Still here . . . but not all there!

I know.  I know!  We dropped off the face of blogger.  We are alive.  We are well.  We are busy.  Life is excellent.

My last post was in August.  I remember thinking selfishly after that post that Jordy will NEVER walk.  And I was completely and totally wrong.  It has been a challenging road with Jordy in regards to his mobility.  If you don't see an issue, why work to fix it.  In Jordy's case, his mobility issues don't bother him.  Why work to improve something, if you don't feel it's a big deal.  Well, even in spite of his cavalier attitude, Jordy has improved his moblity and has been walking now for about two months without his walker.  It started with lots of graceful falls and has advanced to in his words "running" or rather a fast walk.

However, as things always do for Jordy, change is about to happen again next week as Jordy has surgery on his right hip to correct the subluxation he has had since birth.  When I shared with him that he had surgery coming and told him the doctor said he wouldn't be able to walk or put any weight on his legs for awhile, he simply looked at me and said, "So, I'll have to use the stroller."  And that was it!  Like I mentioned before, he doesn't worry too much about his mobility.  This boy just rolls with the punches.  Better than I can say for myself or most people I know.

Please keep J-man in your prayers as we prepare for this next surgery.  On the one year anniversary of having his left hip repaired, Jordy will be having his right hip repaired.  This surgery isn't supposed to be as difficult and we hope that it proves not to be.  Mom and Jordy will be heading to Chicago early on Wednesday, November 12th while Dustin takes care of the home front again.  He does an amazing job helping with school and everything else.  

Thank you in advance for your continued prayers.  Thank you for all the prayers that you've sent us already.  Those prayers are continually felt.

So, here's what has been happening in pictures over the last several months:

Watching Frozen on the back deck with a friend.

Impromptu trip to the zoo.

Natalie shows her moves on the soccer field.

Caydra kicks it hard on the soccer field.

Cardinals win the tourney!

Melina's first year of herd ball . . . I mean soccer.

Celebrating grandpa's birthday.

Here's the purple herd.

Celebrating 5 years and his second American birthday!

My baby is 4 years old already.

These babies hang out with us once a week.  It's rough job but someone had to do it.

They don't teach this stuff in school!

It's an on going argument as to which child will get to do the next feeding.  Good thing there are two of them!!!

First year of JFL for Gerik.  He's got the ball . . . going to make a play!

This baby turned 8 years old.  For the month of October, I have three 8 year olds.

Celebrating a birthday at the bowling alley.

With a friend!

Dressing up never gets old.

Loving the pumpkins.

Practicing our John Hancocks with chicken feathers dipped in a berry ink as part of a homeschool lesson regarding the Declaration of Independence.  

These kids looked awesome this year.  No theme but their individual characters really shone through.

My last year with no children in the double digits.  This girl is turning 9 years old.

Birthdays with BFFs.

Wii dance, do you????

Birthday at the skating rink.  In this picture, she looks good but according to Caydra, she needs butt pads for her next trip back.

Running into a friend at the skating rink is fun but her willingness to help a Natalie is priceless.

What better way to prepare for hip surgery than to try out skates for the first time.  Very challenging with feet going in different directions but he tried.

Skating was more fun when mom zipped her around!

Skating was more fun riding on the walker!

One Year Ours

I'm breaking my rule today and posting my blog to Facebook.  Today, we celebrate one year of having Jordy officially in our arms and that is certainly worth mentioning!!!!!!!  We are sort of lousy with the celebration part today as Jordy and I spent all day on the road to Shriners Hospital, at Shriners Hospital, and coming home from Shriners Hospital. However, our visit with Shriners was a nice reminder today of how far we've come in one year from our very first visit to Shriners Hospital of Chicago on August 30th of last year. When we first met Jordy, he was crawling on his hands a lot like a gorilla and rarely used his legs unless he was walking on his knees.  He literally just dragged his legs along most of the time.  Those days have passed.  Jordy is up and moving and on his way to becoming an independent walker all thanks to the AMAZING work of our incredible doctor, Haluk Altiok M.D. and all the incredible nurses, physical therapists, technicians, etc.  We are so fortunate we have them!

