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
