One conversation made it worth the trip

The plane trip down the boys were excellent. We actually had the row of people behind them complimenting them on how well behaved they were. Apparently, that was about all that they could exert in the good behavior department as when we got to the hotel they turned into little monsters. Seriously, I felt like why did we spend all this money to come down to sit and yell at the boys for not listening to a word that we were saying.

The second night in Florida we decided to take the boys to the beach to watch the sunset. They ran up and down the beach non stop. Vaughn would run into the water and run out as the waves would chase after him. Literally he was having the time of his life. It was fun just to watch the boys go and have a fun time.

The sun set and as we were walking back to the car Torin was just walking with his head down and you could tell that he was just thinking. It was just him and I he comments to me "Mom, being here just reminds me of God. I feel like he is here in the sand, the wind, the waves, all of it." I said to him "Yeah, the waves are so powerful like God is." Torin looks me and says "No, not really Mom." I guess I didn't know what he was talking about :) "It's more like he made all of this and it's just so incredible and I feel like there is grace all around me." I realized that it wasn't about me interpreting his thoughts but just to walk by his side to listen to his thoughts. To see how God was working through him and how his heart has God in it.

It made me realize that I really don't care about how the boys act the rest of the weekend as this made the trip totally worth it.

Torin the fisherman...telling stories of course :)

Bjorn caught a flounder...the boys thought it was crazy

that it had both it's eyes on one side of it's body.

The red fish that Mom caught...I mean Torin. He claims that

it was all him. I'm good enough to go along with it.

Berc chilling at the pool with Dad in his shades...too cute

The boys at Siesta Key Beach. It's an awesome beach!

Vaughn showing us how much he LOVED the beach.

It was his first time to the ocean so his excitement is genuine.

Pictures of Berc 6 months

So here he is our little Berc man....He definitely looks like his brothers. Some people think that he looks like Torin, others Vaughn. We personally think that he is a mixture of the two of them. Either way he's pretty darn cute :)

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Bercan almost 6 months....

Seriously, where has the time gone....my little man is almost 6 months old. I will be better about putting out a monthly picture, but right now I am work and have a few seconds to just put in some of the milestones that he is at.

Rolling over is a past time hobby for this kiddo. He may not be crawling but he can get to where he wants by rolling alone. I will put him in his crib one way, on his back and a few minutes later he is completely turned around, on his tummy with his mobile in hand. I really wish we had one of those video monitors to see how he can actually get the mobile.

Eating, eating and more eating. Even if he has eaten milk and some food he will watch your every bite of food. Not sure if he is hoping to hand outs but he is very serious when it comes to food.

Picking up food....he definitely is able to get the little puffs into his hand and can get his hand to his mouth but hasn't quite figured out how to let the food go to actually eat it. I think that he's too afraid to let go of his food, in that it might be taken by an older brother, as they are always trying to eat his little puffs.

He absolutely loves his bitter biscuits! If they do fall out of his hand it will be followed by screaming cries. It pretty much goes happy, smiley baby eating biscuit to screaming, shaking baby not eating biscuit. If you really want to hurt his feelings just take his biscuit away.

Talking....well not really talking but definitely verbal in sounding like a baby dino. He is always shrieking and growling. I'm a little afraid that once this one starts talking Bjorn and I will never know what silence really is. He is good at repeating the sounds that you make at him and loves to stick his tongue out and spit. Funny thing is that he will nearly never do this while eating, again in the fear that his will loose the food that he is trying to eat.

Books...he LOVES books. I didn't think that a baby at this age would but he does. This works out for our bedtime routine as he will sit through and listen to books with Vaughn and then Torin. Torin will sometimes read to him and his whole body gets moving, especially his feet just kick all about.

Kicking...if he is sitting, laying on his back or tummy his legs are moving, and moving fast. We call it his swimming technique but it's really quite funny how he will go, go, go.

Happy....for the most part our little Berc is a laid back little man. It really doesn't take much to get him to smile. Vaughn will just laugh at him and he will smile right back. He loves his toys and nuks and the other day was smashing his parrot and nuk together. He is definitely a little boy!

The boys are still in love with him and will sometimes fight over who gets more time with him or who gets to sit next to him. It's sweet and hope that it will remain as I do remember Torin being like this with Vaughn and that is not so much the case any more :) Time will tell....

God's last name...

Awhile back Bjorn had gotten a little pocket notebook from a conference. Basically, it's a soft sided folder with a tiny notebook in it and has some business card holders on the other side. Torin thought this was the BEST thing he had ever received. He started making drawings in it, writing his "secrets" like "I like to skateboard"....very important details of his life. Along with math mountains and what not. He would hide this folder and protected it from all. Well the other day Bjorn came across some free mini calendars. I told him he really didn't need it and to put it back. He made the case for Torin and I agreed. Thus that night Torin got the calendar and again thought it was AWESOME! "Daddy, can I put people's birthday's in this?" He was pumped! So he started putting the birthday's in. "B. Larson bday on 7/17" That was his labelling approach which I thought was pretty creative for him to come up with. Well he got to December and got to the 25th and asked Bjorn "Daddy, what is God's last name?" I mean after all he didn't want to deviate from his labeling and to a 6 year old everybody has a last name, right? It's these comments that help us remember just how innocent these boys really are.
I'm not sure what Bjorn's response was to his question though....

