last full day in Shenyang

We had a great day today. Both kiddos slept until 6:30am. What an improvement! The day is not only long but super long when they wake up at 3 am. We feel like we lived an entire day before breakfast.

It was "bath day" again for this little man. We knew it would be hard but it had to happen. We heard from his nannies that he does actually love taking a bath. So, we figure it's the "being so vulnerable" that he is getting used to. The bath lasted longer, 2.5 minutes, I was able to wash more of him and he cried for a bit longer afterwards. We strategically followed up bath time with lunch. He was right as rain within minutes and back to his fun-loving self.

At breakfast he used a straw for his juice. He didn't seem to be able to drink from an open cup or use a straw as of 4 days ago. The nannies told us he still got a bottle each morning. I also taught him how to hold a spoon properly at lunch. He loved that. He seems eager to feed himself. We were also told that part of Chinese culture is that the children don't do much for themselves so teaching him these things is fun and he seems excited to do them.

Some bum-push-ups today with dad.

He hasn't been a fan of quick movements but today he enjoyed this little ride.

All smiles!

Sorry for the bum shot of daddy-O but I wanted to show little man checking on his little sister. This was the first time that he was awake before her at nap time. He really wanted to get her up to play. So cute. When one of them is awake they think the other one should be too.

Horsey rides with dad.

He loved this as you can tell.

It's hard to get a good picture of this little guy.

He's so quick.

Another blurry yet adorable picture of this sparkle!

Little mommy caring for her bro. This is one of his sad moments.

Literally LH runs to get a tissue and come rub his back to help soothe him.

Best parts of the day:
-- we (the parents) for to hang out during nap time, watch a movie and pack for our travels tomorrow. One of both of us usually nap when they do.

-- baby girl said to her daddy this afternoon,"Dad you go sit. I'm playing with TyTy."
They played together for about 40 minutes. So cool!

--little man rolled toward me during nap time today and fell asleep. We usually put him in the middle of our huge bed for his nap. He plays for a bit and then lays down to sleep.

Something very interesting:
Our guide from CCAI came to our hotel room tonight to deliver the official documents we need for the next city. Ty had just woken up so daddy was holding him. I needed to review each piece for accuracy (10 documents with 5 pages in each set) so we asked him to come in and have a seat. Daddy tried to put our little guy down and he totally melted. Out came the crying. Poor guy. We wondered if he associated our guide with the loss he is feeling. Daddy quickly picked him back up and he settled, oh and another snack. Our guide has been with us for each step of the process translating and taking care of the legal documents.

3 full days with Ty

Today was a great day! Only two very short cries from our little guy (which were our fault). He woke up with a smile and started playing right away. Bright eyes and fun all day! We rode them down in the double stroller to breakfast and he ate his breakfast in his stroller seat without a fuss. The first time we took him to breakfast we had to stand up and hold him while feeding him. YAY!!!
He's such a good eater and loves variety. From orphanage to 5-star buffet!

This is on our way to breakfast. He even did a diaper change and clothes change this morning before breakfast without one cry, all smiles. Little steps each day for sure!

What a courageous guy trusting us so.

We took a long walk today. (It was about 35 degrees) We needed to get out of the room a bit more. The smoke cleared some so we thought we should go for it. We bundled up and braved the streets. I saw this guy peddling along. Hello! Large load. You'd be amazed what they fit on a bike or scooter.

This pic is from last night. I got their Frozen jammies on. Adorable! You can kind of see the little toes on his left foot in this picture. I think the only ones that are full length are the pinkie and one next to it. We haven't been able to get a good look at his whole body yet because of his hesitancy to get undressed. In time and for sure next week when he gets his medical exam before we leave. Pray for that day. Holy cow that might be rough. I'm pretty sure he gets blood drawn and some shots.

You can see in the picture above a little photo book. They both carry their photo books everywhere we go and all around the hotel room. It's so funny. The photos are of the 7 of us so they can both see pictures of the big kids too until we get home.

Updates on little man:

he went to bed last night with 1-2 minutes of crying

the previous night it was 20 minutes of screaming/crying

he lets go of food trash within seconds now (like the wrapper from a fruit snack or squeezie yogurt)

he wakes up with a huge smile

he handed LH something today when she was crying

he and LH can play independent of us for a bit now

he has napped on our bed the last two days

he finally pooped ;)

he calls for mama and dada is we leave the room, not in a worried way but a loving way

he loves to high-5

he looked at books today for the first time

first two days with Ty

Well of course it's been a few days of learning about our son, adjusting to his moods and grieving, earning his trust, feeding all of us, getting enough rest to function with two toddlers/preschoolers and well, thriving as best we can  for the next 9 days in China to get home to our big kids. Thank goodness we have been able to Skype with them. What a blessing that has been!

