October 2014

So many special events this month!  The most special event coming at the beginning—Jackson’s 8th birthday.  The 8th birthday is particularly significant because that is the year you get baptized in our church.  So on Saturday October 4th, with many friends and family members in attendance, Jackson was baptized at 3pm.  The ceremony was beautiful.  We started with one of Jackson’s favorite Sunday School songs (I know that my Savior Loves Me), then I gave this “Mother’s Moment” talk: 

Good Afternoon, we feel so grateful and honored that you all are joining us on this special day for Jackson.

When we lived in San Diego a few years ago, they had a tradition that before baptisms the mother would stand up with her child and share a few words about her child – they called it a Mother’s Moment.

I thought it was a great idea so for my Mother’s Moment, I decided to structure it like ESPN’s Sports Center’s Top Ten. When Jackson and his dad have the chance (which is not nearly enough) they love watching the Top Ten sports plays on TV in the morning as they eat their breakfast.

So these are the top 10 things to know about Jackson Scott Douglas (and he hasn’t heard these yet)

#10. This kid is an eater. It is truly unbelievable how much food this guy can put away. But he gets it honestly because Scott was famous in high school and college for breaking all kinds of eating records. Like his Dad, Jackson is fun to cook for because he is not picky at all. Every meal I prepare, meal he eats at school, a restaurant, or a friend’s house is described as either “amazing or unbelievable.”

#9. Jackson is a serious dude, he has very low tolerance for anything silly. He routinely gets irritated with Scott for “joking around too much.” Slap stick humor or goofiness is defined by Jackson as annoying. In a similar vein, he has never really cared for anything considered childish. Always disinterested in stuffed animals, superheroes, and the like. In fact, when Jackson was 4, one night before bed, he and his dad were in his room and Jackson was examining his PJs which had some cutesie pattern of Dinosaurs or Fire trucks or something on them, and Jackson turned to Scott and asked “why do they put this stuff on PJs?; Can’t they just make plain green or something?” After a reflective moment, answering his own question he replied “I think they think that kids like this stuff”. He’s really an old soul at heart.

#8. Jackson is a competitor. Whether it is in sports, chess, or math he is impressively focused. Early on he learned the value of diligent practice, and consistently applies this principle to his academic and athletic endeavors. He takes NOT winning very hard, and although he has gotten better at controlling (or at least hiding) this intensity, we have had our fair share of powerful, passionate emotions over the years.

#7. Speaking of sports, Jackson has never met a sport he doesn’t love. I always hesitate to introduce him to another sport because I know he’ll love it and want me to find a way to fit it into our schedule. So far he has tried and loved football, basketball, baseball, and soccer. A lot of his coaches are here today actually. Ask him what his favorite sport is, and his answer will most likely correlate to whatever sport is in season.

#6. Perhaps as a result of his Mormon roots, Jackson LOVES board games. He is especially fond of any game that involves strategy such as monopoly, Stratego, and chess. Can’t find someone to play with him? No problem, he is perfectly content to play against himself!

#5. Jackson is the stereotypical first child. Rule follower, parent pleaser, conscientious, obedient, and even a little cautious. This bodes well for him as a student. His school teachers, Primary leaders, and camp counselors, love these qualities. Scott on the other hand in an attempt to keep him more balanced, makes hearty efforts to challenge him to take more risks, break more rules, and live more boldly. That’s all fine and as long as he obeys me.

#4. Jackson is a sweet brother. Grant follows him around like a shadow, typically repeating the same line over and over. “I hit a homerun Jackson, I hit a homerun Jackson.” And from another room I’ll hear Jackson patiently and continuously responding: “Wow, that’s awesome Grant, “Good job Grant,” “A homerun? Cool!” And with Taylor, they have to get creative when they play, because Jackson is all boy, and Taylor is our girly girl. Jackson will accommodate by leaving Taylor room to build a fairy princess castle in the town he is building, or offer to play “ninja/baby” instead of just ninjas.

#3. Jackson is very sensitive to the Spirit or in other words, easily moved to tears when touched, which he gets honestly from me. Whether we are singing a church song, reading a moving fictional book, sharing an article from the Friend, or just talking about something spiritual, his eyes will start to squint, his lips will tighten together and I’ll ask “Are you feeling the Spirit,” and he’ll nod as tears come to his eyes. I love this sensitive quality about him and hope he always can recognize the Spirit instructing and guiding him.

#2. Jackson is very faithful, and it’s not just blind faith. He is quite inquisitive and logical when it comes to concepts regarding the gospel of this church. And seeing that he finds it reasonable, and believes, helps to strengthen my testimony. He believes that his prayers will be answered, and regularly his righteous desires are granted. So often is the case that members from the family will call and ask Jackson if he will specifically pray for one thing or another. It’s almost like he has a direct line to Heavenly Father. Just the other month I was driving with the kids and realized I hadn’t asked Jackson to pray for the teacher that Taylor would get for kindergarten. Immediately I pulled over to the closest gas station, and asked him to offer a prayer. He did and we were blessed.

