40 Weeks Old!

Hi All,


As of November 16, Avalon is 9 months old!! We can hardly believe how fast time has flown by, the speed of her development, and just how clever and gorgeous she is!


During week 40, John was in Chicago and Cleveland for work...making the bucks! Mommy and Avalon hung out in Redondo Beach and enjoyed long walks at the beach each day with Bronte. Fun times! :)


Avalon had her 9 month pediatrician appointment....and she is now....24 pounds and 11.5 ounces and 31 inches tall! She is still off the charts for her height and weight.


Here are a few photos from the week. I've taken a ton lately, including some amazing holiday shots in her winter dress. I'll post them in the Week 41 entry!


In these pictures, Avalon is enjoying all of her toys (at the same time!)...











Hope that everyone has a great week....we are celebrating Thanksgiving over here! Another entry soon...


All our love,
J, J + A

39 Weeks Old

Hi all,


Another week has flown by!


We had a nice week, settling back into life at home, after our recent travels. This week we had Mommy and Me class, met with some yoga mamas for lunch, and met up with several friends.


We went to Polliwog Park in Manhattan Beach with Stacie and Juan and their daughter Taylor. Avalon and Taylor enjoyed the swings and going down the slides. I'll post pictures of this soon.


We also went to Santa Barbara to visit Scott and Carrie. Carrie's baby is due any moment now, so it was great to see them during this final stage of her pregnancy. Our babies will only be 9 months apart! We are excited for you guys, and can't wait to meet Sawyer soon!


Avalon has started to play peek-a-boo with us! She hides her face behind little blankets, and then moves it away and smiles at us. It's adorable and so funny to see her imitating what we do to her!


While sitting in her high chair, Avalon reached over to the kitchen light switch and turned off the lights...and kept turing them off whenever mommy turned them back on. She hasn't quite figured out how to light back on, but I'm sure that is on it's way...


Avalon has also started on "finger foods"...she started feeding herself some little organic O's. Lots more finger foods are on the way!


Here are a few photos from the week:


#1 Avalon loves the TV remote controls! I guess she takes after her daddy!!!

#2 Avalon and Bronte are bonding even more now that Avalon is crawling...

#3 Avalon posing with her raspberry teething ring.

#4 She loves that raspberry!!!

We are getting ready for the holidays over here....it's going to be an exciting season with Avalon. I wonder what will weigh more, the Thanksgiving turkey or Avalon?! :)

Have a great week!

All our love,

J, J, + A

38 Weeks Old

Hi all,


Our trip to Sydney continued during Week 38...and we continued to have a fabulous time!


The Melbourne Cup took place on Tuesday, and Emma planned a great event at the Moncur Terrace. The weather was a bit crazy that day - over 100 degrees and the air conditioner at Moncur was not in top form! It was sweltering, but we had a good time. I think that Avalon wondered what was going on with the heat. She was sweating away in her stroller. The horse race was exciting to see (Avalon slept through all of the commotion!)...and John picked the winning horse! Nice!!!


We were able to catch up with Sarah and Dan and see the renovation progress in their home. It's coming together in a big way and looking great. Thanks for having us over!


John and I spent a day walking around the city with Avalon before heading to the wedding rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. During the rehearsal in the church, Avalon woke up from a nap, started screaming and then had her diaper changed in the middle of a church pew! Ah...life was certainly different a year ago!!!!! But, this is better for sure.


We also got a chance to see our friend Sonia (missed you, Matt!) and meet their new baby, Alexander. He was just gorgeous and seemed so tiny (compared to Avalon!). He made eye contact so well....we couldn't stop gazing at him.


The Kim's had a big BBQ filled with about 50 of their friends, and some of our friends, one night. It was nice to see everyone together, although Avalon wasn't in top form. She was teething and the big group of people seemed to scare her a bit! We are sure she will be more social next time when she is older. :)


Speaking of teeth, Avalon now has EIGHT teeth (four on the top and four on the bottom). Four of them came in during our week in Sydney! Maybe the long flight down under makes teeth appear? She has more teeth than her baby-friends do now!


We took Avalon to Cental Gardens, with John's parents and Liz. Central Gardens has native Australian wildlife...kangaroos, different exotic birds, etc. The setting is really rustic - no big zoo cages - which was nice. Avalon also played in a little playground afterwards and went down her first slide!


Finally, the wedding of Sally and Damo - which was the purpose of the trip, took place the day before we left. It went off perfectly and it was a great event. John took his best man duties seriously, and gave one great "Buck's Party" and wedding speech. Congratulations, Sal and Damo - hope the honeymoon is amazing!


The flight back home with Avalon was ok. Once again, Avalon was probably the most comfortable person on the plane! John and I watched some movies (Julia and Julie - good! Some Scottish movie - bad! Another that I can't remember must not have been too good either...).