What a blessing to celebrate one year.  From the beginning, we knew Jordy was a perfect fit.  The very first pictures and video we received of Jordy were confirmation enough.  Nothing has changed about that in one year.  He is definitely a Petrosky!  Jordy oozes personality and is a ball of constant fun.  He is so intelligent and very perceptive about everything around him.  He loves his brother and sisters, his dog, grandparents, cousins, and of course his mom and dad.  We are so thankful that God chose him to be a member of our family.

Continue to pray for our little guy.  We had an excellent check-up today.  We are continuing to try to keep his right leg straight.  As the doctor says, muscle has memory and it would be very easy for his right leg to go back to the way it was before the fixator.  We don't want to go through that again!  Jordy will continue to wear various braces to help maintain the leg and we are doing physical therapy to strengthen and help with balance.  The physical therapy stinks.  I'll be honest, I need just as much prayer for this one as Jordy.  He hates it and I feel like I'm doing a daily torture session.  He already feels like he is walking since he's up with his walker and it is very hard to convince him that we are working towards something bigger.

Also, pray as we schedule surgery for November to fix his right hip.  I'm anxious to get this surgery completed so that physical therapy will be more effective. Hopefully, it will be the last surgery!

Gotcha Day August 12, 2013

Adoption Day August 13, 2013

School Pictures 2014

Showing off his new walker

Summer is . . .

Long time, no write!  It's been very busy in our household by choice.  We are doing our best to squeeze every moment out of this summer that is physically possible.  However, I owe an update to all those who are so faithfully following along with our family journey.  

These past several months have been filled with constant transition.  In April, Jordy had the fixator put on.   In May, Natalie broke her arm and went into a cast.  In June, Jordy had the fixator removed and went into a cast and Natalie came out of her cast and went into a splint.  In July, Jordy came out of his cast and went into a knee immobilizer.  Let's just say this summer has required constant maneuvering but at least now all children are out of casts and we can ALL enjoy swimming and all the water fun that summer brings.  We have done zoos, Bible school, play dates, overnighters, the Creation Museum, camping, library summer reading, swimming, etc.  We may need school as a break from summer and that's exactly what we are aiming for!  I'll let the pictures tell the rest.

Disclaimer: These are out of order and I do not have the time to fix them. Without further explination, here is what summer is . . .

Backyard kickball

First trip to the zoo with friends.

Yay!  A new roof.  :(

Beach time at Winona Lake with some other adoptive families.

The botanical area of the Creation Museum

More Creation Museum

And More . . .

And More!

Pool Party

Just to prove I was really there.  Who are those people back there?

Keep away with a friend.

Lunch outside!

A close up of one of the photo bombers.  LOL.

Cast has been off for one day and we aren't wasting any time.  To the beach, we go!

They are just a teeny bit excited to FINALLY be swimming in the lake.

Driving my dad's "new" tractor.  I have to say I actually did enjoy myself.

More rides with grandpa and playing with the other new toy the 4-wheeler.

Tin Caps game on Memorial Day.

See that popcorn?  Yeah, that's not our popcorn.  Someone left it behind and my husband thought it was acceptable to eat it.  One of the many pleasures I have being married to him.  Just check out how he is corrupting my sweet little Melina.

Time with out of state cousins!

Fort Wayne Children's Zoo, trip 2,

Wii with friends

Neighborhood hangout. :)

BFF sleepover.

Bible School craft.

More crafting.

Bible school program practice.

Random pool shot from trip to KY.

Cincinnati Zoo.

The older they get, the goofier they get.

Polar bears were quite playful for us.

My mother in laws first s'more.  Doesn't even seem right.

Backyard camping at the Petroskys.

Akron 4th of July parade.

My handsome nephew driving with his tractor square dancing crew.

AKA the Akron Tractor parade.

Some tractor square dancing.

Cornholing cousins. :)

Catching up with our friends at the Akron park.  

Excellent effort by four out of our five children.  Gerik came closest to winning at 4th place.

My oldest kid swinging with our youngest kid.  Age is no indication of youth!