East Coast Thanksgiving

We had such a great trip to the East Coast last week! It was so special to be with so many people we love at the same time. Our trip was jam packed, but we got some very good quality time with our cousin Thea, who we adore. She is such a good big cousin and likes to take care of us. We did so many things including a beautiful Thanksgiving dinner in NYC at Aunt Judi and Uncle Shel's house, an awesome brunch at Uncle Benny and Stephanie's new place in Jersey City, playing in the park, eating LOTS of pizza and bagels, a fun bday celebration for Grandpa Richard, and lots of visits with Mama's family and friends. We are all recovering from the trip back and fighting off colds, but feel very grateful that we were able to all go to Jersey as a family and had the chance to make such special memories.

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October madness

Sorry we are so late to post these pictures! October was terrific, I had such an awesome time pumpkin picking and enjoying Halloween this year. We started off the season with our annual trip to the pumpkin patch and Jilly and I had a blast running through the mud and making Daddy carry our big pumpkins. The following weekend we got to go to a birthday party for our friend Harry at another pumpkin patch/farm. There we got to ride on ponies and a very cool train. Mama and Daddy were very surprised how much Jilly and I loved the ponies, they thought we would be scared. Halloween was so much fun! I was very excited to wear my bee costume that Mama and I got months ago. I had a party with all of my friends, Jilly had a party at her school and then we went trick or treating with my best friend Miya and her little sister. Miya and I held hands the whole time. It was a blast and I was very sad when Mama put my bee costume away. Now we are getting ready for our big trip to NY/NJ next week! Many more photos to come.

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CA Country Fun

We just got back from a very exciting trip to CA to visit our Granny, Grandpa Frank, Auntie Kerry and Mimi. It was certainly an adventure for all of us, but we had a wonderful time. I got to see what country life is like and I especially loved feeding the neighbor's llamas, walking around Granny's big yard and swinging in the swings that Grandpa Frank put together for us. We also had a super fun outing to Fairytale Town with Auntie Kerry and Glo! What a cool place? We could have stayed forever. Granny had a party for all of our friends and family and we enjoyed playing with Grant and Allison and getting to catch up with everyone. Our journey home was a difficult one, but we all survived safe and sound and Mama and Daddy are getting over their PTSD :) Here are some pics from our adventure!

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Just the two of us

Jilly D here! Nina and I have been up to so much lately that she felt she was too busy to write, so here I am. I pretty much want to do everything that Nina does these days, including climbing on top of chairs, couches and tables. She makes me laugh so hard, but also drives me crazy when she won't share her toys. We are both in school now, Nina gets dropped off and Mama goes to school w/ me. It's a co-op preschool and we go one morning a week and so far I really like it, especially since Mama doesn't leave. In a couple of weeks we are all off to CA to visit Daddy's family and then for Thanksgiving we'll be heading back East to see Mama's family. Two big plane trips are making Mama and Daddy very anxious, but also excited to see so many people we miss and love. People stop Mama all the time now to ask if we are twins. We still don't look that much alike but the initial view with brown curly heads makes it look like we do. Here are some pictures and a video of me and my big sis and our recent adventures.

Florida Grandparents visit

Grandpa Richard and Grandma Jane came from Florida to visit us and brought their hot weather with them! We had a couple of scorchers..for Seattle anyway, but enjoyed our pool in the backyard and lots of popsicles! We had a great time with Grandpa and Grandma and did a lot of fun things together. Grandpa even bought me a fancy basketball net, which I helped him put together. Jilly had a great time too and even took a long walk with Grandpa, Mama posted the video below. Enjoy our pictures!

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Jilly and her tricks

Jilly D here! I just turned 14 months old and I'm doing so much, something new everyday. I really love playing with my sister, she makes me laugh so hard. We wrestle like baby bear cubs and like to throw balls back and forth. I have learned how to sign "more" and "all done" which has been very helpful for Mama and Daddy to know what I need. I am walking a lot more now and can say "bye bye" and "Mama" and Nina and I have fun yelling back and forth at each other. Here is a video of me performing my new tricks.

Visit with Auntie and The Uncle

Summer is in full swing here in Seattle and we were so grateful to have more of Mama's family here to share it all with us, Aunt Judi and Uncle Shel! We did so much together including lots of drawing, Aunt Judi is the best artist I've ever seen. We also went to a kids music class at the Seattle Symphony, where Jilly and I got to play with actual violins, cellos and keyboards. I was able to show Aunt Judi and Uncle Shel off to my friends and the Rabbi at my school's Family Shabbat Dinner too. Even though Jilly still is pretty attached to Mama and Daddy, she finally let Aunt Judi hold her on their last day here, that was a relief. Mostly we just had a wonderful time sharing our daily goings on with two very important people in Mama and Daddy's life. We miss them lots, here are some pics from our adventures.

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Horowitz Reunion 2012

We had an amazing week with my Uncle Luke, Cousin Thea and Uncle Benny. It was the first time we've all been together so it was very special. I had an absolute blast with everyone, especially Thea. I liked following her around and my favorite part of the trip was when she fed me M&Ms. Here are a ton of pictures from our fabulous week together!

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I'm named!

