Jayci's Celebration of Life by Robbie Anderson

Nearly 17 months ago, on the afternoon of December 1, 2009, Layne and Krissy were on their way to the hospital, anticipating the birth of their 2nd baby girl that day.
In Krissy’s own words:
The drive in was talk of excitement for a new baby. Layne was so excited to finally get her here. I was excited for Ellie to be a big sister. I kept saying out loud to the baby, “Get yourself ready because it’s no longer going to be quiet time; you’re going to get PLENTY of love.”

At 5:24 p.m. Miss Jayci Lillian Darrington took her first breath, and mom and dad fell head-over-heels in love with our new baby girl! Weighing in at 6 lbs. 15 oz. and 19 inches long. What an amazing day for our family to have one more beautiful baby girl!

Looking back, a year later, on Jayci’s first birthday, Krissy wrote:
It seems like yesterday I was the happiest mama in labor in the world. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I didn’t feel any pain with Jayci, and I got to enjoy the experience. I loved that I got to laugh and have a good time while she was being welcomed into the world. But what I didn’t know at the time is that Heavenly Father was preparing me for the days ahead when all I can do is shake my head and laugh at everything she does. Seriously, if she wasn’t so cute. . .

Layne and Krissy have asked me to share with each of you what a special, unique and wonderful daughter of God that Jayci is. I hope you will be able to understand how much they loved and cherished their daughter, and how much joy she brought into their lives.

There is no way to talk about Jayci without mentioning her nickname, which is “The Beast.” I’m sure there are many people who wonder how such a beautiful little girl could earn the title of “The Beast.” It was an absolute term of endearment, and she earned the title from a very young age. As soon as Jayci was able to move at all, she was EVERYWHERE and into EVERYTHING!
Most of my words are taken directly from Krissy’s blog, who always says it best.

From a blog entry on December 1, 2010
I love that you will always be known as “The Beast” because of all those crazy things that you do every single day.

December 21, 2010
I’m pretty sure Jayci is 100% BEASTLY! (And by “Beastly” I mean pretty darn cute in her own special way). It is her nickname, and I love it when people ask me how “The Beast” is.

November 2, 2010
I have this 11-month-old that is far more than I bargained for. Where did this little “BEAST” come from? Most days I send Layne a text that starts something like this: “The Beast…” and it ends with something that she has done throughout the day that has caught me off guard.

Jayci was a beautiful little beast, and brought joy and laughter to her family from day one. She wanted to spend as much time with them as possible, which resulted in her being a terrible sleeper.

April 1, 2010 (4 months)
The post is titled: Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Sleeper
We sure love this girl and are enjoying every minute with her, except at 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 in the morning.

June 27, 2010
Jayci pretends she is a monster ONLY when her hands are in her mouth. She is quiet until your hand or hers is in that mouth- then watch out! She growls and is louder and louder with every second!
I cannot believe Monster Jayci is 6-months-old. I don’t know what I have ever done without her.

February 1, 2010
Jayci has the curliest, craziest dark brown hair. Usually it’s out of control and there is no fixing it.
Layne thinks that she is going to be his adventurous one. She wants to fly, bounce and move all the time.

Ellie was so excited for Jayci to come so she could finally be a big sister. From the very beginning, Ellie insisted on changing Jayci’s diaper at least once a day.
Ellie and Jayci were best friends and partners-in-crime.

June 27, 2010
Jayci’s favorite person in the whole world is her sister. Jayci is convinced she is the funniest person on the planet. If Ellie walks into the room when Jayci is crabby, she will instantly quiet down and just giggle at her sister.


March 1, 2010
Whenever Jayci starts crying, I hear Ellie running to the rescue. Within seconds, I hear her singing, “I am a Child of God.” She is the best big sister. I love that no matter what she wants “her baby” to be happy, and 9 times out of 10, singing to Jayci gets her to stop crying.

March 16, 2010
Oh, having a sister is too much fun. As I was getting ready for our Anniversary Date with Layne, I had Jayci sitting in the bumbo on the toilet so she could sit up and watch. I walked away for two minutes. When I came back, Ellie was putting makeup on 3-month-old Jayci. Jayci had mascara all over her face. It was pretty cute, but definitely time to put the makeup away. Oh boy! Ellie is so good with her that it just melts my heart to watch them together.