Here are some photographs from the week:



#1 Some photos from our Melbourne Cup lunch at the Moncur Terrace. Thanks Emma for organizing!


John, Deny (Tony's brother) and Avalon.

Emma and her hat with Avalon! :)



#2 John and I went into Sydney to do some strolling around with Avalon...

Mommy in a stroller pose!



John in Martin Place with Avalon...

#3 Some photos from the wedding rehearsal and dinner for Sally and Damon...

Avalon looking cute as always!



Damo and two of his groomsmen!

Damo and his mom at the rehearsal dinner.

John and I at the dinner.



The Tudor Family!



Damo and Sally...

#4 Visiting Sonia and her 4 month old baby, Alexander!

#5 Avalon in her full-body jump suit!



#6 We took Avalon to Central Gardens, a native wildlife park, near John's parents house. John's parents and Liz went along with us. Avalon had fun!

Liz with the stroller...she looks very comfortable, maybe she will have her own stroller soon!! :)



John and Liz with the littlest Kim!



Avalon and her Aussie Grandparents!

John taking Avalon on her first trip down a slide!

Avalon on the horsey!

Avalon trying to climb back up the slide to go for another ride...

#7 Dinner at Dish in Double Bay with some friends.

Johanna and Kate.

Tony and John.

Emma, Johanna, Niccalina.



#8 Photos from Damon and Sally's wedding...

Avalon in her pink party dress, getting all ready for the fun!

Mommy and Avalon ready to go!

Damo and his three boys before the ceremony...

Liz and Alex with Avalon.

After the ceremony, Avalon went on a swing set before the reception.

Our trip to Sydney was great...it was so fun showing Avalon some of our favorite Aussie people and places! Thanks everyone for welcoming her so sweetly!

Hope that everyone has a great week.

All our love,

J, J + A

37 Weeks Old!

Hi All,

Avalon had a Halloween photo shoot with a local photographer, Gloria Plunkett. She took some adorable pictures of Avalon wearing her pumpkin costume. Avalon had a good time - she found a little blue pumpkin that she fell in love with and wanted to have in her mouith the whole time! At the end of the photo shoot, Avalon was leaning on a mini hay-bale...and out of the blue she took her hands off the hay-bale and stood up without holding on! That was definitely a first and mommy was very impressed! Luckily, the photographer snapped the photo of Avalon standing. She hasn't stood up unassisted since then though...

We also went to Mommy and Me class this week, which Avalon enjoyed completely. As she gets more comfortable with crawling, she is better able to explore the toys in the class. One of the other mamas in the class was giving away some old Halloween costumes, so we borrowed one that looks like doggie, so that I could take some more pictures of Avalon all dressed up.

So, Avalon and I went to the Hermosa Beach pumpkin patch and took some photos of Avalon in her doggie costume. We had fun taking pictures, and then we picked out some little pumpkins (more like gords!) for Avalon. Next year we will get a big one and carve it with John.

On Wednesday night, we flew to Sydney! Avalon's first trip to Australia...her second country. She was good on the flight. She was clearly more comfortable in her airplane seat that mommy or daddy!

After arriving, Avalon met her Auntie Liz for the first time. They immediaately loved each other and spent every chance they could get making each other giggle. Thank you Liz for being so fun and loving with Avalon!

During the first couple of days in Sydney, Avalon got to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa Kim, Aunt Liz and Uncle Alex, and got a chance to meet our great friends...Emma and Tony, Kate and Mike, Niccalina, Chris, Todd, Ben and others. Avalon even got to attend Sammy's birthday party (Emma's youngest son) and an engagement party for Liz and Alex. Fun times all around!

Another significant occurrence from this week...my dear friend, Sara - my oldest friend, my bridesmaid, my teacher of how to be a loving and involved mommy, my pen-pal, my forever friend- lost her cancer battle and passed away. I will cherish the time I spent with her on the recent trips that I've taken to Seattle to spend time with her, as well as 20 years of special memories throughout our friendship. I miss her already and cannot imagine time easing my need for her in my life. Sara, I love you and I'm grateful for having you in my life.

Here are some photographs from Week 37:

#1 Photos from the Halloween professional photo shoot...

Avalon standing unassisted!

#2 Photos from the Hermosa Beach pumpkin patch...

#3 Avalon chewing on the dog's bone!


#4 Avalon meeting Aunt Liz for the first time!


#5 Avalon with Thomas and Charlie, Kate's boys.


#6 Avalon in her new sweater...


#7 Yummy treats at Sammy's birthday!

#8 John with Avalon in the courtyard at the Sheaf in Double Bay.

#9 Sammy on his birthday!

#10 Niccalina and Avalon at Sammy's birthday.


#11 Avalon playing at Emma's house...


#12 Avalon having fun at Liz and Alex's engagement party!

Another installment from the rest of our time in Sydney coming very soon...stay tuned!

All our love,

J, J + A