#1. It’s hard to know where to end about the child who makes you a mom. We had so many hopes and dreams for our brown eyed/ brown skinned/l baby boy who was placed into our arms, in the middle of a chilly October night, in Provo Utah 8 years ago. Scott and I had both just turned 24 and we were overwhelmed with love for our little guy. Over these last 8 years Jackson has more than exceeded all of our expectations and has made proud countless times. In fact, I really don’t think Scott or I could be any more proud of him. Especially today, as he is making this decision to be baptized. Our hope for Jackson is that he’ll continue to grow in faith, and testimony, and become a young man of God. One that is quick to serve and help his fellow man along this journey of life. A man that is recognized for his integrity and dedication to following Christ.

We love you and will remember this day forever.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

After I spoke, Scott gave the talk on baptism.  He brought 3 objects to tailor his talk to Jackson.  1. Chess piece (you need a good opening, and baptism is the best opening move on our journey back to Heavenly Father) 2.  A jersey (like a jersey, baptism shows that you’re on Christ’s team). And 3. a trophy (because he’ll look back forever and be proud of what he did), and 4. a pair of sunglasses (that’s what he uses to watch Jackson play sports on Saturday and feels so proud of him – Just like Heavenly Father is watching now and feels proud of him).

Then it was time for the actual baptism.  Scott performed it, and I am thankful that he is worthy to do so! 

Then while the guys were getting out of their wet baptismal clothes, we played a video for everyone else.  It was titled “Church At a Glance” (click here to view), and it gave an overview of our church—which was nice because so many nonmembers were in attendance.

After Jackson was baptized, Uncle Jay gave the talk on the Holy Ghost.  And he brought it!  We were thankful for the time and effort he put into his talk.  Like Scott, he also brought objects:  A compass (the Spirit helps us find our way), and a lighter (one of the ways to recognize the Spirit is almost like burning in your chest).

Then we had a simple (yet delicious) reception, where we served fresh cinnamon twists made at a local bakery and milk! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a joyous occasion, one that I know Jackson, Scott, and I will remember forever.  The whole ceremony just felt good, and right, and I had the sense that Heavenly Father was very proud of Jackson.

The day was even more memorable because Aunt Laura came in town for it.  And thank goodness she did, because without the help of her and my mom, we would have been in trouble.

 

 

 

Then after all the spiritual/emotional part of the day was completed, it was party time!!  We had the 16 boys/friends that attended the baptism be dropped off at our house afterwards for Jackson’s birthday party.

 

 

It was insanity.  Halfway through the party Scott had to get my coaching whistle just to help maintain some sort of order.  They started with soccer, then kickball, followed by pizza/drinks, dodge ball, 4 square, cookie cake, water balloon toss, and piñata.  Once everyone left, Jackson had fun opening each present and playing with them into the evening.  Scott and I could not be pried off the couch, I don’t ever remember being so emotionally or physically drained—probably because on top of all that craziness we had a 5 week old.  But it was worth it and I’d do everything the same again (except maybe ask some parents to stay and help).

The next weekend we were off to Vanderbilt for my 10 year reunion.  I got to see one of my best friends (and Maid of Honor) right off the bat at our favorite Nashville restaurant (Calypso).  Every time I’m with Lindsay I think “Now I remember why I loved you so much in high school!”  They just had their first little boy and they are adorable doting parents.  In fact, Henry (who is a doll) is about the same age as Pierce and it’s funny how much more attentive they are than we are!  I hope we are not taking Pierce for granted and enjoying him as much as new parents are enjoying their new babies!

Then we had the true privilege of seeing Joquez and his family.   He has grown into a respectful, gentle, kind young man—a Senior in high school and on the Varsity basketball team.  He has aspirations of being a nurse!  So proud of him, AJ, and TT!  Crazy right??

Then it was party time!  I’m so glad I made the effort to get up to Vandy, it was short but I got to catch up with so many close friends.  I was thankful so many people came—I was afraid I wouldn’t know anyone!  It’s funny my 4 roommates (Mayer, Jordan, Rebecca, and Kelsey) were MIA and missed!  But I was able to catch up with a lot of my sorority sisters and guy friends.  In typical Nashville style it POURED the entire weekend, but it could not squelch our  VU pride!

Next it was off to camp with friends—correction Scott took the older 3 camping while I nestled in at the lake house (nearby) with Pierce and my parents.  Again, rainy—but they had a blast (thanks Angie for planning!)

As for individual news:  Scott is doing well.  He finished his surfing case and his current client is out of Orlando.  One of his previous co-workers now is a Vice President at Cox was recruiting Scott hard for an executive director position.  Scott’s interest was piqued and applied, not really hoping one way or the other.  Since he submitted everything 3 weeks ago we have heard nothing.  Hurry up and wait kinda thing.  We really don’t know what to hope for, he really likes his job, and we have figured out a pretty good system that seems to be working for the fam right now.  The system is called:  Ingrid :-) (our part time nanny)

Here he is at a ‘team event’ at the Texas state fair in Dallas eating a fried peanut butter and jelly and banana sandwich covered  in bacon.

