Home

Thank you all for being patient with me.  I've wanted to sit down and blog but yesterday just wasn't the day. I was completely out of it and honestly felt a little like I was still in flight.  It's hard to explain and I'm not sure if anyone else has ever felt it but I literally felt at times like I was on an airplane going through elevation changes.  It was weird and I'm thankfully grounded today.

We left our hotel on Wednesday evening at 9:30pm Indiana time.  After two van rides, three airplanes, an hour delay, a visit to immigration in LAX, getting stuck in road construction, and getting delayed because of an auto accident we finally arrived home on Friday morning at 6am.  Our total travel time was just under 33 hours.  If I don't see another airplane for a few years, I promise it will still be too soon.  Jordy was a trooper!!!  We had no issues with him at all.  He became a bit disoriented trying to sleep on the plane but it was barely a problem.

In LA, we were met after getting off the plane by airport staff that informed us we didn't have much time to make our next flight and they gave us an express pass to get through all the check points.  It didn't matter. No one really looked at it or cared.  However, it gave me anxiety thinking we weren't going to make our next flight.  We rushed to the immigration desk.  We were directed to the wrong desk, then went back to the right desk and it actually went fairly quick.  While in China, we were handed a packet sealed in an envelope and were told not to open it.  It had to remain unopened until immigration took it at LAX.  It was this packet that we handed over along with Jordy's passport.  Since Jordy is under 10 years old, all we did was literally handed the packet to the immigration officer and then had a seat.  A few minutes later, they called us back up and gave us back Jordy's passport and that was it.  We were done.  Normally, if you are 10 and over, you have to be fingerprinted and give a signature.  We were exempt.  So, we then rushed to claim our baggage which had to be rechecked for the domestic flight to Chicago.  Got that done, headed to our gate and found out the flight was delayed.  Grrr!  All that rushing around and it wasn't even an issue.  Oh well.  It's done.  We're home.

We were hoping to come home and sleep a few before the kids woke up but getting home at 6am just made that not even an option.  Jordy was thrilled to be home.  He right away became excited about Pascal. Caydra and Gerik were the first to awake and they quickly started introducing themselves and the house. Jordy gladly followed them around and eventually Natalie and Melina woke up as well.  The kids played hard all day long.  I was so surprised at how long Jordy went.  It wasn't until almost 3 or 4 in the afternoon that he finally slowed down and fell asleep.  We let him sleep a few hours and woke him up so he would sleep at night.

I had two goals yesterday, complete and turn in my insurance paperwork for work and get a hold of Shriner's hospital in Chicago.  I was successful in both.  Dustin, bless his heart, slept the day away in periodic spurts.  He was exhausted!  Surprisingly enough, we all slept through the entire night.  It was fabulous.

Here are a few of those coveted photos you've all been seeking.  I promise I'll do a little better in the days to come.

Ha!  You thought the food pictures were done didn't you?!

Our last "Chinese" meal in the Guangzhou airport.  Had to have one more noodle bowl.

Jordy got a free gift for the first plane ride, an aqua doodle book.  Notice Dustin is sort of with us but the rows are staggered.

Flight two, we actually get to sit together and another free gift from the air line, a stuffed animal with blanket.

The kids made this for us!

Did we mention Jordy is all boy and loves to wrestle?

Woke up to these cuties.  I <3 them!!!

This kid is such a good eater.

By request, while the big kids were at swim lessons, Jordy and Melina enjoyed a bath together.

Excuse the back lighting.  Jordy is making good friends with Pascal.

It was mentioned in Jordy's file that he loves rabbits.  Lucky him, we happen to have a few.

Introduced Jordy to the backyard.

So, how does Jordy play on a play set like this?  This boy is the king of adapting.  He is so strong, and can pull himself up the slide and then he uses his strong arms to go down the climbing wall.  So there!  

Jordy is getting a kick out of shaking the rope and knocking Natalie down.  She is graciously playing along and falling with all the drama required to crack up Jordy.

This game is called push Natalie off.  Again, she was encouraging it and Jordy was having fun with it.

Jordy fell asleep and was joined by three movie goers that decided they wanted to inhabit the bed as well.

I've had several people ask about the language barrier.  How do we communicate?  Does he speak English? Does he understand us?  No, Jordy does not speak any English.  These last few weeks we have figured out that while English is the most well known language, charades is truly the international language.  It transcends through all the barriers.  We have learned a few of Jordy's basic phrases but ultimately we use motions to communicate most stuff.  He does a great job of repeating and he's very intelligent.  He's picked up on quite a bit in a very short period of time.

While I have to say we've had one of the very best transitions, I can say that we had our first melt down today.  While playing in the backyard, Jordy decided he was done swinging.  So, I got him down and put him in the grass.  He was really upset about it.  Mind you, China doesn't exactly have a lot of grass and his foster home had a paved playing area.  I did not pick him up but rather sat with him and encouraged him to go where he wanted to go.  He kicked his legs a bit, he cried, and I sat with him encouraging and touching him the whole time.  It took ten minutes but he finally settled himself down and decided to make his way over to the slide.  It's hard to know exactly how to handle things sometimes but knowing how much time we spend out in the yard, I felt it important for Jordy to at least try to move in the yard on his own.  Turns out, it wasn't bad after all.  He enjoyed playing with the slide and the grass didn't hurt him.  He ended up crawling across the yard to follow the kids back into the house.

I shared that I contacted Shriner's Hospital today.  I'm thrilled to tell you that we have an appointment this coming Friday morning in Chicago at 9am for an initial evaluation.  In addition to that, Jordy will have his first dentist appointment on Thursday.  Fairly certain he will be referred to a pediatric dentist for at least one filling.  We also have an appointment the first week in September with the pediatrician.  Lots of stuff coming up, and appreciate all the prayers.  Hopefully, we will learn a lot in the next few weeks about what the future holds for our little guy.

Before I forget, I want to thank all of you that have prayed for our grant opportunities.  We had pretty much given up hope but while we were in China, we received notice from the Gift of Adoption that we had been selected to receive a grant towards our expenses.  We are elated.  Looks like we will be paying our loan off sooner than we anticipated with the help of this grant.