It's been a long long time...

It has been quite some time since my last post. Maybe because we had a crazy few months (Jan-Aug) with birthdays, sickness, chest x-rays (Aunna), potty-training (both littles), new prosthetics (Ty), Juice Plus conference (Erin), hand surgery (Ty), ending our homeschool year (3 bigs), buying and selling our house, going on vacation, starting the new adventure of 3 in school, starting another homeschool year with the big girls and completing one full year of reGen (Dave)...whew...it's tiring just typing all of that out. And then the regular 3-6 trips to Shriner's in there somewhere.

For me things need to be quick, easy to access and 1-2 steps to fit into my life. The blog just isn't that. Instagram on the other hand is so simple and quick (which also links to fb) which is why there is even one picture on fb.

Our kids and grown so much over this year. So may pictures and milestones to be shared (mostly documented on IG. See our pages for timely updates @erinmichelleo (family page) and @color_and_spice (creative page).

I'm not sure if there will be more posts here because rankly I would rather spend my time with my family, my planner and my Bible.

With that here is possibly one last post:

Two years ago tomorrow we met our Aunna Hope for the first time. She screamed and cried and was scared for another transition as an orphan. Well that all changed that day and we will never be the same!

She is a delight.

She is strong.

She is determined.

She is sweet.

She is fiery.

She is funny. 

She is an OVERCOMER!

{a few pictures of our last few months}

Lightning Baby in her preschool class

mama and LH

Obwald girls in Newport

Obwald party of 7 - 4th of July

Obwald kids on the 1st day of school 2016

TyTy and mama 

big girls enjoying a fun car

littles in the "picture spot" at school

married 17 years...

love to you all!

Busy Busy over here

Since I posted last a few months have flown by. We have traveled to Shriners two times this year already. Our little man had his first (Jan 8th) and second trip (Feb 11th) where he was fitted for a lower leg/foot prosthetic. We are awaiting its arrival in the mail any day now. Here are a few pictures from those trips.


January 8, 2016

Our Lightning Hope was also fit for "new feet" and a hand attachment for her bike.

I love to take "we're here" picture when we get to Shriners and remember who traveled with us. It was Fashion Faith's turn.

Waiting in the room playing Old Fart Booth on daddy's phone. It's pretty fun seeing these little ones as a 90 year old. hahaha Passes the time.

One of my favorite things of this whole process is seeing their X-rays!

 Aftetr seeing these hand X-rays we confirmed hand surgery for Ty. They will separate the three

right-most fingers on his right hand.

This lower X-ray let us know that his hips and knees were in good shape and that surgery would not be necessary to fit him with a lower leg prosthetic. Hooray!

After being there for about 3 hours they brought in toys for each of our kids. Another AMAZING thing about Shriners. They were so kind to notice that our peeps were fading and needed some entertainment.

Ty checking out the sock that goes under the plaster to make his form. I thought he would freak out much more than he did. I think he only cried once.

Now that LH has had a few casts made for "new feet" she is a pro. She loves it and sits very still.

We try to find fun lunch spots on our one-day trips to Sac. We have scored a few Diners, Drive-ins and Dive spots. This was a fun place with lots of variety.

Pretty much the largest onion rings we have ever seen!

February 11, 2016

And we're off again...

Ty practicing "standing tall" waiting for his fitting.

Oh, that was a bit scary! After he freaked out (and cried/screamed for about 10 minutes) we asked if we could put on the prosthetic next time they brought it in. The prosthetist was so gracious and passed it to us and then left the room for a few minutes while we go it on. The prosthetist peeked into the room several time sot see if it fit well. 

Ty was a little more accepting the second time. We forgot to take a video so we asked if he could try it one more time. The third time was a charm because he then didn't want to take it off and ventured outside the ramp with the handrails and even let go altogether! What a guy! So BRAVE!

Ty has to have one other small surgery at the same time as his hand surgery. We met with one of the pediatric surgeons on that trip. He was very nice as well. Ty warmed right up to him. He's so friendly! It's definitely one of Ty's gifts, being friendly!

Next trip will be Ty's surgery...

time flies

"1 month an Obwald"

We have had Ty with us for one month an a day and he has been officially an Obwald for 1 full month. Wow, what a whirlwind! He has already grown in so many ways! There will forever be unanswered questions about his first 4 years of life but what we know for sure is that he was meant to be in a family...our family.

And it just dawned on me that we "locked" his file one year ago today! CRAZY! Yes, crazy!

{Ty this past week}

Although he will still have miles of overcoming to do, this month has shown his bravery, openness to learn, charm and tenderness. We are excited to see what this "1st year an Obwald" brings for our-guy-Ty.

It's so interesting to watch him take in new experiences, sights, smells, foods and sounds. I'm not sure what his first four years of life looked like in the orphanage but it seems that his exposure to things we are used to, and our kids are used to, were quite minimal. Here is a short list of some things that seemed new to Ty since he has been with us (keep in mind that he is 4 years old)...

--eating with a spoon
--eating with a fork
--drinking from a straw
--swings
--slides
--grass
--any form of transportation
--dogs (or any animals for that matter)
--using the potty
     ...to name a few

With all of these new things, on top of learning a new language and being dropped in a new family and culture, you can only imagine what newly adopted children go through. Even though he is doing very well, better than we expected, please continue to pray for our little guy and our family as we build trust, set boundaries, and attach to each other as only families can do.