Then last night he called from another ‘team event’ at a major theme park in Orlando.  When I asked why it was so loud he said “oh, that’s just the fireworks in the background.”  This is as I’m dealing with Taylor’s 3rd case of pinworms in the last month.  I keep telling him I’m going to apply at BCG!

I’m doing well, hard to believe Pierce is 10 weeks old! Nursing has gotten much better—thanks for all your suggestions.  Since my complaining about that last month seemed to solve the problem, this month I’m going to complain about how slow the weight is coming off!  I was shocked to step on the scale recently and see that I still have 14 pounds to go!  Not sure why I’m shocked, none of my clothes fit, but I guess I’m just surprised I’m going to have to work harder at this—ugh the nerve!

Scott and I had a great surprise this month—visit from 2 of our best friends from Utah.  We spent part of every weekend with Zach/Andrea and Jess/Cubi (we missed you guys).  It was so fun picking up where we left off and hard to believe that we had 8 kids under the roof that night!

In addition to the birthday/baptism news, Jackson also ran his first two 5Ks this month.  The first was with his ‘run club’ from school where he got to run with his friends.

The second was with Ordner Construction (headed by Jeff who also won the entire thing with a blazing 19 min time!), their 2nd annual 5k benefiting home construction for homeless people.  We had fun at both races and Jackson did both races in right around 29 minutes.

Tay Tay ran (most of it) too, taking a few breaks to ride in the stroller with Grant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ever social, she has been invited to play date, after sleep over, after play date this month.  She must be really fun, because despite regular reminders to be grateful and tactful, I am typically horrified when I pick her up because I’ll say to the mom/daughter    “well, next time we’ll have to have so and so over to our house” and Taylor will pipe up and say “Nah, I want to try someone new.”  Or she’ll quip, “Can we go home?  I’m hungry, I didn’t like ANY of their food.”  It’s a miracle she continues to be invited!!

Tay also continues to be a reading machine—she gets off the bus with a book in her hand, falls asleep surrounded by books, and plows through the 2 (smaller) chapter books I send to school with her each day.  We have a sweet family from church, 6 kids, who have a crazy house.  However, they have this meticulous library with what seems like thousands of books.  They noticed how much Taylor loves to read and invited us to come borrow books as often as we would like—and boy have I taken them up on it!  They are my new library, it’s amazing.

Tay also wrapped up another successful soccer season this year.  She is going to play softball in the fall, so we’ve started practicing a little for that.  Granta Santa Fanta in Atlanta (as we refer to him), is in a major daddy phase, which is actually quite sad since Scott is never here.  The saddest part is on Monday morning when I go into his room because I know the first thing he is going to ask me is “Where’s Daddy?” and I have to tell him he’s on an airplane.  Then I have to hold him for about 10 min, telling him about all the fun things we are doing that week in order to get him to stop crying.  Poor guy!

He will be 3 at the end of January, so it’s time I start thinking about potty training and transitioning him to a big boy bed…I feel like the older 2 kids haven’t missed a beat with the new baby, but Grant is the one that has been slighted a little.  At the end of each day I feel guilty that another day has passed that I haven’t read to him or ‘worked on numbers.’  Hopefully I can get it together soon.  At least he really does have an amazing preschool teacher—he goes 3 mornings a week.  And he also does Joy School every Wednesday with 4 other almost 3 year olds from church.  He loves it, but every time it’s my turn to host 5 two year olds, I ask myself, Why do I do this again? (Can you sport all 5?)

And Pierce is 2 months old now (really 2 1/2 by the time I get this out).  He is chunking right up, cooing, and smiling like crazy.  We all can’t keep our hands off him!  He really is an easy baby, I think the Lord knew that’s all we could handle!  He catches naps in his car seat and just goes with the flow.  He consistently has a 5-6 hour sleeping stretch at night, which is probably the most we can ask for at this point considering his inconsistent day time schedule.  He still takes up most of my time, but not as much as last month. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And October wouldn’t be October without Halloween!  Since our kids all have insatiable sweet tooths, this holiday is like a dream for them!  Plus they get double the candy, because the have the church’s Trunk or Treat in addition to knocking doors on Halloween night.

      

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lastly, we had General Conference this month.  I am still listening through all the talks, but these are a few of my favorite quotes so far:

 

“When others demand defiance of God’s commandments, may we always remember whose disciples we are, and which way we face.”-Lynn Robbins

“When we assist Him in His mission of saving souls, we too will be rescued in the process”-Chi Hong Wong

“Kindness is powerful.” –Dallin H. Oaks

“The best paths in life are rarely the easiest”—Carlos Godoy

And while I am struggling to finish all the conference talks I have had no trouble staying current on my new favorite podcast:  Serial

Go to the app store, download ‘Podcasts’ then once inside that app, download ‘Serial’—it is sweeping the nation.  Made by NPR and the most popular podcast in USA, Europe, Canada, and Australia.  You’ll love it!

Okay, this has been written over 20 days in 5 minute spurts.  Hopefully it’s not too disjointed!

Love,

TFK