HAPPY BIRTHDAY JET!!!

(Handsome Brother!)
Ahhh...having a "baby" brother. The joy! The trouble. And the thrill of watching him get his fanny spanked, while I got off "scott-free" (which RARELY happened!!!).

Today is my brother's birthday.

He's 31. Gee-whiz! What does that make ME???!!! Not funny, JET!!!(when I was pregnant w/Tyler...JET was Summerlyn's age now...11 years old)
I barely remember the day he was born. I was eight. I've wondered through the years, how my children have such great memories for being so young. It seems that they can remember and talk about things from the age of 4 or 5 (at least SCARLETT can, as she's only 6 now), and I can barely remember things from when I was younger.
(Jet w/Tyler)
I remember Mama & Daddy coming by my elementary school to say "good-bye", when they went to the hospital to have my brother (his name is Jonathan Edward Thomas...JET). I think I remember my Mom sitting on a towel or a towel in the floorboard of the car, and I think the car was dark blue. That sounds silly except that my Mom's water had broken, which would make sense. I'm sure I've probably seen pictures over the years to "help" my memory.
(Carmen-8 yrs old)
And I think the reason that I don't remember more from those younger years, is that Daddy gave me too much NyQuil to help me go to sleep...JUST KIDDING! (My Mom is probably having trouble breathing right now!).
(JET's kindergarten picture)
I remember being at my friend Sandra Gilbert's house, when her mother told us that I had a new baby brother. I didn't really comprehend that at first...just couldn't understand what that meant. All I knew was that I was getting to play at my friends house and we were going to have a sleepover!
(Dad purposely raised us crazy...)
My next memories of Jonathan consist of this little baby (if you call 8lbs, 8oz. LITTLE!) in a sleeping gown in his crib, which had the matching crib sheet. So I could barely tell where little baby brother stopped and where the crib sheet began! He had a sweet head and dark hair. And he was definitely on the chubby side! And Mama & Daddy kept showing me a special spot on the top of his head that was soft. Something about not poking it...(now you know what really happened!)...HA! I don't remember a lot of things that others might...like the first time I saw the "he" part. Or how he sounded when he screamed. And I don't remember what I really thought of him, only that I struggled with some sibling jealousy initially. But I DO remember how cute he was...he was the cutest baby I'd ever seen. With dark eyes, a button nose, and chubby cheeks...well...chubby everything! He smelled good, too.
(JET at 10)
And I DO remember the time that my hamster's escaped from their cage...and how one of them ran RIGHT INTO Jonathan's nursery. My Mom was panicked, and I felt horrible! Of course, I don't remember how the hamster's escaped...but that's not important! What's important is that we found them all (I think there were 3), and returned them to their cage.
(Jet at 11)
It's funny how your memories get stirred up. As I started having children myself, I remembered so many things about when Jonathan was little. How he looked as he stood inside his crib, holding on to the rail and chomping down on his itchy gums. How he would push baby food out of his mouth when he didn't like the taste. And later on...when he was a toddler...how he would constantly move his hands. I'm sure he was probably ADHD...but they didn't know about that stuff way back then!

(JET's football pic)(After JET's surgery...I was pregnant w/Luke)
I'd love to show you pictures of that yummy little baby boy, but Mama has them "packed up" somewhere, and I don't have any myself, despite the fact that I was like another mommy to him. I just wasn't into picture taking at the ripe old age of 8! Over the years, I've certainly felt like I mothered JET in some way...except that at 8 years old, I couldn't possibly have birthed him! AND...he did irritate me and get me extra spankings as a child...which definitely makes him a bratty little brother. But without a doubt, God blessed our family so much with Jonathan...and here's my birthday wish for him...

(Mom & Dad...don't worry...they don't look like that now...!)

"Honor your father and your mother,

as the LORD your God has commanded you,
so that you may live long
and that it may go well with you
in the land the LORD your God is giving you." Deuteronomy 5:16

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JONATHAN!!!
I'm so glad you were born!!!
(Papaw & JET...I think JET is 22)
(JET & Tyler...JET is 20)