Undefeated.

We've cheered a long, hard season. We pulled out a perfect season, until yesterday. It was first round of playoffs, and an expected win. We played the number four seed team and went into overtime. Somehow, we just didn't pull through. Not only did we lose, but it kicked us out of the championship game. Devastating. I am a very competitive person, so losing really wasn't fun. I'll just say it. It sucked. None of us were pleased about the outcome of the game. So, our undefeated streak came to an end. We had a wonderful season of cheering on our bobcats and I am so blessed to have coached the girls. 

As I was driving home from the game, I just stopped to think about life. Sometimes life sucks. Sometimes you come to a valley that you just have no clue how to dig your way out of it. Sometimes, you don't even know how or what to pray when you sit down to talk to God.  Several friends/family members have either become very sick or even died recently and I've had to think "God, why them?"  This is just part of his plan though, and I have to trust in His perfect will.  Not only that, but we've been dealing with some junk at our house recently.  You know, the stuff no one wants to post on Facebook because it isn't pretty. It would mean we weren't living the perfect lives. Like the time Laiken was struggling to complete work at school. Or the day I was just mad at the world because I had to do laundry. Or the time I scheduled family pictures without asking my husband. Oops. Reality check:  no one is perfect. No person's life is 100% drama and stress free. Ever. If you think yours is, I'm glad you are so positive and I'm not trying to be negative nancy, but let's be more honest with ourselves and our friends. Here's what I'll tell ya. We may feel defeated, but God will get us through it. With his grace and mercy, we are able to press on.  He will fight for us when we commit to following his perfect will. 

Guess what else comes when we commit to his crazy plans?  

Peace. 

Something I long for often. Peace that we are doing the right thing. Peace that we are showing these babes what a family is. Peace that they're developing and growing in every aspect, especially emotionally. Peace that they will be able to feel loved, yet not feel guilty for loving us. Peace that comes with seeing Jesus and learning about his love for them, even when they're naughty. Peace that Jesus made them special, and that red hair and freckles are beautiful, not ugly. Peace that even when we show our anger through hitting, Jesus forgives and we can have a do-over.  Peace that everything will be alright, no matter what God's plan is for our family's future. 

I am so thankful for a forgiving and graceful God. I'm also glad for a just God. He will fight for us no matter what. Because if God is for us, who can be against us?   Some days, I just need to remember that and pray for wisdom to follow His plan. And then the anxiety is washed away by an overwhelming sense of calm. He will calm the storms, no matter what it is. So if you have "junk", guess what?  We are all right in there with ya. Chances are, if we haven't gone through it, someone we know has. So love each other and build each other up. I cannot express how much a small word of encouragement can boost our confidence that we are being obedient to God's will. 

We took family pics on Saturday. I figured, we've been together 7 months, why not?  We are a family and continue to plan on being one, so let's make some memories. This was a first, and the kiddos really had lots of fun with it.  It was also a great way to boost our girl's confidence. No six year old should wish she had different hair or skin. So we are on a mission to change her opinion of herself. If you see her, pay her a compliment on those freckles or that strawberry blonde hair. Thanks in advance. I'm also very proud to announce that in a week, Brandon has already lost almost ten pounds. YALL.  Who is he?!?  I am so proud of him for working on this to be a better dad and healthier husband. 

Until next time, it sounds like Laiken has her heart set on dance or tumbling in her spare time. Issak is almost old enough for his own activity, and I know he can't wait to start some kind of sport. Halloween is this week and it will be frighteningly fun!  We've got lots of fun activities in store and I cannot wait to trick or treat!  Also, go "boo" a neighbor with a treat bag. Then it's their turn to "boo" someone else on the block.  Holla for new traditions. Oh, and Christmas is around the corner. Seriously. I've already started shopping for the kiddos. It's not about the gifts, but I'm more excited to share our traditions with them. Thanksgiving is gonna be FAB-U-LOUS!

A few pics for the road. 

Cheer cuties

Laiken and Connor at homecoming. 

We sure flattened the Falcons, but this week, the Panthers prevailed. 

