Prayers requested...

Our precious little Matthew!!!!

Mommy, I can explain how I got a hold of the italian bread for dinner..... playing ball with Uncle Dave!

Playing ball with Justin in the backyard!

Washing Baba and Pap's hands and hanging out with Aunt Cheryl

My cousing Nicholas is a great pitcher!

Boy did I have fun with Denise after lunch in the parking lot!

My first cookie baking with Mommy on St. Patrick's Day!

Boy do I love leaning on my Daddy after he works hard all day!

I have a "big boy" club now with Josh and Cole!

Just me....hanging out by Mom-Mom's car...I hate saying bye to her!

Aunt Mary Jo and cousin Anna brought me fun presents!






My Mom-Mom sure does make me laugh!

Having my first apple....

Lunch with Aunt Heather...she loves to color with me.

Wow, it is unbelievable to me that I haven't posted on this blog since March 1st!!! It is amazing to me how I was addicted to keeping everyone updated while we were in China and always had time in the evening to write - but I am learning now that there are truly not enough hours in the day, and there is little time for blogs, emails, etc....

Where do I even begin to capture the wonderful moments that Chris and I have had since we have brought our precious Matthew home? We have been overwhelmed(in a wonderful way!) with visits from friends and family - and are just so thankful for the outpouring of love and excitement everyone has shared with us as our dream of becoming parents has finally come true! It has just been so much fun introducing Matthew to the people that mean so much to us....we have been so busy with visitors, lunch dates, evening visits, phone calls, shopping trips, and of course lots of playtime! Matthew just loves to play and is so busy - he has taught Chris and I so many things about parenthood in a few short weeks...we have learned about the need for child proofing, how much toddlers LOVE to help Mommy and Daddy with everything we do, how bedtimes don't always exist, how the little things in life bring so much excitement in Matthew's eyes, how to see things through Matthew's eyes which are always bright with wonder and curiousity, how to do the Hokie Pokie in the middle of the kitchen and get dizzy together while laughing so hard - and most of all, he has taught us how wonderful it is to feel so much love for a little person who is OURS!

Ever since we have had Matthew, we have just been in complete awe of how smart he is and how quickly he learns things! When we read our little 2 year old developmental skills, he is above 24 months in all the things he can do...except for the language piece. In China, we thought that he just did not understand us and was kind of in a transition mode and we thought that would change once we got home. However, since we have been home Chris and I have noticed that it seems like Matthew doesn't not hear at times. We brought it up to our pediatrician back in February and she decided it would be worth it to get a hearing test. Everyone we talked to said that it was probably just him being a boy, and the transition from Mandarin to English. Chris and I have grown more and more concerned and finally had Matthew's hearing test on Tuesday. I never quite understood the term "mother's instinct" until Tuesday. For days, I knew in my heart that there may be a problem with Matthew's hearing, but I was certainly not prepared to hear the audiologist tell me that at his appointment, nor did I definitely prepare myself for hearing terms like hearing aids and cochlear implants. It was all devastating to myself and to Chris - but even in our weakest moments outside of the doctor's office in tears, we turned and looked at our precious son who was looking up at both of us smiling and waving and he made us realize that everything was going to be OK. That was amazing to both of us that OUR CHILD was mending our broken hearts with a big smile...unbelievable! Now, we don't know definitely what Matthew's level of hearing loss is at this point and we know that he needs to have more testing ASAP before we have a plan in place for the hearing loss. We are hoping that we have his next hearing tests and the ABR test next Tuesday morning. (we will find out Monday for sure if they can squeeze us in) We will then know more of what we are facing, and it will tell us where the problem is and how we can possibly fix it. In the meantime, it's so hard now to comprehend that our baby cannot hear us when we talk to him. My Mom was just here for a few days and it was such a blessing that her visit was planned when it was...I certainly needed her and Matthew adores her. She also helped us assess Matthew's hearing and we do believe that there are SOME things that Matthew hears, and it is amazing to us all how Matthew has adapted to not talking and has come up with ways to communicate with us whether it be smacking his lips when he is hungry or thirsty or grabbing our hands and leading us to what he needs. We have even gotten him to pee on the potty TWICE!!!

As you can imagine, Chris and I are feeling extremely overwhelmed right now. Not only with the results of Matthew's initial hearing tests but with the normal emotions that go with being new parents! Above everything, we know that Matthew was always meant to be our son and we couldn't have imagined a more perfect child for us. He has already touched so many lives and has brought smiles to so many faces in the short time we have had him. Please pray for all of us that we may continue to be trusting in our faith, that the hearing loss can be corrected, that we can continue to help Matthew communicate his needs to us, and that we will continue to be patient until we have a plan and answers for the future.

Hope you enjoy some pictures of the busy times, visitors and fun we have had over the past few weeks! Being a Mommy is the best job in the whole wide world, I will tell you that! We will have a busy week coming up as we will be celebrating Matthew's 2nd birthday which is next Thursday the 26th with a big party for his first birthday celebration in the U.S. with his forever family! Matthew has told us he is missing his Aunt Megs horribly lately, so we are counting the days until she comes next week-end! She has been so busy with her surgery rotation this past month, and we know she is going to be the best doctor ever!