How Sage Got Her Name

We knew when we first got pregnant that we wanted to name our baby after important and influential people in our lives. I always use to say that I would have to know before hand if it was a boy or girl during the ultrasound, but when I was pregnant we saw the value of waiting until Sage was born. After all, it is the one true surprise you get in life and the only thing the Daddy gets to do, like when Jeramy went out into a packed waiting room to announce for the very first time that we have a daughter. In fact the doctor's let him announce the sex of the baby in the OR, and when he said we had a daughter, I said, "Are you sure" because for some reason both of us were convinced we were having a boy. In fact Dr Ali Lewis (who knew we were having a girl, but heard us calling the baby him) really wanted to deliver the baby so she could say "I told you so" but she had worked too many hours, so the Seahawks head coach, Mike Holmgren's daughter delivered us on a Seahawk Sunday near Husky Stadium. Dr Lewis did come find us in the NICU to rub it in a little bit. I can't imagine finding the sex out before hand, Jeramy was a little hesitant at first, but now tries to talk everyone into it because it was so special, so thank you to my cousin's who pioneered this road before me, because I would never trade it for the world. I have seen too many people who want a boy so bad that when the ultrasound says it is a girl they are disapointed. There is no way you are disapointed when you lay eyes on your baby for the first time. I always laugh when people say, "How do you plan and buy stuff" and I always say it is easy, just buy neutral colors, and that you'd be surprised how much pink floods in after you have the baby. Again, I wouldn't trade that moment for anything and will remember Jeramy's voice and face when he told us that we now had a daughter and that she looked like him, and the pictures of all the people in the waiting room on their toes waiting to hear, because unlike most hospitals that put pink or blue hats on the babies, Sage had a khaki colored one on with Green and Red ribbon for Christmas.
For some reason, and we had no real reason why, we thought we were going to have a boy, and because we wanted our names to be family related we came up with Jackson Lee Jernigan. Jack follows the J pattern on Jeramy's Side (Jim, Jimmy, Jeramy, Josh) and Lee is Jeramy's middle name as well as his dads. It also is the middle name of Andrea and last name of my nephews Marcus and Lucas so it served many purposes.

Here are the reasons and pictures of how we came up with Sage Donna Patricia Jernigan. For such a little girl, she really has a long name..lol



This little girl's name was Sage. About a month after we met we drove down to California with Jeramy's family to get on a Mexican Rivera cruise. This is where we met 4 year old Sage from California. One day she was sitting bellied up at the bar, so Jeramy went up and bought her a shirley temple with a cherry on top, and sattled up next to her at the bar. So for the rest of the trip whenever we would bump up to her she would scream..Jeramy, Jeramy and go run up to him and give him a giant hug. Her parents told us that she couldn't stop talking about him. It was very sweet. Since this trip was the moment when we realized that we were going to spend the rest of our lives together and that we loved each other so much, we said if we ever had a daughter we would name her Sage after this little girl, as a way to remember where we fell in love.



Donna, Sage's first middle name is after Jeramy's Dad's Mom, Donna Jernigan. She died of altztimers and diabetes when Jeramy was about 15 years old. Jeramy was very close to his grandma and would spend memorable 4th of July's, Christmas and Birthday's together with his Grandma Donna and Grandpa Jim who lived over on Century Ct in Olympia. Since Jeramy was their first grandkid, he was spoiled rotten. He still to this day loves Taffy Cookies and Ginger Snaps that she got him hooked on. She made such an impact on his life and she was so incredibly special to him that he had to have her name be apart of our daughter as a way to always remember her and honor her.