Date day with friends in the mountains. 

Pumpkin carving was a first. 

Halloween masks. 

Double trouble 

After-park treat. 

The Creamery never gets old. 

The latest must-have. Cheetah fake glasses. Everyone's sporting them. 

Go "boo" a neighbor!  Whether they have kids or not!

Parenting:the raw truth.

Parenting isn't always fun. There. I said it. I think for most parents, this isn't a new thing. But for me, it is. I'm going to be blunt and honest, so if you don't want to read the facts, then I just suggest you stop reading now. I think some people like to put on a facade that parenting/fostering/adoption is just all fun all the time. Well, it's not. It's hard to believe that six months ago, two little children were dropped off at our house and we embarked on our greatest adventure yet. Parenting. 

In six months, we've learned all kinds of things. Letters, numbers, colors, animals, words, coloring, potty rules, manners, the list goes on. Laiken and Issak have each grown almost three sizes in clothing. We've learned about everyone's personalities. Brandon is the peacemaker and funny guy, I tend to be the stricter one, Issak is the silly and lovable hugging buddy, while Laiken is gaining an entire new personality. She's gone from "momma bird" as they named her at her old preschool to a sweet, witty, clever young girl. We've learned even more about depending on each other as spouses than I think we've ever had to. My love for Brandon has grown even more than I ever imagined. I'm sure that our faith has grown immensely through everything we've seen, experienced, and learned from the kids' former lives. God is so good to take care of us and I'm sure that we are following His plan for our family. 

But it's still hard. It's hard to hear the old stories about the "old house" and "old mom and dad". It's tough to relive their heartache and trauma every time they want to talk about it. Honestly, it breaks my heart. Not much surprises us anymore. I hate that Brandon and I have become so jaded. Our two kids have experienced more life than a grown adult in their short childhood. And it breaks my heart. Tonight I laid in bed with Laiken until she fell asleep and just cried and prayed over her. I prayed about how she must feel in such a new surrounding. She knows she's got a different family situation; she's not in the dark at all. Issak is figuring it out too. He told his pre-k teacher the other day, "well, my daddy is actually my uncle."  They have so many little thoughts running through their brains daily, and I wish I could just take all of the pain, worry, trauma, and grief away. But I can't.  My heart is broken. 

So we pray. We pray for renewed strength in our time of trouble. We teach the kids that Jesus loves us no matter what and we promise to love them forever. We pray for energy even on the longest, most exhausting days. We pray for wisdom and patience when we've heard "Momma/Aunt Kira" one time too many.  We pray that whatever emotional trauma has occurred, we can heal with bonding and love. Mostly, we pray that the kids will see Jesus through us and know how much He and we love them. 

Six months. I cannot believe it. We don't have a six month old baby, we have a four and six year old!  We know God has big plans for our family, so we wait and pray for His wisdom. Until the next move, we will be loving on kids and showing them what life is all about. The latest craze is Halloween. Heyyy if anyone wants to go trick-or-treat together, holla!  We'll have Elsa and Batman with us. This will be a new adventure for them.  They're stoked!  Until next time, please join us in praying for the kids and God's plan for our lives. We love you all and you know where we are if you ever want to come join our wild crazy house for dinner!  

Six months ago!  Our first night together. 

Around one month into fatherhood. 

2 months

3 months

4 months 

5 months

6 months

A few more recent ones for the road!

The boys cheering on Laiken and the bobcats 

Chloe and Laiken. Besties!

Laiken as flyer with the big girls at CHS cheer clinic. 

Kate and Laiken. She just looks up to her so much!

One of our besties got married last weekend too. Here are a few pics from Jessica's wedding!  It was gorgeous and she was a beautiful bride. Congrats again to the newly weds!

Rehearsal dinner fun!

Blurry, but I love these ladies!

Love this girl!

Three amigos. Love these two!

I was so blessed that these two made it to the wedding. Love them!

These girls make my life complete. I love them all so much!

The last few pics are from the photo booth. Hahaha. I haven't laughed so hard in a looooong time!  Enjoy!

Vacation, birthdays, and so much more!

