23 Weeks Old!

Another week has gone by...Avalon will be 23 weeks old tomorrow!


I'm posting this entry today since Avalon and I will be flying up to Seattle later today to spend the week at my parent's house. John will stay in LA and work. I think he might be excited about finally getting some solid sleep for a few days!


We had another action packed week. This week, Avalon got her Aussie passport paperwork filed. And....John became a US Citizen! Avalon and I accompanied John to the citizenship oath ceremony in downtown Los Angeles at the Convention Center, where he and 3,000 other people became the country's newest citizens. I must admit, when the judge announced that they were officially citizens, I got a little bit teary! There was even a congratulatory video message from President Obama. This is a great country (so is Australia, of course!) - and I'm happy for both John and Avalon that they will be able to travel freely between the two countries. I'm hopeful that I'll be able to be a dual citizen some day, too!


My birthday was this weekend...John spoiled me, as usual. It was a really nice day. Thank you!!!


Today we were able to see a great Australian friend - Michael Knight, who is traveling over in the US at the moment. It was sooo nice to catch up!


Here are a few pictures from the week:

#1 Look at how high Avalon can hold her neck/head up now!

#2 At the Citizenship Ceremony...

#3 Avalon sleeping through the citizenship ceremony... I'll post some pictures from the ceremony of John soon!



#4 Wearing her ladybug PJs...

#5 Sitting in her car seat. Look at those arm rolls!

Hope the rest of you have a great week!

All our love, xo

J, J + A

22 Weeks Old!

Hi everyone,


Now Avalon is officially 5 months old. She's 22 weeks old this week!


Avalon went to two birthday parties this week and kept up her routinue of going to the beach! She is very relaxed and happy when we take her places.


Our sleep schedule is changing again - - - Avalon is outgrowing her bassinet now. She is so long that her wiggle space is dissapearing. In order to make her more comfortable for sleeping, we moved a Pack and Play/Play Yard into our room at night. Since it is so different from her bassinet (much bigger, not as plush, and lower to the ground), she hates it! We've been struggling to get her to sleep at night in it. John has been rocking her to sleep in her bassinet, then transfering her into the Play Yard. Unfortunately she's not staying asleep! For the past 2 weeks or so, Avalon is back to waking up during the night a few times. Mommy is happy to feed her and give her some cuddle time, which makes Avalon fall straight back to sleep. Hopefully at some point she will start sleeping through the night again! :)


Avalon saw her baby-friend Stone on Sunday evening. He cooed at her and make happy noises, and twice Avalon burst into tears! Once her tears even made Stone start crying!


Here are a few pictures from the week:


#1 SUPER HAPPY on her Boppy!! :)



#2 Sucking on her pacifier...she wasn't interested in the pacifier for the first 4 months, now she's learning that it can be a nice thing to have around. She still prefers her fingers, or even better - mommy or daddy's fingers!





#3 Debuting her new "I Love Daddy" bib.





Hope that everyone has a great week!


All our love, xo
Johanna, John + Avalon

21 Weeks Old!

Hi all,


Avalon is 21 weeks old today! She is getting dangerous close to being 5 months old - that will happen on July 16th! It's amazing how much our lives have changed in 5 months...for the better, of course!


This was another great week. We had a weekend full of beach time and webcam dates – Friday after the beach we talked to Grandpa and Grandma Kim on webcam, on Saturday after the beach we talked to Liz and Alex on webcam, and on Sunday after the beach we talked to Grandpa and Grandma Nagel on webcam. Avalon will know how to run the webcam by herself soon!


During our afternoons at the beach this weekend, Avalon got her first opportunity to put her toes in the sand and dip her toes in the ocean! She was a little scared of the cold water and the crashing waves…John is going to have to ease her into the ocean slowly!


Perhaps the biggest news of the week is not about Avalon, but about John. On Thursday, John had his US Citizenship interview and exam and he passed with flying colors! So, once John goes through the ceremony in a couple of weeks, he will officially be an American citizen, in addition to an Australian citizen. All you Aussies can start calling him a "Yank" soon - really, he will love it!!! :)


Here are some pictures from the week of our girl:

#1 Wearing the adorable "Mom Tattoo" onesie that we bought her in Vegas when I was pregnant last July - such a rebel baby!

#2 Showing off those big blue peepers.

#3 Avalon loves to pose for photos!

#4 The whole family!



#5 Just look at those arm rolls - is there anything more gorgeous?!



#6 So incredibly happy...



#7 This picture shows it...it looks to us like her hair and eyebrows are getting lighter! Maybe Avalon will be a blonde like Mommy! :) Well, maybe not a blonde, unless she gets a great hair stylist/colorist- but light brown perhaps!



One exciting piece of news to celebrate, Carrie and Scott recently found out the gender of their baby...it's...a...boy! Congratulations guys, Avalon, John and I are so excited for Baby Sawyer's arrival!


Wishing you all a great week.

All our love, xo

Johanna, John + Avalon

20 Weeks Old Already!

Hi All,


Avalon is now 20 weeks old! It's amazing how much she's grown and changed during this time. She is fully interactive now - smiling, giggling and laughing, looking around the room for the source of voices, wanting to touch her doggie, grabbing at toys, pulling on daddy's nose and mommy's hair, and having lots of fun!


The biggest news of the week is that effective July 1st, Avalon is now a dual citizen! Her Australian citizenship was approved, so she now has "citizenship by descent". I tried to get her to sing Waltzing Matilda, but instead she said "Ah-goo"! The next step is to get her an Australian passport, which I'm getting processed in about two weeks. Her US passport arrived this past week, as well - so our girl is ready to be well traveled!



John and I took Avalon to see the La Brea tarpits last Friday. For those non-Californians, the La Brea tarpits are an area of Los Angeles that used to have natural tarpits, and due to the tar many extinct animals were trapped and preserved in the tar (such as Califorian saber tooth "tigers", huge mammoths, and tons of other exotic animals that you would never expect to see roaming in North America). Avalon pretty much slept the whole time - but John and I liked it!


Avalon's first 4th of July (US Independence Day) happened this past week also. We went to the Comstock's house in Manhattan Beach for the annual party. Avalon was on great behavior and was especially happy when Trey played the guitar. She loves music - good thing since mommy sings to her - alot!!


We also took Avalon to the beach for the first time! On Sunday we went over to Hermosa Beach and set up our 175spf beach umbrella for Avalon - no rays are getting through that thing! Avalon was also decked out in a sunhat and sunglasses; perhaps a bit of overkill, but we want to keep her skin perfect! John put Avalon's toes in the sand and she seemed interested in all of the different sensations at the beach - the wind blowing, the smell of the salty air, etc. She fell asleep the second we got her back in the car afterwards. No ocean swims for her yet...John can hardly wait!


Here are a few pictures from the week:


#1 Avalon loving tummy time...





#2 Looking very serious...

#3 All wrapped up after a bath.

#4 Avalon looking very proud after rolling onto her tummy from her back for the first time!

#5 Avalon with her friend, Stone, who was born 3 days before her.

#6 Avalon holding Stone's hand!



Hope your week is off to a great start!

We want to send HUGE congratulations to Sonia and Matt on the birth of their son, Alexander! We are so happy for the three of you.

All our love, xo

Johanna, John + Avalon