation from Dental school (Congrats Dr. Wilson), visiting with family after Grandma’s funeral, celebrating our 4th wedding anniversary at the George Strait and Reba McEntire concert, Alabama winning their 13th National Championship, Ashley presenting Beth her “white coat”, first run Ashley and I successfully took with Abbey in the jogging stroller, and lastly, being able to share all of our memories with YOU!
What fun I had writing this letter, as usual. We had a great year and we are so blessed. Merry CHRISTmas, everyone!
With Love,
David, Ashley and Abbey
Our favorite quote of the year, in reference to Abbey,
“At least she’s cute!”