April 12, 2010
The other night, Ellie insisted on holding Jayci and watching TV. I had to laugh because Jayci would not take her eyes off of me. It was like she was begging me to save her, but just couldn’t say it out loud. But she just snuggled right in and relaxed for a good 15 minutes until Ellie had had her fill of her sister and announced that she was done.

May 1, 2010
I had laid Jayci in her crib for a second while I was trying to find Ellie’s pajamas. While I was on the hunt, I could hear Ellie and Jayci giggling. When I went to check on them, Ellie was hiding under the covers in Jayci’s crib with her. No one can make Jayci giggle like Ellie.

From a blog post on October 20, 2010, titled T.R.O.U.B.L.E.
I had put the girls in the tub together, then got Jayci out, lotioned her up, and put her pajamas on. I sent her to the living room and went to get Ellie a towel. I got side tracked for about two minutes, then heard Ellie screaming, “Mom, Jayci is in the tub with me!!!” What? Are you kidding me? The baby can’t even walk but can crawl over the edge of the tub and get in? Are you serious? I know she loves bath time, but did she have to get in TWICE?
Later that night, Layne and I were watching TV in the living room while the girls were playing in our room. I looked at Layne and said that it was far too quiet with both of them in there. We laughed and forgot about it. Later that night, while we were getting ready for bed, Layne said to me, “Krissy, you can’t get mad at me for leaving my clothes on the floor.” I looked over, and sure enough, the BEAST had emptied out his drawers. She had somehow managed to push the stool up to the dresser and empty his drawer. Awesome!
WHY or HOW can a not-quite 11-month-old be so active and not be able to walk? Don’t get me wrong…I love that little soul. But she is not even ONE YET!!!



Although Jayci loved getting into trouble with Ellie, she was also perfectly capable of doing it all on her own as well.

September 13, 2010
Crazy Nine Months
Today Jayci is nine months old. Within two weeks, she went from rolling to sitting to crawling on all fours. She is crawling everywhere! With Ellie, I never had to worry about putting anything away- she was completely content to leave everything alone. Well, not #2, or as I like to call her, Monster. She growls at everything and is constantly into EVERYTHING. Not things she can play with, mind you. The no-no stuff. I give her a toy…she finds coins. I give her a treat…she finds crayons. I give her a sucker…she smears it everywhere. You get the point. I am in trouble!

From another post titled T.R.O.U.B.L.E. on March 13, 2011
Jayci loves to dump the cereal all over the ground. She dumps it out and eats the marshmallows and leaves the rest. I can’t say that I don’t blame her, but I HATE cleaning up cereal 20 times a day.

Jayci loved to be in her walker, and Krissy often let her walk all over their front patio outside. Jayci loved to chase Tank, their dog, in her walker. For those of you who haven’t met Tank, he is a HUMUNGOUS St. Bernard who TOWERED over Jayci.
On October 9, 2010, Krissy wrote, Jayci is rough when it comes to running into people in her walker, and she thinks it’s hilarious. Not even Tank gets out of the way of the BEAST in her walker. I sure love this little girl.

From December 17, 2010
We just love every ounce of this child. Lately she is into parking her walker into the Christmas tree. The tree has seen more love than in any years past. She definitely makes my life interesting.

From a post on August 11, 2010 titled Commander of Destruction
Last night, after I had taken the girls out of the bathtub and into their pajamas, I went into the kitchen to make Ellie a smoothie. When I came back, my little destructor was at it again. You cannot leave this little one alone for five minutes. I wish I would have captured a picture of her yesterday afternoon, but I was too angry…I had just vacuumed and had to do it all over again. Jayci had knocked the garbage over, took the old flour bag, and drug it around the dining room, into the living room, and stopped in my bedroom. Needless to say, I was vacuuming again!!! She is pretty dang cute and I wouldn’t change her for the world. But I would allow someone to borrow her for a while.



