~ JJ & Jezz over the years ~

My sweet precious girls are growing up so fast that I wanted to have a look back at how they developed, how their character is build over the years and how they have changed. And by looking up these pictures in old files many good memories flooded by, so fun to look at old files. To remember the good and sweet times. So great to see how much fun they can have together.

From 0-8, I can tell you it went by FAST! And so I can only imagine how fast the next 8 years will fly by... so it is good to stand back, enjoy the moments, smell the roses, seize the day... you get the idea!

Here JJ & Jezz are just 3 months old, and we just got them on July 27, 2002. We are still living in Thailand. I tried to take a few pictures, but a 3 month old baby can not sit up straight by herself, so I propped them against some pillows, but they would slide down the whole time. It is tough to try to take a picture of ONE baby... let alone 2. All the time either Jezz (R) would slide, or then the hat was in front of their faces.... it took me quite some time to shoot a few decent pictures... but I had so much fun!! I remember that I couldn't stop laughing. :-) I was home alone while Dirk was working and this was my project for the day, in between tons of diapers, bottles and naps. I mean I still wasn't used to being a mom and taking care of 2 babies at the same time was quite a tough task, but I managed to have some real quality time with them... haha more quality for me than for them! Look at these precious faces, I could eat them!! I remember this moment so vividly. I even changed their outfit once and took a few more....



We just moved to the USA with the girls, but I had to show the babies to our family in the Netherlands, so one month later we flew to Holland for a vacation. The girls are 18 months old here and have been in 3 continents already! This will be the pace for the rest of their lives. At least as long as they are living with us. Traveling with mommy and daddy to many countries, but at this age they have no clue yet. Jezz on the R again.



2 years old. They were always sitting together, playing close and interested in the same things. Inseparable these 2. Jezz on the L now. She wanted those fuzzy things in her hair, but JJ had no interest....



Playing with bubbles in our garden in Connecticut, such a beautiful garden we had! 3 Years + 4 months old. And again, not far from each other.... Jezz on the L.



Back in Thailand for a 3 month sabbatical, here at a water park in Pattaya. The girls had so much fun with the water fountain. They are almost 4. Jezz on the R.



You can see their personalities shine a bit more through now they get older, here they are almost 5 and giggling away because one of the balloons they were playing with went flying off with this huge buzzing sound, it cracked them up! Jezz on the R.



The last month we were in Ridgefield, Connecticut. The girls are looking at an ant in a tree, very inquisitive these two! They didn't even notice me with my camera around... 6 years old, and about to embark on a new adventure to South Africa! Jezz in the white dress.



While I am trying to take a portrait from Jezz, JJ is making a funny face in the back. Even Jezz is trying to hold a straight face but you can see that she has a bit of a funny face... Now the girls are 7 years old.



And being 8 and growing out of that little girl face, they are becoming pre-teens or tweens as they call it right? However, not much has changed in their relationship. Still as close as ever, JJ a bit more the dominant one, but Jezz knows how to work her sister and takes advantage of JJ good heart. So funny to see them together, they don't need much words... and you know what still sleeping together in 1 single bed. Almost every night Jezz goes to her sister and snuggles up to her... too cute!



How great it is to have twins, their bond is beyond words. They almost never fight with each other and can play together for hours on one end. They don't need a play date, they have enough with each other. Some days on the weekend, when we don't have anything planned they just retreat to their play room and play, play, read, and play some more. They just stay in their domain and enjoy each others company.

Sometimes it is so quite and I go up and see them sitting next to each other, mostly Thai style... you know the way.... with their feet on the table and squatting and reading both a book, next to each other just for hours.

Or other days they are more into role playing and play and play forever, changing clothes, changing themes. Once in a few hours they come down to the kitchen for a snack or a drink, but besides that you wouldn't even notice we have 2 eight year olds in the house!

And then there are the other days that they play in the garden, jumping from the hot tub into the cool pool, they love that as well, but again, they can entertain themselves for so long. I can't really remember any details but I know for sure that in my household when I was a a kid, it wasn't as quite as with these 2 girls!! We were always fighting, making noise, and messing the whole house up. Well... at least the play room is also totally messy when the girls played there, it must be messy otherwise they don't feel content... haha! So there is a sign in the house that we have 2 eight year olds... just walk into their play room!

Jasmine & Juliet are such a blessing to us, we truly enjoy being their parents, and I can't wait to see them develop into young smart, gorgeous looking ladies. With a future that holds no limits!

Have a wonderful day
Mireille