Sterling Eating Cereal

We have started to feed Sterling a little cereal. Today he really seemed to enjoy eating it and was upset when he was finished eating what we had made for him. We are taking our time introducing him to food, so we only give him cereal once or twice throughout the day. As long as he keeps growing at the rate he is now he should have no problem eating a hamburger in a couple months!

Dr. Appointment!!!

Sterling turned 4 months old two days ago, which meant he needed to go see the doctor for another check up. This check up required a couple of shots, one in each leg. Here he is showing off his war wound. The first shot he took with ease, actually he didn't know anything had happened. The nurse was distracting him, but the second came and he felt it. He let us know it with a few tears, but he still took it pretty well. He was weighed and measured also, so here are his measurements for those interested. He is 7.8 kilograms, which is 17 pounds/2.5 ounces, and he was 65 centimeters long, which is about 25.5 inches, so he's just a little over 2 feet. As you can see from this picture, once we returned home he was all smiles.

Army Pants

Sterling has a pair of army pants (another hand-me-down from cousin Zion- he wouldn't have any clothes if it weren't for him!) that he wore yesterday. Luke decided that it would be funny if they matched when we went to the mall, so here are father and son in their fatigues. Pretty cute in my opinion :) I love this picture of Sterling because he just looks like he thinks he's so big.

Sterling's New Toy

I have been seeing these playmats at the Mall, and I have been wanting to get one for Sterling. I knew he would love it because he likes to lay on his back and play. So we got one and he definitely likes it. He will lay there for a long time just talking and kicking his legs.

Little Air Jordan

We found this Jordan jersey at an export store at the mall where they sell really cheap American clothes. Of course, Luke insisted that we buy this jersey for Sterling...but we also had to get one for Zack and Amy's little boy and for Owen. Luke is such a spoiler! I think Sterling will be able to wear this for the next two years :)

Another picture of Sterling and Owen

I thought this was an even better picture of the two of them playing together. It really was amazing that Sterling didn't mind that Owen just crawled all over him. They both just thought that the other was very interesting.

Sterling and Owen

Nick and Rachel came to live with us for a few days while their electricity was out, so Sterling had a friend to play with! The two boys had a lot of fun together, although Owen is so much more active that he just crawled all over Sterling. But Sterling was a good sport about it, he usually just laid there and let him! :)

Just Like His Dad

We're hoping that Sterling doesn't inherit his dad's head size...but I guess we'll see. It looks more like a football helmet on him than a baseball cap!

Malaysia

This is Sterling and Kacie in Penang, Malaysia. It was very beautiful. We enjoyed our stay, although with a baby, it wasn't too relaxing. It was harder to travel with him than what we expected. He was really good, but it's just exhausting to have all of his stuff and try to fly and take taxi's places.

More Swimming Pictures

We went swimming with Sterling both days on our visa trip. He is really starting to love the pool. (Don't worry, we put lots of sunscreen on him!) The picture of Luke and Sterling going down the slide was right before they crashed into the water. It scared them both, but Sterling hardly even went under the water. He was fine after that and still wanted to be in the water!

Watching the Game

While we were in Malaysia, Luke and Sterling were able to watch the NBA finals. Sterling's attention span wasn't very long though.

Sterling's Annoyed Look

Sterling doesn't like playing on his stomach very much. This picture pretty much captures how he feels about it :) He looks like his mom when he makes that face.

Swimming at the Hotel

We had so much fun playing in the pool this week at our hotel. In case you are reading this before you read about the other pictures, we went to a prayer conference this week in downtown Bangkok. It was a lot of fun to hang out with our teammates, Nick, Rachel, Colette and Owen. But it was also so great to be a part of a conference for all of the Christians in Thailand. During the week there was lots of prayer for reconciliation and revival for the church in Thailand. There were powerful worship sessions as well as workshops that taught on many different topics. It seemed like the Thai people were very encouraged by the week.

Sterling's first skytrain ride

Here is the Parsons' family along with Sterling and Kacie (Luke was the photographer) at the sky train station. We got to do lots of fun things since we were right in the heart of downtown Bangkok all this week.

Three Babies in One Bed

We went on a trip to downtown Bangkok this week for a prayer conference. Our teammates, the Parsons' went with us. These are their two kids, Owen and Colette. The three of them are the best of friends!

Sterling in the morning

Sterling is so happy in the mornings. He giggles and laughs at us. He sleeps in his pack and play with his pig and his horse to keep him company.

3rd Anniversary

We celebrated our third anniversary this past Wednesday. We ordered in food and had Nick and Rachel watch Sterling for us. We had a great evening.

Sterling's 1st Swimming Lesson

Sterling loves taking a bath, so we thought since it is so hot here he might love to go play in the pool. He didn't quite know what to think of the pool. Over time though we're sure he will learn to love swimming.

Future OCC Student...

Here is Sterling sporting his college choice. We hope he goes to his parent's alma-mater. He would be in the class somewhere around 2028! WOW!

Baseball Outfit

Sterling was looking cute in his Cardinal outfit and hat. Just wanted to share the pictures with you. If you are not a Cardinal fan, don't be upset with Sterling because the Cards are the only team he has.....(Payton, if you are reading this, remember what we talked about???)

Sterling's Tractors

Sterling loves his John Deere tractors. He can't wait until he gets his first ride. Anybody know someone with a John Deere tractor??? We decorated his room with some of this fabric from Wal-Mart.

Youth Trip

Here are a couple of pictures from a youth trip Kacie was able to attend. Sunday evening there was a 'Jesus Revolution' meeting in downtown Bangkok. A group from the Philippines led the meeting. There are two more scheduled meetings; one in July and one in September. The goal of these meetings is to encourage the youth of Thailand to be strong in their faith and witness. The boys are Bond, Michael, & Wat, and the girls are Suay, Ploy, Am, and Jume. There were two other girls who went but are not in these pictures, Brently and Breck.

Church Clothes

Kacie thought Sterling looked like his grandad Jerry and uncle Kyle in his shirt.

Bed Time

After the wrestling match, Sterling wanted to cuddle with Mr. Pig, to make sure there were no hard feelings. It was really cute.

The Wrestling Match

Last night Sterling was practicing his wrestling moves with Mr. Pig. He really enjoyed the competition. We were entertained and thought you would enjoy also.

A happy smile

Sterling usually just looks at the camera like it's a really strange object, but last night he thought his mom and dad were so funny, he was laughing out loud!

Mother's Day

For Mother's Day Sterling got his mom a new bracelet...how sweet :)

Awards Ceremony

This was the awards ceremony at the end of camp. Kids got awards for MVP and best attitude in the 10-12 age group and the 13-15 age group. Ploy, in the picture above, came to church today, along with a few others that have never come before! Praise God!

Sterling's first basketball

The Chase Family at Camp

The weather has been great for basketball camp, so Sterling has gotten to be there for both days. He really loves being outside and watching the kids.

Nick and Luke's Hoop Time Basketball Camp

These were the signs we had up advertising for basketball camp- they were really cool!

Fun at camp

Each camper gets a basketball and a jersey when they register. Here are two girls, age 10, at the camp today.

Basketball camp

This was one of the drills they did at camp. Luke is teaching and his friend Air was translating.

Two handsome guys

The guys in their hats

We have lots of hand-me-down's from Sterling's cousin, Zion, and this hat is one of the cutest! Him and his dad love their hats...and yes, Luke cut his hair, for those of you who didn't know yet.

This is Ex, a Thai kid who loves Sterling. He always comes and talks to him and plays with him. All the kids call Sterling "nong ling" which, in Thai, means little monkey!