We have had a very busy summer!  We've been to the beach for the first time, made it to the lake to camp a few more times, and even got to celebrate Laiken's sixth birthday today. We've moved into pre-k and kindergarten, become cheer parents, and Issak has learned all about football's "three point stance". (Cue the "Down!  Set!  Hut!)  I cannot even explain how crazy, chaotic, and wild our summer has been, yet we have been incredibly blessed. 

I'll save the majority of the pics until the end, so you don't get picture overload. Let's start with our beach vacay, though. Our kiddies had never seen the beach until we went. They had no idea how long the car ride would be, either. Oh hey, a 7 hour car ride never is a 7 hour car ride with a convoy of three cars with three kids under five years old. Haha!  The idea to leave at three AM totally backfired. Our kids woke up as soon as we got them into the car and didn't go to sleep until bedtime that night. They were just soooo excited!  The DVD player we borrowed didn't work, so we resorted to coloring books and looking out the window to pass the time. Oh. We also had a random dance party.  Because that's a must for a road trip. Basically, anything we could think of to pass the time, we did it. I was the mom in the gas station parking lot saying, "Run in place!  Ok, do jumping jacks!  Hop on one leg!"  We got lots of wiggles out when we stopped. The first thing the kids did when we got there was run out to the beach. Laiken was obsessed with finding seashells and Issak just dropped in the sand and rolled in it!  

Y'all. They LOVED it!  It was so much fun. One night we had a random dance party on the beach. If you know us, a dance party happens at least twice a week at our house. Haha!  It's not unusual to find us jamming to "Ice, Ice, Baby" on the porch. Other people ended up stopping and dancing with the kids. It was a party!

Practicing our three-point stance. 

I got to celebrate my birthday at the beach. Doug and Toni were gracious enough to watch the kids so we could have a much-needed date night. Before dinner, Brandon agreed to go on a little field trip. Have y'all ever watched Myrtle Manor on TLC?  I'm not ashamed to admit that it's shameless, trash, reality tv. But y'all. My daddy, my girl Emily, and myself watch it every week. Guess what happens to be at Myrtle Beach?  Myrtle Manor!  (The show is about a trailer park in Myrtle Beach). 

There you have it!  My five seconds of fame. I even saw Amanda from the show!!

Brandon thought I was ridiculous. I didn't care. I loved every second of that visit!  

Later that night, Drew (my brother-in-law) proposed to his girlfriend, Amanda. So we have a wedding to plan!!  Congrats to those two love birds. They have a sweet daughter, Taylen. Here's a pic of her on the beach. 

Doug took the kids on morning walks everyday, and that was fun!  Although, the morning that I went, I ended up holding the baby, watching two kids, and holding the coffee cup!  Haha!  Our family vacay was super fun.  The air conditioning in my car went out on the way home, so we ended up going about five hours without air. At one point, we were in standstill traffic and it was 101 outside!  I had one bottle of water like we were rationing. Hahaha. At the time, it was NOT funny, but now I can understand Brandon's, "we're just making memories, babe!" comments.  

Let's see...what else have we done?  I got to go back to Myrtle Beach the following weekend for Jessica's bachelorette party. Although it stormed the entire time, we got to shop and have some much-needed girl time. It was a paaaaartayyyy and we are so excited to see her tie the knot in September. 

So, back to school time is here, my friends. Let me tell you how great God is. Laiken is in kindergarten this year. I applied for a transfer for our zoned school in May. Who ever knew how important choosing a school (and preschool) would be?!  When we got back from the beach, I found the letter telling us that the transfer was denied. We could appeal the transfer, but I chose not to. I thought, this is God saying "no" to this option. Brandon and I looked at each other, and I'm gonna be honest, we were not a united front. I was really pushing to keep her in private school and he thought she should go to the zoned school. (I'm not gonna mention the zoned school name because I don't want to tick anyone off. This doesn't mean we are too good for a certain school, but I just didn't feel it was a good fit for our girl.)  So we waited a week. I had picked the papers up to sign her up for private school (B agreed to jump on board only for kindergarten) when I received another piece of mail. I opened it, and low and behold, it said we were approved. We are big, Sterchi turkeys!  I thought I was going to cry. When I went to fill the paperwork out, I asked the secretary about it. She told me they hadn't had kindergarten transfers in years, and that we were one of seven. Y'all. God is so good. He knew exactly where he wanted her. To say the roller coaster with school has been crazy is an understatement. In the matter of two weeks, we changed our minds three times about what school to send our girl to. 

