Happy Birthday Jesse!

Tomorrow is my brother Jesse's 23rd birthday, and one month from tomorrow will be the eve of his wedding, so I've been thinking a lot about him and his life the past few days as we are preparing for all the wedding festivities.  I've been thinking about particular memories and moments in time that stand out in my mind.  

• I think I remember changing his diaper once.  I have this memory of Mom being upstairs in bed and me changing Jesse.  That would have been a rare occurrence.  

• I remember him chomping on a carrot on a trip to the beach and his big, beautiful smile.  I was such a little mama to my brothers when they were babies.  When they got a little older they abandoned me to hang out with each other, but I think they appreciated having someone else to help take care of them when they were little.

I can see a bit of James here.

I could probably reenact this picture with James in a few weeks.
These must have beens some of Jesse's first steps.

• I remember dropping him in this jacuzzi in the Smokies.  I was really scared; I couldn't see him because of the bubbles.  Thankfully, no harm done.

• Jesse always had a baby blanket tied around his neck.  Batman was his hero.

• I remember him falling asleep on the ferry, though to this day he'll swear he didn't.
• I remember calling him C(abbage)P(atch)B(elly)B(utton).  I'm sorry about that.  I think the out-ie is gone anyway, though, so hopefully he's not emotionally scarred.
• We watched a lot of Star Wars and I watched a lot of light saber fights.

• Jesse liked swords.  Perhaps he also wanted to be a pirate.  "...and then they made me their chief."

• Jesse liked guns.  He still likes guns.

• I remember bringing KJ home to meet my brothers for the first time.  As we drove up to the house Jesse came flying off the roof on a zip-line.
• I got to spend a lot of time with Jesse during the semester I was home before I got married.  I can safely say I introduced him to his love of photography.  We went out taking pictures with my Canon for a school project of his, and I gave him my textbook from my photography class at UM.  I played chauffeur to he and Judson to various movies.  We went to the midnight showing of The Return of the King.  
• I loved it when Jesse would drive up to Louisville to visit KJ and I.  It was so much fun having him there.  He held Ella for me one night when she was really upset so I could get ready for bed.  She was so mad.  He said she called him something, "and it sure wasn't 'sport'."  I really enjoyed our special day taking pictures near Lincoln's birthplace.

• I have loved watching the Lord grow Jesse in the grace and knowledge of Him.  It is such a joy.  And we are so excited to welcome Sandy into our family.  It is so easy to see how she will complete him as his wife.  Only one month away!

There is so much more I could say about Jesse, and I want him to write down a few of his stories from this past year of working for the Birmingham Police Department.  He is a great story-teller, and you would enjoy them greatly.