Conversation with my China boy

Jordy has learned English at lightening speed which has made for some great conversations lately.  I love that he can share with me about his life in China and I thought I would share some things we talked about on Friday mostly so that I don't forget what he shared.

In our house filled with six other individuals, it is hard to have truly isolated one on one time but with Jordy still not allowed to stand, I still have to take Jordy potty.  So, as we are sitting in the bathroom, Jordy tells me out of no where, "China does not have pizza."  There is pizza in China but I can't imagine that Jordy ever would have eaten any.  So I responded, "No, there isn't."  Not true but in his limited experience, there wasn't.  He quite enjoys pizza much to our delight.  This simple conversation opened the flood gate of sharing about China.  He shared that he ate fish and eggs in China just like here.  We talked about all sorts of different foods like noodles, soup, and rice.  He said he didn't eat them in China.  Truth is, he doesn't like rice.  As for noodles and soup, I'm not sure he understands that there are many different types of noodles and soups.

He proceeded to share that in his bathroom, they did not have a bath rug like our bathroom but rather big puzzle pieces with Mickey on them. My best guess is that they used the big foam puzzle mat pieces in their bathing area which I've seen in many pictures of children from China.

My favorite part of our conversation was when Jordy shared with me that Dustin and I need to go back to China and pick up all his friends.  He says he is willing to share his bed and that Gerik, Caydra, and Natalie can all share their beds as well.  When we run out of beds, Jordy said that the rest of the children can sleep on the floor of the bedrooms and even mom and dad can share our bed.  Melt my heart!!!!!!!  I asked him if they were supposed to come and visit or if they were supposed to stay forever.  He didn't give it a second thought, he said they could stay forever and that he would share all of his batman toys.  He named many of his friends including the following two that are still in China without families committed to them.

"Bo"

"Shawn"

As I was making his bed and changing the sheets, he also shared that he had a little bed in China.  He said he didn't need his little bed anymore and he told me that now his bed could be used by another boy, maybe one that had a broken bed.  

Over and over again, I hear the compassion Jordy has for others.  And while we have no plans in the present or future to adopt again, I can say that it is hard not to get on a plane and head back when all of our children regularly share with us their willingness and longing to bring more children into our family.  They, as children, have no reservations about adding more members to our family.  I know we can't rescue them all.  We are not going to try to rescue them all but as crazy as everyone may think we are, it's hard to think about all the children that don't get to experience the joy, pleasure, frustration, turmoil, and every other beautiful part that makes up being a part of a family.  Our children get it.  And because they get it, they want to share it. Cannot fault them for that and I love them more because of it!

Brothers for life!

Just in case you didn't know, we got a teeny bit of snow.  Only about 16.2 inches in our county.

Enjoying our Christmas gift from Gma Barr & Chuck: a ping pong table.

We obviously are not having fun.

Look out, he has a wicked serve!

Families that play together, stay together.  No shortage of playtime in our house!  Lucky for us, Dustin is his own portable amusement park.

Medical Updates and Holidays

I believe I'm quite overdue for an update.  I'm going to go backwards because I know that most of you want to know how Jordy's check up went in Chicago on January 2nd.  Then I will let the pictures tell the story of the last month.

What better way to start off the new year than a trip to Chicago in the snow.  Because it is a new year, Dustin was able to take a day off of work to go with me.  Lucky me because it meant I didn't end up having to do any driving.  Dustin had never been to Shriners and had never met the doctor that did Jordy's surgery. It was nice to have him along especially with all five children in tow.  Whitley County roads-not swell. Kosciusko roads-the pits.  However, once we made it towards Plymouth on State Road 30, surprisingly, things cleared up for the most part.  Not that there wasn't any snow but in Chicago, the roads were clear due to the sheer volume of traffic.  Side roads in Chicago were piled high and deep but main roads were peachy. We left at 9 am Indiana time and arrived at around 1 pm Indiana time.  We stopped for lunch then headed to Shriners which was a ghost town.  I mean who really travels long distances in this kind of weather.  Ha!  We got right in because most people had cancelled their appointments for the day.  Dr. Altiok was just waiting for someone to show up because he nearly greeted us at the door.

The news was fantastic.  The hip did not move out of socket and the doctor felt good enough about it to take Jordy's cast completely off after seven weeks in.  Yahoo!!!!  Instead, we were sent home with a pillow which Jordy is required to wear for one month between his legs that will still sort of keep him in a fixed position.  However, Jordy has free reign to do what is comfortable outside of putting any pressure on his feet or knees.  As most of you may recall, they used his femur bone to help reconstruct his hip.  The bone has not yet fully healed.  The x-rays show that it is starting to fill in very nicely but it is not quite finished and so walking or standing is not an option yet.  We go back in February for re-evaluation.

The first thing Jordy said about getting his cast off was, "I get to take a bath!"  It's all he cared about and so first thing this morning he requested one immediately.  He wouldn't even eat breakfast first.

This is one happy boy!

The months of November and December were filled with lots of holiday fun, family, traditions and parties.  It was fun adding Jordy to all of it.  It's still hard to believe that he's not been with us all along.  It feels like he's been with us forever.  Are we ever so thankful for our smooth transition!

Parkview Emergency Physician's party in November.  This isn't even close to the whole crew but this is who we caught at the moment.  As always, a fun night out with my second family.

We were roaring twenties.

Thanksgiving at our house so we didn't have to transport our casted buddy.  He loved Aunt Angie's tablet!

Loved watching the kids decorate the tree . . . especially after the tree fiasco.

Our annual trip to the Embassy Festival of Trees.  Dustin's favorite tree . . . imagine that!

Beautiful view.

Uh yeah, Melina, don't touch that, please!  Caydra, don't look so thrilled.

Minty Edy's Ice Cream.  Mom can't stand mint but kids don't seem to mind.

Off to the Botanical Gardens next.

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care.  "Mom, where's our chimney?" -Jordy  Uh, you got me there buddy!

Dustin's Interior Product Supply annual movie night for customers.  Ugly sweater/costume contest between employees.

Haven't been to see the gingerbread houses since I was a kid.  LOVED it!!!  Thank you Parkview.

With inspiration, we were able to come home and do our own.  Kids liked the part where they ate their work.

They get along sometimes.

Making grandma Barr's sorghum cookies.  Yummy!

Jingle Jammie time.

First Petrosky Family Christmas.

Thank you so much for cooperating, Dustin!  I love him anyways.  LOL.

Christmas morning.

And all anyone really cared about in their stocking was the fruit stripe gum.

Christmas in Michigan.  So fun to watch all the cousins together.

Took up most of the dining room at Culver's in Portage with our party of 31.  

Happy New year to all our friends and family.  Looking forward to an excellent year of the Horse! (Techinically doesn't start until January 31st)