For the dads

Happy Father's Day! We want to give a shout-out to both of our dads, who are such wonderful men. We love you!

I also want to give a shout out to the man who is already the most incredible father I could ever hope to have for my son. GP3, you love your son so well already, and I can't wait to watch him grow up with you as his daddy. Truly, he has some great shoulders to stand (sit?) on!

Sleep

Sleep. I never would have imagined what a luxury that concept would become upon entering parenthood. Fortunately, almost five months into the adventure of being mom and dad, the two of us have adjusted to getting fragmented sleep at night. Unfortunately, so has Levi!

I never thought we would have to participate in "sleep training," but at our last appointment, our pediatrician suggested that we start working on getting our son to sleep through the night. He assured us that it's healthy for Levi's development. He needed to sleep more than three hours at a time.

I've read books and asked friends lots of questions, as there are so many opinions out there on the best way to get babies to sleep through the night. Feeling as ready as we'd ever be, we started sleep training last week, after apologizing in advance to our duplex neighbors! We bought a baby monitor and set up camp in bed, bracing ourselves. I can sum up that first night in one word: miserable. It went against all instinct to not run in to the rescue each time he woke up, but I didn't. Lo and behold, our little bundle of joy made it through the night and was actually all smiles the next morning.

I am happy to report that one week later, Levi is doing so well! He is sleeping through the night, and the three of us are much more rested in general. We are so proud of him!

Here's a snapshot of part of our bedtime routine. I can't get over how adorable these two are together.

The sound of music

Someone has enjoyed exploring his vocal abilities lately!

Thailand countdown

The official Thailand countdown has gotten a whole lot more real in the last few days. Our team leaves in just over a week, and while we could not be more excited, my trip to-do list doesn't seem to be getting any shorter just yet.

We are very excited (and very thankful) to report that not only is Team Park fully funded, but Team Thailand as a whole is now fully funded as of this weekend. Praise the Lord! For those of you who gave of your resources, we say thank you from the bottom of our hearts. It has been incredible to see God provide for us through your generosity. And, for those of you praying for us, please know that we are so thankful for you, too. It really means a lot to us that you would commit to lifting our family and team up in prayer.

One change in our trip plans is that Levi will no longer be joining Team Park on this adventure. As the trip itinerary became more firm, we realized that we would not be spending as much time in the city as we initially thought, and instead will be spending more time in refugee camps and hiking to villages. We prayed about it and know that it's the right decision to leave our little man, but boy will we miss him.

We know we are in good hands, as our team leaders are amazing, and of course we know God is with us every step of the way. And, we know our son will be in good hands, too, with Grandy and Grammy. As you can see, they're already old friends:

Thanks in advance G&G! This should bring back memories of how your life felt about 29 years ago!

Pool time!

It's only June, but it already feels like the middle of July. While this means that I feel like taking a shower four times per day, it also means that it's perfect swimming weather! Levi broke in his new swimming trunks on Sunday, and while he was a little uncertain at first, I think it's safe to say that he loves being in the water. He looks so cute in his swimming trunks, hat and sunglasses that I'm tempted to find a pool for him every day of the week!

Hat? Check. Shades? Check. Sunscreen? Check. Swim diaper? Check. Adorable outfit? CHECK.

Easing his way into the water with daddy:

As we were infringing upon nap time, paci had to be utilized:

Made in the shade... CL was kind enough to share her floating throne:

Can't wait for our next swim date!

Happy birthday, Grammy!

Happy birthday to the lady we call both Mom and Grammy! My mom... wow, well where do I even begin? She's always been an amazing mom, but I think after having Levi, I came to an entirely new level of appreciation of her. I mean, I'm still pretty new to this whole motherhood thing, but I can now look back over my life from a different perspective and see how consistently wonderful she's been.

And with the birth of Levi, she has become SuperGrammy. She still comes to visit every week to spend time with Levi and give me some time to run errands or take a nice, long shower or nap. She changes our sheets, changes lots of diapers and changes the course of my day just by being here. She's gifted us with groceries, clothes and today, on her birthday, she and my dad brought us a couch and chair. On HER birthday.

Mom, we are so blessed to be part of your family! We love you and celebrate you today!

Wherein we discuss our generous gene pool...

I know we've talked about how great our parents are, and they are definitely generous. So, it shouldn't surprise us at all that our siblings didn't fall far from the giving tree. And it doesn't surprise us, actually... it's just not something we acknowledge nearly enough!

In the past few weeks, Leigh, Kim and Brian have each overwhelmed us with their generosity. And, I would be remiss if I didn't include my future brother-in-law, J.J., in there with them. They have given sacrificially to help us get to Thailand, to the point that our jaws dropped when we received their letters in the mail. And thanks to a certain brother Park, I now have a car!

To the four of you, we say thank you. God has used you to radically change our lives over the past two months. We truly couldn't ask for better siblings. We love you!