December 1, 2010
Oh how I love being your Mommy. You make us laugh all the time. I love when you look at me when you are doing something wrong and give me the biggest cheesy grin with those cute 8 very crooked teeth. I love that you are always one step ahead of me. If you are in one mess, you move quickly to another before I get the first one cleaned up.
I love when she throws her head in the air and smiles what we call the “TEETH” smile. I love when she eats- she closes her eyes and shakes her head like she is enjoying every bite that goes into her mouth. Then, when she is done enjoying her food, she literally spits it right back into your face.
On her first birthday, I was standing five feet away when she dumped ¾ of the bottle of Kirkland dish soap down the front of her WHILE she was eating it. Awesome! I still don’t know how I’m going to get ½ a gallon of dish soap out of her clothes- I don’t want to have a bubble mess everywhere.
I love it when Ellie scolds her and calls her “Jayci Lillian” just like her mom.
Layne and I have enjoyed her every single day and laugh at all the things she does.
At one year, Jayci sprint crawls everywhere. She thinks her dad walks on the moon. She laughs when she is in trouble. She has the cutest facial expressions and the best personality. She is the BEAST!

Jayci had a special relationship with all her relatives. She was truly loved and cherished by all her grandparents and relatives.
On October 1, 2010, Krissy wrote:
A few weeks ago, Uncle Hobbie (Layne’s brother, Kelly) thought he might take Jayci for a ride in the tractor. I really thought he’d call within the hour and say, “Krissy, come and get her.” But he never did. 3 ½ hours later, I called to check on them and he said she hadn’t cried and is still as happy as a clam. She loves him and he loves her, and they are happy together.

Jayci also had a very special relationship with her daddy. Many people have mentioned that they never once saw Jayci when she wasn’t in her daddy’s arms. In all fairness, I know Krissy did plenty of wrestling with Jayci during Relief Society, but you could always find Layne at church, holding Jayci in his arms.

On October 20, 2010, Krissy wrote:
We really haven’t had many opportunities to go and ride in the tractor with Layne this year. Ellie was begging to go see her dad. We called him and he was happy to have us. We probably rode with him for over an hour. It was good quality time with dad, and Jayci kept grabbing at her dad and saying “Da Da Da.” He was so excited because she really hasn’t been that talkative, so she definitely knew who dad a was.


January 12, 2011
Jayci eats EVERYTHING! Anything and everything- steak, eggs, chicken, fish (especially crab)- you make it, the kid eats it!

March 1, 2011 (15 months)
Jayci is trying to talk a lot. She jibber jabbers and makes up all kinds of stories. She is really into throwing everything away. Books, clothes, shoes, blankets, etc… I find the darndest things in the trash.

April 1, 2011 (16 months)
Jayci is quite the character. Right now, she is in her crib, kicking the wall as hard as she can, laughing and talking non-stop. She is supposed to be sleeping, but pounding the wall is way more fun. She is also out-of-control in the morning. And by out-of-control, I mean the happiest jumping bean I have ever seen. Layne is not a morning person. I get Jayci up and try to lay her in bed with us, but there is no laying. She is bouncing, jumping, and sitting on our heads, throwing blankets off the bed, and doing whatever she can to get her dad up.
She is still into everything. Her new favorite things are the plungers and the toilet bowl brush. She loves to hit Ellie with them and try to brush her teeth with the toilet brush. MOST of the time, I catch her before that happens, but a few times, I have been way too slow. She is quick!

November 6, 2010
Where O Where Can My Beast Be?
I had been in my room folding laundry, and couldn’t hear Jayci terrorizing anything, so I went to find her. I was calling her name, and still couldn’t find her. I called out for Ellie, and we went looking for her. How hard can it be to find an 11-month-old in a four-room proximity? A few seconds later, I heard a rustling sound under the sink, and sure enough, that little beast had crawled in there and shut herself in. She was SOAKED from playing in the bucket that catches the water run-off. She had been dipping her face and hands into the bucket. Gotta love a child that roams and finds new adventures every day!

April 7, 2011
A Great Day
Jayci got tubes in her ears in the morning, then came home and took a four-hour nap. After her nap, I put up all the normal barricades to keep her out of trouble, and went to my room to do Zumba on the wii. When I was done, Jayci was quiet, and I couldn’t find her. Eventually, I called out enough, and she answered me, hiding out in Ellie’s closet. I didn’t think anything of it until I went to the candy drawer to get a Cadbury Egg. They were GONE and they were MINE! Well, let me just tell you, there were THREE of them in there, and they were GONE!!! I asked Ellie if she had eaten them, and she said, “no, mom, but I saw Jayci with one.” Jayci ate all THREE of them, foil and ALL!!!
I went to investigate the situation, and discovered that the little beast had pushed the case of 36 waters from Costco underneath the candy drawer and got what she wanted. She is seriously sooo sooo smart…and knows to do things when I’m busy or preoccupied!