Introducing Clark Scott

Clark Scott, you made your debut in this world on 12/29/2015 at 9:22am, weighing 7 pounds and measuring 20 inches. Thanks to your amazing dad, an angel on earth of a nurse, and your speediness (thank you!), it was a relatively easy 13 hour labor and delivery.

You look exactly like your dad - lucky for you, he's the best looking guy around! Your lips have perfectly defined peaks like his, your cheeks take up half of your face like his, you both have unfairly naturally long beautiful eyelashes (I pay good money to make my lashes look half that length!), and when I catch a glimpse of your eyes, they take my breath away the same way his do. I can only hope that you'll also inherit his sense of humor, his quiet strength, his passion for fun, and his love for Jesus. I would add that I hope you're even a smidgen as gifted of a musician as he is, but with half of your genes coming from me, the deck is stacked against you...sorry about that one!

We first learned that you would become a part of our family on Monday, May 4th, 2015 - Star Wars Day. Please don't grow up to love Star Wars - your mom doesn't understand any of it, or how it is different from Star Trek. We were thrilled, terrified, and in a little bit of disbelief that you were real...similar to how we feel right now.

Your name is very special to us, and it comes from both sides of your family tree. Long before I met your dad, I had started a list of future names that I would like for my children. My top two names were Ryann (for a girl), and Sloane (for a boy or a girl). Then I fell in love with a tall, handsome, wonderful man that you will know as "dad", but to the rest of the world, he is Ryan Sloan. And because he is the biggest party pooper of all time, he wouldn't let me name you Sloane Sloan.

Your name comes from your Great Uncle --- Larry Clark. You won't get to meet him in this lifetime, but I assure you, that you will hear stories about him for all of your days. He was your mom's uncle - Grandpa Higdon's only sibling - and he was one of my very favorite people in all of the world. He passed away when I was just a teenager, but he made a lasting impact on my life.

As you may have gathered by now, Clark is an homage to him. Also, Will Clark was your dad's favorite baseball player when he was growing up. He became a St. Louis Cardinal at the end of his career, and Clark Street is the street where Busch Stadium is found (you'll learn that we take our Cardinals baseball very seriously in this family!).

That brings us to Scott. Your Great Grandma Kay's maiden name was Scott, which she gave your Pop as a middle name. He passed it onto your dad, and we are passing it onto you. Knowing our rebellious personalities, you'll probably be the one in the family who refuses to carry on the tradition, but that's a story for another day.

We found out that you were a boy on Friday, August 14th, 2015...your Great Uncle Larry's birthday. In a further point of significance, it is also your Great Aunt Donna's birthday - Grandpa Higdon's brother and Grandma Higdon's sister had the same birthday! The irony was not lost on me, as we already knew what your name would be whether you were a boy or a girl, and I couldn't help but feel like it was a wink from my Uncle Larry that day.

He didn't have any kids of his own, but he always treated me like the most important person in the room. I was a picky eater as a kid (your dad will tell you that I still am...don't listen to him!), but I loved Goldfish crackers and chicken strips with French fries. Every time we visited his house, the minute I walked through the door, he would take my hand and walk me to the kitchen where he would open the lazy Susan and point out the industrial sized box of Goldfish crackers, and give me a wink like it was our secret. Because he didn't have children of his own, he wasn't great with respecting a kid's undying wish to be "bigger" (it's overrated - stay little for as long as you can!), and he always referred to me as "The Baby". When I was 16 years old and driving a car, he still only called me "The Baby". I hated it at the time, but as I look back on it, I love that he did that. Every single time the adults would be discussing where to go to dinner, Uncle Larry would chime in with "It needs to have chicken strips and French fries - the baby likes that." Again, he had no kids of his own, so he didn't realize that literally every restaurant in the world serves that meal. Long after my food preferences had grown to accommodate many other meals, Uncle Larry made sure that wherever we ate had the great delicacy known as "chicken strips and fries".

He was a very, very funny man. Just like your dad and grandfathers, there was always laughter when he was in the room. Big, booming, deep laughter that filled your soul with joy. I hope that you'll laugh as often as he did - it really is medicine for your soul. Most of the funny stories I know about Uncle Larry aren't terribly appropriate for someone your age, but ask me someday what "Just patting the dog" and "Two pats and a push" means...I promise you, I will remember.

As an extra little tidbit, after we had your name decided, we realized that when mom lived in Las Vegas, I lived in Clark County. Since moving to our current town, we live in (and you were born in) Scott County. You'll learn that your dad is a geography nerd, so I find it pretty fitting that your name also has a nod to that.

Tonight is your first night home. You and I are snuggled on the couch as I write this while the rest of the house gets some much needed sleep. I keep stopping just to look at you, kiss your head, and thank God for the millionth time for picking us to be your parents. We prayed for you before you were conceived, we prayed for you while I was pregnant, we prayed for you while you were being born, and we'll pray for you every day for the rest of our lives.

We love you, Clark Scott. Welcome to this crazy ride!