The Arrival of Little Man

Meet Little Man..
Asher Kyle Fupeng

Today was what's known in the adoption world as "Gotcha Day." It's a day that you've envisioned in your head over and over again. That day that you've been praying for, hoping for and waiting for. It's when after all the hard months of waiting, a person you've only known through pictures finally becomes real. Even though I've experienced that "moment" twice before..nothing can ever prepare you for that moment. And oh, what a beautiful moment it is. When all of a sudden a little boy who was only a picture to you, becomes reality.. and you instantly fall in love all over again.That's what it felt like to meet Asher today.


Our heartbeats were racing as we rode the elevator to the 5th floor of the building we were in. And right as we stepped off, there he was waiting for us. He was a little shy as he came closer to us, and we were just as nervous as he was! It took a few minutes, but after awhile we all started to get more comfortable with one another. We pulled out the Spiderman backpack full of toys, and the matchbox cars were quite a hit! Asher loved looking at the photo album of his friend Fu Wa AKA Sophie that his mom had sent us. (Jennifer- the orphanage officials enjoyed looking at the book! Asher decided to keep it, but we will give it to the orphanage on Thursday when we visit.)

Our first glimpse of Asher as we stepped of the elevator.

Ian and Asher.. finally together!

Asher with Ian, Dad and Mom

My two little brothers!

They've been inseparable since.

Me and the little man!

I'm amazed at the bravery this little boy has. At 7 1/2, he's able to leave behind the only life he's ever known and willingly trust us strangers. He happily said goodbye to the woman who came with him from the orphanage and left without looking back.

We've come all the way to China, so where's the first place we stop to get lunch? Of course, McDonalds! It was Asher's first time at a public restaurant and he got to enjoy his first chicken nuggets, french fries and soda! McDonalds is connected to the local Walmart, so we went on a quick visit inside the store. It's a lot like our Walmarts at home, however I think their seafood selection is a little bit fresher than ours!

The boys ready to head out!

Walking in Shenyang

Walmart!

Silly boys

Lunch at McDonalds

Walmart has a great selection of seafood..did I mention how fresh it is?

They offer low prices too- see, a turtle at $85 yuan.. or about $11 US dollars. He can be your pet, or your meal.

Later in the afternoon, we visited the Shenyang zoo. We went on a bus ride through the wildlife park and the boys got to feed the tigers through a window in the bus.

Tigers outside our van

Here's Asher holding onto a stick with a piece of raw chicken on the other side..

They stick it out the window and the tigers jump up and grab it!

He's such a happy guy!

The kids also fed the bears outside the van. This one was cute because it would stand up and act like it was begging.

Now, how cool is this? Those are REAL baby chicks.. and they're orange, yellow, pink and blue! I couldn't believe it.. so I had to take a picture to prove it. Neat, huh?

The boys

Me and Asher

So, I was just standing next to Asher minding my own business, when I realized his pants were down and he was peeing..

Banging some ancient Chinese symbols..?

Feeding the bears, that's Ian, Asher, our guide Chelsea and her son Steven.

Future drummer?

Family picture!

The boys, riding on a kangaroo.

Let me tell you, this little guy is hilarious! He is so happy and joyful! He also has a little bit of an ornery side to him, but that's to be expected. He loves to play and hates sitting still. He can be a little rough at times, but we just have to remind him to be gentle. Asher's lived in an orphanage his whole life so he has no idea what it's like to be in a family. He may be 7 1/2 years old, but emotionally he is more like a 5 year old. He's very inquisitive and wants to explore everything, so we have keep a sharp eye on him.

We've already realized that Asher has very tiny bladder! On our way to the zoo today he had to go to the bathroom, so we pulled over to the side of the road and both he and Ian went at it. Well, less than an hour later he had to go again but there was one problem. We were on the bus in the middle of a nature park with about six hungry tigers sitting outside. (No joke!) So.. he ended up having to pee in an empty water bottle. It was hilarious! I was laughing so hard I about peed my pants!

Size wise, Asher is a few inches shorter than Ian, but just as thin. All of the clothes we brought (size 7's) seem to fit. His feet are bigger than we expected, so he's currently wearing Ian's sandals. I think he's a size 1 which is the same as Ian.

He's very healthy and active. His speech is a bit nasal sounding and our guides have commented that his speech his hard to understand because of his cleft palate. We expected this, and plan on starting him in speech therapy when we get home.

At dinner tonight, we had the waitress ask Asher in Mandarin what he would like to eat for dinner. She told us that his first choice on the menu was a large piece of steak! He doesn't eat a lot, so we didn't want to get him a whole piece of steak because he probably wouldn't finish it all. Instead he got his second choice, which was steamed vegetables and a little off of Ian's and Dad's plates. He ate well and surprisingly, he went for the fork instead of the chopsticks!

Ian has definitely met his match and is so happy. He can't stop smiling and thanking us for his new brother. They are getting along so well and act as if they have known each other their whole lives.

As far as communication goes.. we are communicating! Mostly we use lots of pointing and hand gestures. We've also been coming up with our own "sign language" and attaching certain hand gestures to words like No, Stop, Wait, Yes, etc so he starts to understand better. Our guides Chelsea and Hannah have been a huge help and they are actually staying just a few doors down from us in the hotel. Hannah's 11 year old nephew and Chelsea's 11 year old son are staying with them, so all four boys are getting along great. All four of them are addicted to the gameboy (even Asher who just saw one for the first time today..) so they spend most of their time playing, switching games and helping each other.

We took Asher to the pool after dinner and he had a blast! He was laughing and squealing with delight! He's never been in the pool before, but you'd have never known by the expression on his face!

After the pool, we came back to the room and talked to the kids back at home over Skype. For some reason, the webcam (on their end) is not working so we haven't been able to figure it out yet. Hopefully we do, because Asher was completely confused when he heard their voices coming from the computer screen. Actually, he thought it was his friend Sophie so he kept saying "Wa, Wa" and talking to her. It was cute!

Another thing- Asher's Chinese name (Fu Peng) is actually pronounced Fu Pong. (We have been pronouncing it Fu Pang) But, he's also responding to Asher.

To say we have been blessed would be an understatement. Asher is doing so well and is such a joy. We've had him with us for just under 12 hours and it feels already like we've had him forever. I can't even begin to tell you how cute he is. =)

It's been an awesome day here in Shenyang and we are so thankful to God for blessing us with this little precious boy! Currently, both Ian and Asher are sound asleep.. and both snoring away! I should have remembered my ear plugs!

We miss you all so much, especially Elena, Kayla, Esther and Emma. You girls will love your brother and we can't wait for you to meet him. (If you girls go shopping sometime this week, maybe you can pick him up a pair (or two) of shoes? I'd buy size 2's since he has bigger feet than we were anticipating.)

Well.. time for some shut eye!
Talk to y'all tomorrow!
Love,
Sera, Claudio, Nancy, Ian and (finally) Asher!!