Happy Birthday, Matthew!

Well, being in the hospital probably wouldn’t be Matthew’s first choice for how to spend his 2^nd birthday, but here we are so we’ll make the best of this day.

First a quick update: the night was long and loud, but we all managed to get some sleep, and I would say that Matthew is doing a little bit better today compared to yesterday. He’s still unwilling to eat anything—and we’ve tried every possible option: formula from a bottle, formula from a sippy cup, applesauce, yogurt, warm tea. I think his mouth must just hurt A LOT and putting anything in it feels terrible. We can’t go home until he’s eating, and we hope to go home tomorrow (Thursday), so food will be one of our goals for today.

Later this afternoon my parents will bring Maya and Sam for a visit so they can say Happy Birthday to their littlest brother.

I woke up thinking about this day a year ago. Last year, November 28 was a Monday night. It was just after Thanksgiving. We knew it was match day, so all day long I remember anxiously awaiting the potential call from Heidi, our China team case manager. We decided to go out to dinner at Bob’s Burgers and Brew, just to kill some time, and in the middle of our meal the phone rang and it was Heidi. I ran outside to talk to her, and she told me those magical words: “We have a match for you. It’s a little boy with a bi-lateral cleft and palate. His name is Xu Bo and today is his first birthday.”

I remember running back inside to tell Aaron, Maya and Sam, then driving home and opening up the email with the referral and photos. Since it was Xu Bo’s first birthday, we lit a candle, took photos, and sang “Happy Birthday” to him. In that moment, we hadn’t decided if we were going to say yes to his referral, but I remember telling Aaron that no matter whether he was going to be our boy or not, it was special that someone in the world was thinking about him and sending him birthday wishes.

And now we have that little boy in our family—in our arms—in our lives. What a special gift.

Since we are in the hospital for Matthew’s birthday, we celebrated last Saturday night when all our family was still in town. We sang Happy Birthday to Matthew, let him eat birthday cake, and helped him open his presents. I’ll attach a few photos to the bottom of this post so you can see us celebrating with our boy.

I know this is kind of a crazy day, but in the midst of it all, I’m SO grateful for this amazing human being who is part of our family. His giggles and laughter bring such life to our household. His courage and strength inspire me to bravely face whatever challenges come my own way. And the gift of his life is something I am thankful for each day.

Happy 2^nd Birthday, Matthew. I know you’ll have better days (hopefully VERY soon), but even today, when you’re at your worst, this mama is so thankful that you were born, that you came to be part of our family, and that we get to watch you grow for so many birthdays to come.

His birthday cake with candle.

Our family of five.

First bite of birthday cake.

Let them eat cake!

He's ALMOST smiling in this photo.

Here he is opening a present from Grandma Russell.