Logic of a 6 year old...

Torin and Vaughn can be the best of brothers, seriously sometimes they will do or say things that make me feel like I am doing a great job as a Mom. Then there are times that I seriously debate whether or not I have a clue of what I am doing with these two crazy boys.

That was the moment that I had the other morning. As I am going to the bathroom I hear the shriek of Vaughn yelling, followed by running footsteps into my bathroom. Literally, there is no privacy in my life. Vaughn starts to explain that Torin threw lego's at his head, what a mean brother he is and how he does not like his morning. At this point, I'm kind of thinking that I don't like my morning either. This is followed by more footsteps of Torin into the bathroom. Now picture this, Torin has one hand on his hip, his head cocked to the side, eyes wide open and says "Umm, is he trying to tell you that I threw lego's at his head?" Yes, Torin he is. "WELL, he didn't mention then that he threw lego's at my head first, because he did." No, Torin he failed to mention that detail. "Figures!"

I ask for some privacy, yeah right, and at least Vaughn walks out of the bathroom. But my little lawyer of a 6 year old is far from done in telling his side of the story. "Mom, don't you always tell me to treat others the way that I want to be treated." Yes, Torin and just because Vaughn threw legos at you first doesn't mean that you should throw them back at him. "Yes Mom, it does. Obviously, when Vaughn threw the legos at me that is the way that he wanted to be treated. SO I threw them back at him." Let me just pause here for a second....I'm still trying to retain some privacy to go to the bathroom and get this logic thrown upon me. I'm still trying to wake up for goodness sake! I try to explain that is not really what it means, only for him to continue to argue with me and get more frustrated. Thus I tried to pull out a story of Jesus and explain that when Jesus was being crucified and people where spitting on him, throwing rocks at him, etc that he did not retaliate because it's not how he would want to be treated. Torin's response "Mom, he was nailed to the cross he couldn't retaliate." Seriously...those were his exact words. Trying another angle...Torin two wrongs don't make a right. With tears in his eyes at this point, he rolls his eyes and looks at me with utter disgust and says "Mom, that doesn't even make sense!" At that point I ask for privacy and we would talk about it later. At this point I am thinking if this is how he is arguing with me at 6, what is 16 going to be like?

You're a hoot Daddy....except when...

The boys are no longer in daycare and we have added a nanny to help with the boys. I have to say that she has been great with the boys and other things too. She's cooking dinner and doing the boys laundry which let me tell you with two parents working is awesome. Angie is her name and she is a pretty fun lady.

Vaughn and her were playing the other day and she told him that he was a hoot. Which is actually really true of Vaughn...he is hoot. Not knowing what the word was he asked her "Angee, what a hoot?" She told him it's when someone is funny.

Well later that day Bjorn was making lunch and did something funny. Vaughn bursted out "Daddy you such a hoot!" a brief pause of thought "Except when you are mad, then you not a hoot." We of course started laughing and Vaughn just gleamed as he was just so proud that he used the word correctly.

Graduation is in the future...

At Vaughn's pre-school conference today we were informed that he no longer qualifies for his speech class. And it wasn't just a little bit but by a lot. He is doing fantastic and his teachers are all amazed at how well he has progressed this year. It is actually pretty amazing to hear how much better his speech is now. The last time that they tested him he had 20 errors where with this last test, which is at an older age level so there are more errors to hit, he only had 10 errors. So he will be graduating from Sound Buddies. I guess they make a pretty big deal about it so I'm excited to see how proud he is when they do it. I'll be sure to be there and taking some pictures and video.

Magic

Bjorn is always "playing" with the boys that he can do magic. Like making waffles appear in the freezer or whatever else that he can trick them into believing. For as observant as Torin is one would think that he would catch up but every time he just has amazement of his Daddy.

Well tonight on the way home Bjorn was showing the boys that he could make the van console light turn on by snapping his fingers. They were AMAZED...seriously they really were. Then I rubbed Bjorn's hand and said "Let's see if some of Daddy's magic rubbed off on me." I would snap and the light turn on. Even more these boys were amazed at the magic. Vaughn started yelling "Mommy give me some magic!". So I touched him and when he would attempt to snap I would touch Bjorn and he would make the lights turn on. If there is ever a time that I wished that I had a camera or video camera this is the time. To see Vaughn's face explode with expression of the "magic" that he had was just priceless. He literally had his jaw dropped like the boy from Mary Poppin's when he finally learns how to snap and the toys put themselves away.

Torin then asked Vaughn for some magic which he was more than happy to share and before we knew it we had the light going on and off like crazy. Thinking about it now I wonder what the other people on the highway thought was going on in our van. Really I guess I don't really care. Torin was giggling and so excited about this "magic" that it was so worth our flashing van.

The best part was when we told the boys that the magic wore off so none of us could it anymore and Torin whispered "Light be cratic and turn on like magic" Bjorn heard him and turned the light on. Bjorn asked in a stern voice "Torin are you whispering magic back there?" His rye grin and response of "Yes" in his little squeaky voice followed by giggles made the night one that I don't ever want to forget :)