Patricia, is her second middle name after my Grandma, who died of cancer when I was about 22 years old. There are no words to explain what an impact she had on my life, even to this day. She taught me everything I know and instilled an important sense of family in me. I idolized and looked up to her for so much. There isn't anything she wouldn't do for her family. She was proud and supportive of us no matter what. I know she is always with me because when I was graduating from college and was crying because she wasn't there, I looked up at all of my family and the only light in the whole building was shining on them which told me she was there. 2 weeks after she died and my Aunt died and we had the funeral at the same place, I had a hard time going into the building, I attempted a few times and failed, and on my final attempt I walked in and her favorite song was playing telling me she was there with me ane it was going to be alright. When I was trying on my wedding dress and kept crying that I wished my Grandma was here, right when I found "the dress" the wedding march went on the radio when no music was playing before and Andrea told me, "see Grandma is telling you this is the dress" I cried so much I couldn't breathe. And when I walked out of the room when Jeramy's Grandpa died, there were Christmas stockings that were hung outside his room and one of them read Pat H, another sign telling me she was there with me and everything would be ok and that she was watching out for me and always with me. Finally, the birth of my daughter. With everything that could have gone wrong with my hard pregnancy...it didn't. Since neither one of us was willing to give up the names of the women who had made such an impact on us, our little 3 pound 11 ounce baby who was 16 inches long had a name that was bigger than she was. But even though her name is long, it is strong and filled with love from people who we miss grately, but are now with us everytime we look into our little girls eyes.
With love to our Grandma's, thank you for giving us such a beautiful little girl who reminds us everyday of the love and memories we have with you!

Great-Grandpa Holman

I remember that when Sage was born some people said that she looked like Grandpa Jack. Infact, if Sage were born a boy, since we wanted to be surprised on the sex of the baby, her name was going to be Jack, middle name was going to be Lee (Dad and Grandpa Jernigan's, and Andrea's middle name, and Marcus and Lucas last name). For some reason we were certain we were having a boy, that one of our Doctor's who peeked on one of the ultrasounds and knew we were going to have a girl, would always chuckle when we would call Sage, Jack...now we know why.

This picture, Dad says was taken at Aunt Minnie's on the Hamersly Inlet. For as long as I can remember Aunt Minnie lived downstairs from my Grandma at her Carpenter Road house. Uncle Dave is on Grandpa's lap, Uncle Dan is in the middle, and my Dad is on my Grandma's lap.

He died when I was pretty young, so I don't have too many memories of him, but got to know alot about him when I went to go visit Aunt Marlene last (see story below).

Anyways, thought I would share this picture because I was looking at it today and thought that Sage does resemble my Grandpa a lot.

Who....Lil Ol Me?

Last night we were just getting ready for bed when we got a knock at the door. That is strange because usually people come through the garage. When Jeramy answered there was a plain clothed guy around 23 asking for a Jerry (which is weird that the Sheriff sent a plain clothed guy in first with a weird name, when obviously they knew my name since it is on the phone bill) Then the Thurston County Sheriff walked up and said that they got a 911 call from our address and tried calling back but the line was busy. As I was standing there in my robe, Sage came bombing around the corner and the Sheriff laughed and said "That must be the culrpit...I should have guessed with all these toys" (we had just moved a couple of her big outside climbing toys into the living room)

Sage had apparently dialed 911, hung up, and then left the phone off the hook. Since she has lost every cordless phone we have, we only had 1 landline phone, until yesterday when I put one in our bedroom. I looked at the phone she disconnected and noticed it took 25 minutes before someone responded...hopefully if there is a real emergency they will get there faster than that, I guess I am thankful we didn't get fined etc. She has reprogramed my phone, bought ringtones, rebooted my computer. But last night was definatly a first! LOL

Today she has been running around the house SCREAMING "Aloha" which means she wants to watch the video that Uncle Saggagi put together of our Hawaii trip...guess I picked a good theme when I decorated her room in Hawaiian. Whenever she sees my Dad on the video she says..Thatsa my Pa..then runs to the door saying..I wanna see my Pa. I wonder if her name for my Dad isn't PA but MyPa.

She got her first cut yesterday when she fell on the concrete. It is the tiniest little thing you have ever seen, like a papercut, but both Jeramy and I FREAKED out. We immediatly got the neosporan cleaner out and foamed up her hand..then tried in vain to find a bandaid that would fit in that spot on her hand that she wouldn't take off...no such luck..