There are hard moments, hours, days...nap time is a little too short sometimes but we are working it through as a family and in it to WIN IT! ;) In those hard moments we are often given the gift of his little sparkly smile to follow it up. Thank you Lord for the small but great blessings.

orphan no more

Tu's-day!

December 2, 2014

was the day I first saw this picture

on the CCAI Facebook page...

...they said advocate for him.

...they said share his picture.

...they said his file would be returned.

My heart said,"That's my boy!"

The rest is history. God brought us together almost exactly 11 months later.

It really is amazing that the number 2 continues to show up for him. 

We found his picture on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2014.

We said YES to his file on a Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2014 

(the second Tuesday in December that year)

His given name in China was Tu.

He has a total of two toenails.

He has two fingers on his right hand.

He is our second adoption.

He is our second son.

He has been "unorphaned" exactly 22 days.

You're stuck with us buddy! ;)

Orphan No More!

Our last three days in China!

These two have been working hard for the last two weeks on getting their socks and shoes on and off. I must say with this kind of determination for a simple task such as this they bode well for the hurdles they will face in the years to come. They can both get their socks and shoes off and their socks and shoes on! Good job little people!

Tuesday (China time)

We had some down time from appointments and such so we decide to walk to a park that other families had mentioned. Wow, it was beautiful! A definite oasis in this busy city!

These next three pictures are an example of what happens when we leave our hotel. (Just so you get a real idea. They were within 30 steps of each other.) This is how blatant the people are in their wonder of why the heck we have two Chinese children with wonky limbs. I just give a big smile and "Hello!"

(this guy is literally pointing!)

(full head turn towards us and staring while walking)

(stopped in her tracks to take a look while we pass)

I just thought this sign was funny.

These two are some of my favorite shots of the day! One of the things in our guy's file said eh couldn't climb stairs. Well we tried it out at the park and up he went. Way to go buddy! I think this was his first time on a slide, or at least it seemed.

I think he liked it!

We noticed this when we were leaving the park. These guys are writing in Chinese calligraphy with water and a huge paint brush on the side walk. There were quite a few of them. Of course we can't read it but how beautiful!

These two goofs. We went on a walk before dinner to the inside play room. They wanted to "walk" their two stings down too.

Wednesday (China time)

We got the negative result call for our little man's TB blood test Tuesday afternoon. Check! So Wednesday we were off the the American Consulate. No cameras allowed but all went well and pretty fast. We have what we need to get our family home.

Later that morning we gathered for the group picture and final group meeting.

The infamous stairs pictures. So fun and what a big group! It was such a FANTASTIC group to be a part of! I look forward to keeping up on their families in the coming months and seeing their precious Chinese children grow and develop into who God has designed them to be!

(We're int eh upper right corner)

Endless possibilities y'all! 

11 families

This was so cute! Daddy-O forgot something in the room so the kids and I waited in the hallway. Little man wandered back to the correct room, several doors down the hallway, and started knocking for daddy.

Look at his face when his daddy emerged! Huge smile!

The slide seems new to Ty but he does love it.

I love that Ty is clear in this pic but everything else is blurry.

Holding on tight to daddy while we explore the gardens on the fourth floor of the hotel before dinner.

I love this. Safety in his daddy's arms!

Thursday (China time)

 We found another garden near our hotel today. We had the entire day off (with the exception of collecting our final paperwork from our guides at 4:20pm). It felt to good to meander to breakfast, wander the halls of the hotel, wander the streets of Guangzhou looking for a few last souvenirs for our big kids.

This man walk "walking" his duck! Only in China. ha!

We saw this at both parks. It's a group of people gathered under a small structure sitting and singing, while being lead by an instructor of some sort. It was beautiful music and added a fun element to the beautiful scenery. This group even had a woman playing an accordion. The man in the red shirt, in front, is pointing to the music hanging on that easel.

After the park we decided to go around the block to get back to our hotel. We spotted this alley on our way and decided to head that'a-way.

It was actual China.

The everyday people in their natural, everyday environment. Not the big hotel, taxi-honking, large tour bus-driving, 5-star buffet, Starbucks-kind of China. Instead the average hole-in-the-wall store front owner, laundry handing from your window, selling mops and brooms, raw meat hanging from spikes kind of China. 

Very interesting! We were so glad that we stumbled across this back alley! It seems that every once in a while there will be a small road leading from the main street into an area such as this.

One of the eclectic shops.

I spotted this guy on our way back. His bicycle (you can't even see it from here) is completely covered with new mops, brooms and buckets. He needs to get around that stopped bus so he is walking IN the lanes that the cars and busses and taxis go! Holy cow, the guts of some of these guys! He really has no other choice.

As our last day and night in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China we skyped with our big kids on last time. I was so happy to get all 5 of our kids in one shot. You may not be able to tell but the littles' faces are in the bottom corner. We are SO EXCITED to see our big kids. They have had a great two weeks as well but we are more than ready to be reunited.

Thank you 100x over for all of your prayers and words of encouragement as we prepared and traveled to get Ty. 

And once again, like last year, please show your care for our family and Ty by giving him space and time to adjust when we get home.

Please DO NOT:

touch him

pick him up

offer him food

He is doing SO WELL but has been through a lot over the past two weeks. He still needs time to bond with us as his parents and sole providers. It would be confusing for him to have his needs met from another person for a while. We appreciate your understanding and know that he will love interacting with you just as soon as he is ready.

love, us7 ;)