Jilly D here recovering from my party hearty weekend. It was an exciting few days, celebrating my first birthday and baby naming. Everyone in the family loved having my relatives in town, except me. I wasn't a huge fan and wouldn't let anyone hold me, but I did tolerate a few playing with me. Mama hopes I come around, she says they are all wonderful people and Nina really likes them, so maybe I'll give it a whirl. My Granny, Mimi and Auntie Kerry were here along with my Aunt Leslie and Aunt Mary to join in all the festivities. The photos from my party will be coming in a couple of weeks, but for now I wanted to post the video of my naming ceremony. It was a very special day for all of us. Fortunately the Seattle weather cooperated as well! Enjoy.

Happy First Birthday Jillian!

Today our sweet baby Jillian turned one, hard to believe how fast this year has gone. It's been a challenging year, with lots of sleep deprivation, but also one of the most fulfilling we've ever experienced. Here is a little video I put together of some of our favorite memories of Jillian's first year.

Bathing beauties

Had to share some bathtime fun from this evening!

Eleven months

Jilly D here at 11 months old! I'm up to lots of new things here including crawling like crazy, standing up on anything I can get to and now clapping. Mama has been trying to capture me clapping on video but hasn't succeeded yet. Nina is a great big sister but really hates me grabbing her toys away from her. She still gives me hugs and kisses though. Looking forward to my first birthday and lots of celebrations!

The Shaw Sisters

They are available for weddings, bar mitzvahs and any other special occasions.

Will crawl for food

Jilly D here, check me out today!

Spring is in the air

Happy Passover and Easter to all of you!  We had a great time celebrating both.  The celebrations kicked off with a Passover party at my school.  I was in a bad mood that day so it didn't end well, Mama said she doesn't want to relive my meltdown so I'll spare you all that story.

We had my best friend Miya and her family over for a Passover dinner.  It was the shortest seder ever considering there were four of us under 2 1/2 yrs old.

Easter was a bit of a bummer to start as I had a stomach bug.  I felt better in the afternoon though so Daddy hid some eggs in the backyard and I got to go on a hunt with my new bunny basket.  I still managed to enjoy my fruit snacks that were hidden inside the eggs.

The weather here in Seattle has been amazing so we've been outside a lot.  I got a cool new slide (thank you Aunt Judi and Uncle Shel) and Daddy put it together this weekend.  I've been having a blast on it, though I'm not sure how I feel about Jilly sharing it with me.

Jilly turned 10 months old and is on the verge of crawling.  I've been a great big sister lately, giving her lots of kisses and hugs and always making her smile.

Lots of photos of our springtime fun. 
Kodak Gallery: Jessica's Photos - Spring 2012

Dancing queen

I really enjoy creating my own songs and dancing along to them. Here is a video Mama took of me performing for Daddy.

Nine months

Last week I turned nine months old. I can't believe I'm almost through my first year! Mama is already planning my big one year party, can't wait.

I'm up to lots of new things. I eat pretty much anything Mama and Daddy give me but my favorite is definitely bread of any kind. Nina and I like to play together now and she continues to crack me up. No one makes me laugh like she does. I'm starting to get up on my hands and knees and can scoot backwards, though I'm not too interested in moving. I much prefer sitting up and watching everything around me.

The biggest news is that it looks like I'm going to have Mama's curls too! We got a good picture of them.

"Two" much fun

Guess what? I'm two! I had such a great birthday week with many celebrations.

My mom's friend Auntie Carolyn was visiting us from NYC on my actual bday, which was a blast. We went to Red Robin for dinner and they sang to me, brought me a balloon and an awesome ice cream sundae. It was also Jilly's 8 month bday that day so I did let her share in the celebration a bit.

The big bday week ended with a bash at Gymboree that Mama threw with a couple of my friend's Moms. We all met in a newborn baby group two years ago so it was a trip to reminisce about the past two years together. I especially loved my cake, I was the last kid at the table munching away. Jilly had a lot of fun too, she munched on pizza crust and played hard. The last photo was of Jilly after the party, she was snoring she was so tired.

Mama and Daddy keep telling me how proud they are of me and how much joy I bring to them. That makes me happy and I can't wait for many more exciting bdays to come!

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Kodak Gallery: Nina's 2nd birthday

Water baby

It's Jilly D here! I just started swim lessons with Daddy and wanted to share a photo Mama took of me in my new watermelon bathing suit.

I like my bathing suit more than the pool so far, but Daddy is determined so we are going back again this week. I'll report back.

Snow and more

So much to report I don't know where to begin! Probably with our snow storm that we had a few weeks ago. Mama said it didn't live up to the "snowpocalypse" and "snowmageddon" terms that were being used by Seattlites, but it was a lot for us. I loved walking and playing in it but I didn't get to go to school for a week and we were bored at home after a few days.

Jilly is now officially sitting up and it's really fun to see her developing into a little person. She loves to play with toys, especially mine and I don't appreciate that. I'm learning about taking turns.

We had some sunshine for a few days so Mama took us for a walk in the double stroller and Jilly sat in it like I do, no car seat! She really liked riding that way. She even tried the swings at the park and loved that too.

Here are some photos from our all of our firsts.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Nothing like a good book

Today a great big box arrived from my Uncle Luke and Cousin Thea. It was full of clothes, toys and best of all...books. I love to read, here is a video of me sampling one of my new books.

Oh yea, those are Hanukkah stickers on my face...why not?