Finally, I think I have deemed Tuesdays.."Terrible Toddler Day", Sage decided to empty our silverware drawer yet again and when I told her No..she chucked 3 big spoons at my head and they hit me pretty hard from a pretty close distance since I was squatted down. She got in big trouble for that.
Oh the fun never ends!

Happy Easter

Happy Easter Everyone! Here is a picture of Sage and the Easter Bunny. That was a pretty interesting event. First she had the death grip on Jeramy before we put her on his lap. Then when she was on his lap she would go limp and slide down the bunny. The first few pictures were pretty funny because she was sliding down his lap. This one she is still trying to get away but it turned out pretty cute! She is wearing a cute little dress my mom got her, and we have a white pea coat from my Chicago Emo Katherine, so she looked like a little Jackie O.

She wasn't really too impressed with egg hunting yet. Until I put M&M's inside the eggs. This was the first time she has had chocolate or candy of any kind so she was pretty impressed! I will have to not give them to her and use them as rewards for potty training, which we need to get going on. She did ok at first but then she got scared of sitting on the big toilet and just screams, so I may have to find one of the portable ones, even though, I really don't want to clean them. She really likes sitting in front of a mirror and watching herself dance and do other things, so maybe I will get a mirror so she can watch herself...lol...Any other potty training ideas, if you have already tried the little seat on the adult potty and now she hates it? We would do it first thing in the morning or anytime she woke up and give her something to drink while we ran water and give her a sticker etc., and she was doing really good, now she won't even sit on it...so I guess I will try a portable one and see how that goes. I am kind of waiting for the weather to get nice so she can run around without a dipaer outside etc. I am not a big advocate of pull ups since they are like diapers, but I may try the ones that get cold if they get wet. We will see...she is still so little (20 pounds) that it is hard for her to get up on things even with a stool. Wish us luck, hopefully the M&M's will help!

What's New With Us!

Just a quick post to say hello to everyone and give a quick update...nothing really going on. Pa got Sage her first big girl bed in an attempt to get her to sleep in her own room. Note to anyone who goes out to buy a mattress, really barter with them. My Dad got them to go from $1,400 to $500 for a Queen with a 10 year warranty. Everyone asks (even the delivery guys) why a 2 year old needs a queen size bed, and we say...well they don't come in Princess size and she gets anything she wants. So last night was our first night in the new bed...I laid in there with her and shut the door and she cried...I want my Daddy...I am pretty sure that Jeramy slept on the floor outside of her room. Her other Grandparents just got back from Australia and Disneyland and brought her this huge Mickey sourdough bread. We finally put Grandpa Cal's chair in the living room and she and Jeramy snuggle on it every night. Lami too. Sage thinks she can sit on Lami and ride her like a horse like she does with Toby, Lami is great, she puts up with it.

We all just got over a nasty cold over here. It was actually Sage's first cold and fever. She HATED the bubble gum medicine, and it was interesting trying to get her to take it...I finally just buckled down pinched her cheeks and clamped her mouth shut. When we went to the doctor she weighed 22 pounds on with clothes, a big jacket, heavy shoes and the nurses hand, so I am guessing she is still around 20 pounds. She may be small but let me tell you she had a BIG attitude! Whenever you try and tell her not to do something she says..."Mom" in a really condisending way and tries to reason her way out of it. I wonder where she learned that.

I went on my first trip away from her since she was born and went clam digging with Jeramy and some friends...but mainly I slept the whole time, I wasn't digging. Jeramy was so sweet he bought me my very own pink clam gun! I ended up out digging him both days, guess it was my new pink gun...lol...We are planning another trip in April to meet up with Katy and Mike like we did last year so that should be really fun!

The first picture of her is her new thing, running around with no shirt on. And she LOVES playing with Jeramy's bino's so he took 2 orange juice bottles and red duct tape and made her very own bino's, which she loves, she runs around the house saying...I see you.

