Mason's Alpaca

Aunt Stephanie and Uncle Dan went to Peru for the summer and brought back presents for us all. Mason got a teddy bear made from alpaca. Grant got a cool Peru soccer jersey - and it matched Jaybin's! I posted pics of that yesterday. So this morning, we took Mason outside to show off his present, too. There were too many cute ones, so I posted a bunch!

Pictures with the Cousins

This week has been full of the flu for the Beutler household. I came down with it Thursday night and it has lasted an entire week for my parents, so I was a bit fearful. Saturday afternoon I felt much like normal, though. Since I was feeling better, I took the boys down to Indy to spend the day with their cousins one last time before we go home on Tuesday. We all had a great time, and we had a ball taking some pictures of the four of them together. Aren't they cute? We were struck with how very different they all look from each other! It's hard to believe they're all part of the same family!

09.17.08 Playing outside

It is such a gorgeous day out, so mom and I took the boys outside to play. Both of them had on little jerseys and looked so cute (don't you like Grant's, Aunt Stefi?)! I got some great pictures, don't you think!!

Sweet Boys

Baby Ma-Mase

Check out my two teeth!

Ornery Grant

Climbing the fence in the back yard

Ready to EAT!!

Mason has really been eyeing food when we're eating, reaching for it and trying to get it into his mouth. While he had tried food a couple months back, it didn't fare so well with his digestive system, so we decided to hold off for a while. Since he's so intrigued with food right now, I decided to let him try it again. He LOVES it! He sure makes a mess, though.

Where's Mason?

Mom had propped Mason up in the chair with Mickey Mouse next to him to keep him up. This gave Grant a great idea!!! He took all the stuffed animals and arranged them all around Mason, laughing with glee. I'm not so sure that Mason was too amused by it. He looked at us while we were taking pictures like, "What in the world are you doing to me? Have you lost your minds?" But we thought it was cute. And Grant was proud of his arrangement.

09.13.08 Bathtime for the boys

Grant and Jaybin had played hard all day, so they needed a bath desperately! We stuck them in the tub last night and boy, did they have fun!

09.13.09 Remote Control Car

Even though Jaybin enjoyed the game, when Amy told him that Notre Dame had won, he said, "Great! Can we play with the car now?" He wanted to play with Paw-Paw's remote control race car so badly! So we learned how to keep a pair of two year olds still and quiet for 15 minutes. My dad would plug in the battery, explain that it takes 15 minutes to charge, and that he needed them to watch the timer for him and to let him know when the light turned on, signifying that it was ready to go. Amazingly, both boys sat at the kitchen table completely still for 15 entire minutes - 3 different times! It was incredible! They watched for the light to come on and as soon as it did, they ran to tell Paw-Paw. Jaybin, Kinsen, Grant and Elyse all had a great time taking their turn with the race car. And they all did an impressive job!

09.13.08 Fun day watching Notre Dame

Amy and Elyse came clear down to see us from Livonia, MI. It was a long 5 hour drive, and it meant so much that they were able to come down and see us and finally meet Mason. She brought Grant and Mason both an outfit and a fun new set of keys for Mason to play with...they even play music! We had a great day with them. I had been sitting on the floor playing with Mason in the morning. Grant was playing in the vertical blinds, which is a big no-no, and Grandma asked him not to play with them. He wasn't listening, so finally, I took him in my lap and sternly told him not to play with them. I told him that when Grandma and Paw-Paw ask him to do something, he needs to listen and obey. He said, "OK." I then told him that when they told him to do something, they were only loving him. He interrupted me mid-sentence, laid his head on my shoulder and quite begrudgingly admitted, "I Know..." I laughed out loud. He sure is communicating so much better right now! A bit later, Amy told Grant that Jaybin was coming about 10 minutes before they were supposed to arrive. Big mistake! All we heard from that point on was, "Jaybin? Jaybin? Jaayyy-biiinn???" Finally they arrived. I asked Grant, "Who's here?" He stopped dead in his tracks with a mouth wide open, dropped the car he was playing with and ran to the door where he stood jumping up and down, shouting Jaybin's name with great excitment. He couldn't get out the door, so when mom opened the door for him, he, still jumping up and down, burst through the door, waving his hands and shouted, "Here I come!" What a great sentence! Uncle Jason stood outside to greet him with a big smile. We all think this attachment to Jaybin is pretty precious. Jaybin and Kinsen got to stay with us for the day since Jason and Kendra were going to the Notre Dame Game. We had so much fun playing. Paw-Paw played ball with the boys for a while, and then they all sat in the recliner to watch the game for a while. They were so cute! Jaybin is a huge Notre Dame fan. Dad was sitting in the chair singing the fight song and every now and then would drop a word, allowing Jaybin to fill in the blank. He knew the ENTIRE song! It was very impressive and very cute. The Boys saying, "TOUCHDOWN!!" Hut, Hut, HIKE! Tackle!