Ok. Here's for a quick recap...

Son of Courage (newly adopted son)

he loves to eat
he loves to play with Hot Wheels
he loves bouncy balls
he throw pretty hard with his left hand
he gets around well
he puts most of this weight on his right leg (short leg) most of the time
he does "stand up" on his left leg sometimes
he doesn't have any symptoms of being sick
he is used to the nannies doing most everything for him (carrying, feeding...)
he's not a fan of changes that concern his body (diaper changes, changing clothes, baths!)
---when I say "not a fan" I mean blood-curdling screams of fear ---poor guy, so many new things
he has an adorable, full faced smile and giggle
his eyes light up the room
he loves to share with his little sister
he loves to share his food
he likes his new shoes
he wondered where his feet went in his footie jammies
he sleeps well at night
he has begun to let go (trash related to food) and put them in the garbage himself
he responds to being tickled in a favorable way
he called her by name all on his own today to pass her a toy (Amazing!)


Lightning Hope

she loves her new brother
she loves to share most of the time (unless it's something special to her)
she wants him to wake up if she's awake and he's still sleeping
she loves to comfort him and bring me a tissue if he's crying
her eyes actually filled with tears of compassion one of the first times he cried (It was an amazing sight. She was genuinely concerned for him.)
she doesn't mind being used as an example for me to show him how to do something
she got a fever in the night which kept us home from visiting his orphanage (This may have been a huge blessing. He had a very hard morning. Both doing well now.)
in her little person way she has stepped up to meet this challenge of welcoming him in

Us (the parents)

we are doing well
the jet-lag has finally seemed to be subsiding
the hotel upgraded our room "just because" which has been amazing! lots of space
our schedule this trip is much slower, thus lots of time to connect with our kids
good conversations about our transition
enjoying teamwork as we transition with our SOC and LH
each of us using our gifts to make this transition go as well as possible
natural feelings of "What on earth are we doing?" and "We are so excited to see him reach his potential!"
we are learning to rely on God in new ways, understanding our own spiritual adoption even more

Forever Family Day

(adoption finalization)

let's do this!

There you go! Another Obwald! 11.10.2015

Customary trip to Walmart for supplies. Christmas decor already up.

We are all suited up for a 20 minute walk back to our hotel, including masks because of the toxic pollution at an all-time high.

 I love this frozen bicycle we passed. Icicles actually formed.

We spent a good 2.5 hours in our big bed yesterday playing while baby girl slept.

Last night at story time before bed...two kids, two blankets, two stuffed elephants, two water cups...check!

Today he got himself onto our bed without help.

He didn't do that when we first got him. New things everyday.

We got the double stroller out today to play in this afternoon. We cannot carry them through the airport (in 3 days) so we wanted him to get used to get it. He seemed to love it.

Baby girl told him just where to sit or course.

love to you all! Keep those prayers comin'!

Gotcha Day! (11.9.15)

Everything about this trip has been different from last year.

--which of our kids we are traveling with (last year our three big kids, this year just our adopted daughter from last year, also China)
--what city and province our child is from (last year Henan province (central southern), this year Liaoning province, far northeast)
--the weather (last year sweltering heat and humidity, this year literally freezing weather, snow and terrible air pollution from coal burning stoves and heaters)
--our travel group size (last year 3 other families, this year just us for this first week and 6 other families for the last week)
--the age and gender of our new child (last year 16 month old girl, this year 4 year old boy)
--our new child's life history and dwelling before us (last year our daughter lived in a foster center, this year our son is from and orphanage)
--how we received our child (last year waiting for almost an hour with other families and her screaming with fear, this year we met them in the lobby waiting for the elevator, he was very calm and interactive with one small cry)

Our little Lightning Hope was such an amazing blessing with us receiving Ty yesterday. She was a rockstar! She welcomed him, loved on him, shared with him and cared for him. She kept saying,"I hold it." We were passing him back and forth so we could sign papers. We all fed each other an entire bag of little sweet crackers.

This is the first moments that we saw our son.

What a surprise to see them in the lobby while waiting for the elevator!

He gazed at daddy for a while. Adorable!

Baby girl helping out by patting his back too.

The four of us!

We all munched on those crackers for about an hour.

Daddy got smiles our of him pretty quickly. 

we're comin' little boy...

It's funny...I have always loved living near the airport. I point out planes, jets and such to the kids as we drive. But the past week has been different. I have entered the "it's really going to happen" phase of this adoption journey. Every time I see a plane now I get butterflies in my stomach thinking of us heading around the world to welcome our next child into our family!