To Sage from Daddy

Daddy's turn to tell you a few things about him like Mom did in your first Blog Book.....

1. Likes hiking near St. Helens in the mountains with his friends.
2. Likes to fish with friends and family.
3. Loves to spend time with family at the beach clam digging (even though mom can out dig him) 4. Even though mom didn't like too, Dad got her to camp because he loves it, and you were 7 months the first time you went.
5. Daddy use to race Moto-Cross, his number was 4. He can't wait to get you your first motorcycle with training wheels.
6. Hates computers, and is yelling at mommy now for making him do this.
7. Has a green thumb in the garden and has the best green peppers!
8. Had to go to Disneyland every summer with your Grandma and Grandpa, liked Space Mountain...Mommy and Daddy went with everyone when we first met, but Mom doesn't like rides and she held all the purses.
9. Everybody calls Daddy, Junior because he works with his Dad...but your cousins call him Uncle Norris from the night Avery was born.
10. Favorite ice cream is chocolate chip mint.
11. Right now Daddy has 10 tattoos including your foot prints from when you were a baby, Mommy's name and Mommy's name in Korean on his ring finger.
12. First concert he ever went to was New Kids on the Block, Mommy's first concert was No Doubt and Weezer.
13. Use to play roller hockey.
14. Was the guy who put out the speed cones at Skateland, Mommy can't skate and after seeing Daddy skate for the first time realized..."I married the speed cone guy"
15. One of Daddy's best friends Robert, who Mommy went to school with, introduced us because Robert and Mommy were neighbors.
16. Has gone to Tahsis 2 times with Andy and the Holmans.
17. Has built scaffolding for 11 years.
18. Loves getting our "group hugs" from wife and daughter.
19. Toby is very much Mommy's dog, while Lami who is very obnoxious is Daddy's dog, even though he will tell you otherwise.
20. Went to Lydia Hawk Elementary, Tumwater Middle and High School.
21. Got a Fish Craft drift boat shortly after meeting Mommy, and you loved going to play in the boat. We also have a jet sled that we have never used since we bought it.
22. Mommy and Daddy's first house was on 58th Ct near our current house on Alder Glen Drive. 23. Daddy's first car was a tan Chevy Monza, who he got from Uncle Dusty's Grandpa.
24. Favorite food is elk backstrap, which Mommy hates!
25. Favorite color are blue and green (the color of your and Daddy's eyes).
26. Has been friends with Uncle Dusty for 24 years, they met when they were 6 years old when they were neighbors on the East Side.
27. Kareoked "Family Tradition" at our reception.
28. Daddy's middle name is Lee, like his Dad...and his first name starts with a J like his Dad and Grandpa Jernigan.
29. Wanted to find out the sex of the baby, but was really glad we didn't so that Daddy could tell everyone in the waiting room It's A Girl!
30. Shot a porcupine in Shelton and it is stuffed in our garage.
31. Played the trumpet in the 5th grade, while Mommy played the violin.
32. Won $5,000 in the largest black mouth tournament in the world with Uncle Andy and Uncle James.
33. The first year Daddy and Mommy were together he shot a 4x6 on Mom's birthday.
34. You got your Daddy's adventourus spirit, and are a dare devil, where Mom is a sissy.
35. Daddy was always worried about you choking on stuff and took 2 Infant CPR classes, and always insisted we have a nose bulb thing with us incase you choked, and gave you the hymlic last Christmas. Everyone was always impressed with how hands on Daddy was. He fed you first, changed you first, and gave you your first bath, because Mommy couldn't because of her c-section and you being in the NICU.
36. Is really good buddies with Uncle Dan, and is on the phone with him right now, and he went clam digging with us a few weekends ago. Daddy fit right in with Mom's family who also bow hunted and loved to fish.
37. Played football for the Lacey Sirens when he was little.
38. Mommy and Daddy called you Peanut, and Sis.
39. Daddy's first job was at Skateland.
40. His favorite cereal is Life Cereal.
41. If he could live anywhere in the world it would be in Alaska, while Mommy prefers Hawaii.
42. Your middle name is Donna after Daddy's Grandma Donna Jernigan who he was very close to.
43. Loves to play in the snow, especially the hill at Lydia Hawk. He can't wait to take you sledding when you are bigger!
44. You and Daddy sleep in the master bedroom, because Mommy can't sleep through all of your kicking and moving, so she got kicked out to the guest room.
45. Likes to feed the squirels and watch Lami try to get them..he use to have a pet squirel when he was little.
46. His first dog's name was Spotty, who was a chihuaha.
47. Favorite pizza is a Meat Lovers Pizza.
48. Was the only Daddy at the meeting Mommy had to go to when I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes in a room full of pregnant women. When we got home, Daddy made little snack packs for Mommy and you that we could eat. He would count out the exact amount of chips etc and put them in baggies so we could eat them.
49. Daddy never thought he wanted to be married or have kids, but now that he is, he wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.
50. Always says to Mommy every day, "Have I told you how much I love you today." Without fail, every day he says it to Mommy for as long as we have been together.