I just had to take a picture. This paper almost had me in tears. 

Don't worry, Brandon picked up all the paperwork to be a chaperone on the field trips. Lord help us all!  I just love his big ole heart. He loves the kiddies!

Oh hey, we had a big trip to the hospital. Laiken had lots of cavities filled. It was kind of overwhelming, but she was a brave girl and is so proud of the silver teeth in the back of her mouth now. 

That anesthesia made her a GRUMP!  I'm glad we got it done, though. Yay for new teeth!

The kids started a new pre-k and after school program too. We have had tons of changes, but they loved every second of the new school. Props to that preschool/aftercare program. They made our kids feel right at home and if you know us, sometimes we are very scared of change. 

We had Laiken's birthday party today.  Oh my gosh. I cannot even explain how excited both kids were!  Issak helped me wrap gifts this morning and I had to explain that Laiken would be the one opening presents. He was so cute and was pumped that it would all be a surprise. He even got a few goodies too-I mean, the boy has never even had his own cake. So we spoiled them both a little. She had never had a big party with family and friends, so we did the pool party thing. I have to say, it turned out really well!  All the kids had a blast, and her little buddies got to come!  I am so glad she's making new friends and I even caught her giving one a hug today. I might've teared up a little. It's just so cute!

Let's be honest. I sucked at taking pictures today. I was too busy making sure all the kiddies were fed and happy. It. Was. So. Fun. 

It's kind of crazy to think that we've only had these little babes in our house for five months. I mean, that's almost half a year!  Someone asked me the other day if we thought we wanted "our own" kids anytime soon. Let me tell you something. These kiddos are "our own". We love them unconditionally and don't plan on letting that change anytime soon. We aren't sure what God has in store, but in our eyes, they are ours. It's not just a vacation at our house anymore. It's our everyday life. We've transitioned into a family. Issak drew a family portrait the other day that is just hilarious. 

There we all are!  Issak, Brandon, Laiken and myself. Cheyenne is the upside down blob and Coco must be hiding. 

I hope and pray that they know how much we love them. Life has changed dramatically for all of us. We went from being newlyweds to an instant family.  They have gained all kinds of things that I cannot even begin to explain right now. It's their story to tell when they are good and ready. My love for my sweet husband has exploded even larger and more than I ever thought possible. He's a good daddy, y'all. I just love watching him with the kids.  Will we have any biological kids?  That's still up for debate. I think we might need to transition to a bigger home, first. Otherwise, somebody will be sleeping in the motor home!  

We are blessed. God has given us some amazing family members that accepted these kiddies immediately. What's even more, our kids love being around all of them too. And y'all know-both of us have big, loud families!  Thank you to everyone that has shown these babies how much you love them and how much Jesus loves them. They pray for you all every night. (And some nights Issak even prays for the swingsets and Spider-Man.)  Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We love each and every one of you!

Now, some pics if you feel like stalking us!  

After ten hours in the car and a dry erase marker...whatever keeps 'em busy, right?

"I'm working on my tan!"  Love her heart, I don't think she'll ever be brown. 

Cuties!

No caption even needed. Love them. 

Doing tricks with Uncle Doug

Love this girl!

Oh hey, let's mow the yard!

New backpacks from Aunt Carolyn!  Thank you!

Mid-day ride in the camero. 

Mommy's treat after-party treat once everyone fell asleep from their cake and sugar comas. 

It's been a good summer, folks!  Can't wait to see how fall goes. We'll be cheering for the bobcats and vols, going to kindergarten, and busy being PTA members I'm sure!  Stop by or come visit one of our events-we always love hanging out with you all. 

Love,

The Lawson's