#werecomingTyTy

CRAZY!!!

** as the days continue to march on we wait...

** we hit two holidays and our paperwork got snagged in China.

** with our first adoption we needed to wait to travel b/c of a class my husband was teaching so we had about 40 days from making our flights until departure. It looks like this time around we will have more like 7-10!

CRAZY!!!

We expect our Article 5 tomorrow or in the next few days. After that we wait for China to invite us to come adopt Ty (Travel Approval).

A few days later we request our consulate date, wait again for a date, hopefully only a few days, then make our flights.

Current prayer requests:
--that we would not hit Thanksgiving for our in-China dates and have to push it off even further!
--that we would heal from the colds that currently have us not-quite-right
--that the flights would be reasonable in cost (they have been holding at $992 per adult for a few months now)
--that Ty would be safe, warm, fed and cared for until we can get there
--that our funds would stretch just enough to get us there and back

We got an update on our boy! I squealed, and so did the girls... ;) There was a great written report (so that helped) because the pictures of him made me sad. It was a hard week receiving these. It makes me want to get there all the quicker! But I am thankful that we see him like this (much different than the other pictures we received) so that when we get to him we won't be shocked if he's not all matching and wearing a sparkling smile.

Here are some pics from what's up around here while we wait...

Lightning Hope got new feet! (longer and more room inside). She has grown so much! New kicks that open all the way to get her new feet in place with ease.

 Jumping Joy's hair is getting so long. Braids for her the other day!

Crazy hair and makeup day at "school" the other day. They even went to Home Depot like this. It was so funny. The guys at the paint counter were trying not to stare. Finally one of them asked,"Is she just expressing her self?" LOL!

We celebrated Ty's bday on Sept 26th even though he wasn't with us.

Baby girl still loving her time in gymnastics!

That's all for now. Hopefully more news very soon!

$2 Tu's-day

We got an update a bit ago on our darling boy Tyler!

We were so excited to receive this update as we did not request it. What a fantastic surprise!

His orphanage seems very excited for his future with a forever family. Isn't he just sweet?!

We were so relieved to see these update pictures. He looks SO good...and he's even wearing blue. (Many times they put the kids, both boys and girls, in whatever they have and it's not uncommon that's it's pink.) He seems to really like the person behind or beside the camera. He looks relaxed and engaged. And look how clean he is and his surroundings. It's a funny thing getting attached to someone you've never met who is so far away.

As our adoption continues...and the paperwork continues...we find ourselves blessed by contributions from friends and family! THANK YOU!

A number of people have asked how they can join with us in bringing Tyler home. One of the last fees is the Orphanage Fee. This fee is $5,700-$5,900. Our hope is to raise enough money with this last fundraiser to pay the Orphanage Fee and bring extra supplies to Ty's orphanage. They have cared for him for almost 4 years. We are so thankful for the time they have spent with him and the care they have given him! Our prayer is that this money (and supplies) would care for children in his orphanage and that it would be a tangible expression of God's giving heart.

The reason we are naming this fundraiser $2 Tu's-day is that our boy's Chinese name is Tu Yan. I (Erin) came across his picture on a Tuesday (Dec. 2nd to be exact) and we said YES to our agency on a Tuesday the following week. Tu is also our 2nd adoption. Tuesday and the number 2 seem to be all over this process.

This is how it works:

1. Donate $2 or $22 and so on...Tuesday, June 2nd through Friday, June 12th! Click the red DONATE button on the top right corner of our blog page.

2. Snap a pic and spread the word. One of our hopes is to the spread the word about orphan care to as many people as will listen. Please snap a pic holding up two fingers (or a creative way of showing the number 2).

3. Share! Take your picture and send it to {us and} as many people as you can think of... We hope to make a book for Ty with all of your pictures. We can't wait to share our journey with him of how God placed him in our family.

{you can add this blurb to what you share}

The Obwald family is adopting for the 2nd time. Tyler (Tu Yan) is 3 years old and has lived in an orphanage in China his whole life. They are so excited to bring him home and make a donation to his orphanage. Read their story and help them reach their goal by donating here www.itsanobwaldlife.blogspot.com

4. Prayer. Please join us in prayer! So many children sit in orphanages and foster care around the world. They are vulnerable in that situation to all sorts of horrible. Please join us in praying for their safety, adoption into loving families and their adjustment into a family setting. They are just as precious as any other child!


We are so thankful for each and every one of you! We can already tell that he is a special boy with a life ahead of him full of joy, hope, overcoming obstacles, sorrows, difficulties and LOVE!