Picture Parade

Grace says, "It wasn't me."

Best buds.

Faith stops to blow Mommy a kiss.

Faith having fun in the pool.

Grace, too.

Mommy and Faith kickin' back after an afternoon swim.

Daddy having some fun with an arm floatie.

Faith gets a Water Princess hat, too.

" Look what Mommy brought home for us."

"I love balloons!"

Faith walking AND holding her balloon.

Faith shows off all her teeth. (Almost 8!)

Grace says, "Higher, Daddy!"

"Yup, he's in there talking on the phone. Come out and play Daddy!"

A little deflated the next day but still playable.

"Mommy is always taking pictures of me."

Watching our favorite Veggie Tales, "Esther the Girl Who Became Queen" with Daddy.

Grace decides to get a better seat.

"Ah, this is the best spot right here."

Last night, Morgan and I sat down to watch some videos of the girls that we took shortly after they arrived home. After seeing the videos, we marveled at how much they've grown in the last few months. Everyday, we are just amazed by the little things they do. Recently, they have been testing their boundaries a little. This has mostly been Faith but we know that Grace is soon to follow her big sister. Morgan and I have actually enjoyed discussing how we should discipline our children. We think it's very important that we are on the same page and that we do the same thing. We talk a lot of things out. Sometimes, while it's happening but I think this really helps. We love to see when it works, too! Usually, this just means that one of the kids is whining for no reason at all. Of course, we don't want to create bad habits and we're all about nipping things in the bud. Since we know they can understand us, the best approach we've found so far is to correct with kind, gentle, firmness. This has a lot to do with our tone of voice. We've found that when we have an even tone of voice, they feed off of that and it doesn't perpetuate the situation. Believe me, we've tried it the other way too and it doesn't work! We usually repeat ourselves a couple of times but then we stop and just be quiet. Soon enough, they forget what they wanted or even fussed about in the first place. We then reaffirm with love to give them a sense of security. We have been blessed with really easy kids so this has worked for us... so far. We are learning new things everyday and we know there will be waaaay bigger challenges ahead. Even still, we are having so much fun with our girls in the process. We're just beginning to really understand the enormous gratification that parenthood brings. Enjoy the pictures of our week!