A Weekend to Remember in Prosser

This last weekend since Jeramy was going fishing with buddies on the Grande Ronde River, I got the chance to spend some time with my cousins East of the mountains. First stop was to Katy's where not only her 4 kids were there, but Emily's 3...soon to be 4 (as she was in Las Vegas) and my 1. So 8 kids in total. I do not know how Katy did it all week...what a stud..I almost broke down the couple of times that I was left alone with them for short periods of time.

After Katy's I got a chance to go visit my Aunt Marlene who is my Grandma's sister and learn more about my grandma that I never thought to ask when she was alive. Such as where she was born...Pacific Beach and that Aunt Marlene was the only one who wasn't born at home. That she went to Olympia Highschool until she dropped out to go work for the telephone company, I learned about her 2 best friends, Dorothy Darcunans and Ruth Jackson, who took her to a dance where she met my Grandpa, He had just returned from the war and recovery from an injury he sustained in his hand. So he went out and bought a fancy suit, but then got in a fight at the dance either over Grandma or about his hand...at any rate Grandma ended up taking him home lol. My Grandma would always tease Aunt Marlene when she was little and upset by saying "Rip A Tip A Now" and would occassionally do so as adults because they were so close. I learned out of all of my Grandma's siblings there were 3 that went by their middle names, Albert "Gene", Helen "Patricia" and Alice "Marlene." And Uncle Buster got his first name because when he was born he didn't cry and the doctor patted him on the butt and said, "come on Buster cry," Grandpa Duncan use to call Thelma "Bill" most likely from his desire to have a boy and his friend Bill. She later drown whe she was only 13. The family moved around alot but Duncan Eddy still holds the world record for the amount of shingles sawed in an 8 hour period..that has still not broken to this day.

It was just really nice to spend this time with Aunt Marlene and learn about not only her and Uncle Roy as well as numerous questions I never thought to ask about my grandma until it was too late.. It dawned on me that I didn't know much about my Grandma until it was too late, so I am fortunate to get a front row seat to the show.

I would encourage all of you to find out as much as you can about the people you care about so that someday you can pass those memories off to the ones you love.

I was so busy this weekend I didn't think to take any pictures, hopefully Auntie Katy took some she can send. But here are some pictures of pictures with my Grandma in them.

Let's see other than that things are going great. Jeramy is working more, and Sage is trying to work us over more, and for the most part getting away with it. It is really hard sometimes to keep a straigh face when she argues with you when she is in trouble. Also, when she was little I was so OCD about anti bacterializing everythingn she would touch...even public toys such as at Chuck E Cheese, I'd always always wash her hand with the countless hand sanitizer I would have on me...never EVER let anything go in her mouth...now, not so much :o) I guess we are all growing up....now I just need to reclaim my spot in my bedroom from her because she (and he) likes to cuddle with his daddy.