Say Cheese!

It's really difficult to get a good photo with these two.

Avocado Face

In the Car

Rocking Horse

He loves it!

Best Friends

Miss Vivian has a couple of new best friends. Gaga has always been her BFF, but when we moved to Virginia, my mom gave Viv an Elmo. She immediately knew who he was and gave him a huge hug. Within a few minutes, we were asking her, "Where's Elmo?" and she would run over to him and scoop him up. For a couple of days, it was Viv, Gaga, and Elmo. All of the time. They ate together, slept together, and played together. Then, we went to Walmart. For some reason, Viv was being extra whiny and was getting upset about a lot of little things. Wes picked up two stuffed animals nearby and said, "You can carry one around Walmart. Which one do you want?" She lunged towards the bunny (Thumper from Babmi). She hugged and cuddled Thumper the rest of the time we were there- which was about 45 more minutes. When we arrived at the checkout, there was no way that Miss V was going to let go of that little bunny. So we bought him. Since then, Gaga, Elmo, Bunny, and Vivi have been inseparable (although it seems as though Elmo may be favored the most). They're best friends.

Regressing

Our pediatrician, many google searches, and a lot of our family and friends all told us that the move would be difficult on Vivi and Gavin. We knew that it would be hard. Our doctor specifically said something to the effect of, "They will regress in more ways than one." Well, we're here. The move is over. And while they have not regressed to their infant days, they are definitely doing a few things differently.

For example, Gavin has always been a good cuddler, but he's never wanted to be held during the day very often- he's busy and has a lot of things to do. Over the last couple of weeks though, Gavin has asked to be picked up (by walking over to us, lifting his arms up towards us, and grunting or whining) at least 10-15 times a day. Vivian has always wanted to be picked from time to time, so her asking for a little more love isn't much of a surprise.

Another example is that Vivi, our anti-pacifier baby (since she was about 3 months old!), has been picking up Gavin's pacis and walking around with them in her mouth. It's really weird to see her with a paci in her mouth. We just say to her, "That's Gavin's paci; you don't like the pacis." To which she usually goes and gives it back to Gavin or throws it on the ground.

As another result of the changes going on, they are also both a bit more whiny than usual. But this tends to be remedied by a little extra hugging and cuddling- no complaints here!

And probably the worst part of the move is that they have reverted back to their bad sleeping habits from a few months ago (The last month or so in Lafayette was wonderful with both babies sleeping 10-11 hours straight without any interruptions- almost every night). While Gavin seems to be better off than Viv (G has been sleeping 10-11 hours straight on most nights and Viv has woken up once every night except for one or two), both babes have taken turns waking up screaming bloody murder. When we go into their room to see what's wrong, they seem really scared. We're hoping that this will pass soon. It probably isn't going to help that we're trying to also phase out their bedtime bottles this week. Hopefully we'll have a couple of no-bottle-drinking babes who sleep through the night again by the time I start work at the end of the month. Finger's crossed!

Showers

We have a stand-up shower in our new house. And, it's a pretty big one with a seat inside. Vivi and Gavin LOVE it. We've actually only given them a couple of baths in the tub since we've moved here. The rest of their cleaning has been done in the shower with me or Wes. They like to take turns sitting on the seat, splashing the water as it goes down the drain, and walking around under the water. Bath tubs may be a thing of the past in this house.

First Annual Alhassani-Rosier Vacation!

Iad and Brandy Alhassani are two of our favorite people on the planet. We always have a lot of fun whenever we get together. This past weekend, Iad, Brandy, and their son, Carter, came down to check out our new place. Earlier this year, Brandy and I tried to plan the First Annual Family Vacation together, but since Wes and I did not know where we were going to be in August until about 6 weeks ago, the planning was not very productive. So, we settled for a weekend in the greater Bridgewater-Harrisonburg area.

The Alhassanis arrived on Saturday morning and the three kiddos started playing together immediately.

Then, we tried to go to an indoor bouncy place, but it was closed. We're not sure why it would be closed on a Saturday, but whatever. So we headed to the Texas Roadhouse. And, it was delicious. All three babes were really well-behaved, even when we gave them lemons to eat!

When we made it back to the house, it was time to play outside. They. Loved. It. While Vivi mostly sat and picked at the grass, Carter and Gavin were a couple of wild men! Gavin chased Chubbs all over the yard, squealing and laughing hysterically. Carter wasn't interested in the dog. Instead, he wanted to run around and climb the stairs. They were beat when we went back in.

One of Gavin's favorite things to do is walk Mr. Chubbs by holding onto his leash. If he finds Chubbs' leash in the house, he will take one end and hit his collar repeatedly. What can I say, the boy loves his pup.

The next day, we woke up and had scrambled eggs and cinnamon buns for breakfast- delicious! Here's a morning pic of Aunt Brandy with the three kiddos.

After a morning nap, we went to the park. At first, it was looking like Carter was going to sleep through the trip.

But he woke up with a smile on his face and energy to play, play, play. All three had a ball running around and climbing on the play equipment.

Carter and Gavin loved playing together.

And Vivi loved exploring all of the places to sit and pick up mulch.

Everyone loved the tunnels.

The dads had fun pushing the boys.

When we got back to the house, it was time to have a snack, wrestle, and play in the curtains before the Alhassanis headed back to Maryland.

We can't wait for the Second Annual Alhassani-Rosier Vacation!