All About Vivi

To Vivi,

When you join us, we will create lots of memories together.  Sadly, we will never know what your precious first three weeks were like with your birth mother before she gave you up.  We can never recreate memories of the months that you were in the foster home. What we do have is our story of how you were born to us. This is that story.

At 3:45 p.m. on Monday, January 21, Mommy got the biggest surprise of our adoption journey so far - a call from Tony at CCAI in Colorado saying that we had been matched with a little girl. We weren't expecting a call like this for several more months, and Mommy was so excited that she called Daddy right away and woke him up (he wasn't feeling well) and told him about you.

We sat together on the couch and opened up Mommy's email and saw your picture for the first time at 4:00.  This is what we saw:

Our daughter. Our. Daughter.

You are adorable. You are charming.  And what we loved most was that we could see your fiery spirit right through the computer screen.  Oh my goodness, your spirit. You had had major spinal surgery with the physical scar to prove it, and you were fighting to be just like every other little kid. You were doing things like this

way before you should have been able to given that this picture was taken a month or two after the surgery on your back to help treat your spina bifida.

We put the pictures aside so that we could learn about you and absorb as much as there was to know about you. What we discovered is that you were found at a stoplight on December 21, 2011, in the western part of Anyang Linzhou City. After a brief stop at the police station, you were taken to the Anyang City Social Welfare Institute.  Based on doctors' estimates, you were three weeks old.  They proclaimed your birthdate to be December 1, 2011. You weighed 5 pounds and were 16 inches long - so teeny.  You were given the name An Xin Ran.

After several months at the institute, you were placed in a foster home in Shanghai.  Here's what we know from their notes:

• When you were three months old, you liked to be held and would cry when you were put down, but immediately stop when picked up again. You liked to smile and laugh. When you saw a bottle, you would get all excited, raise your hands, shake your head, and open your mouth.
• When you were six months old, you had spinal surgery.  While the official medical file doesn't note it, we know that you must have been such a brave girl to go through that surgery. You came through it beautifully.
• When you were eight months old, you could turn over.  You laughed and chatted baby talk with adults, played on your own, and picked up your toys if you dropped them.  You knew the difference between strangers and acquaintenances, and you were described as "tranquil". You liked to watch TV and take a bath.

We also got some paperwork noting other things that you do and like, including that you are quiet, fond of quietness, and are closest to your caretaker.

We became very familiar with the basics of spina bifida in a very short period of time. We learned medical terms and talked to two pediatricians about you and showed them your file.  We read reports and talked to mothers of other children adopted from China who also have spina bifida.  We asked for an update on you from your foster family - and got one, which is quite the miracle, we're told.  Most families don't get precious updates on their children.

From the update, we learned that, as of January 23:

• Your liver test and heart ECHO were normal.
• You had had surgery for some fluid on your brain but surgery on October 15 was successful and the fluid does not seem to be coming back.
• You now weighed 25 pounds and were 30 inches tall.
• You had seven teeth.
• You stood and walked when you were supporting yourself.
• You could say "ma ma, da da, ta ta", and were always making sounds.

We just soaked in every little piece of information we could read about you.  We even found ourselves looking at the reports written in Chinese to see if there was something we missed.  And when we couldn't find any new information in the words, we looked at the pictures:

And on Thursday night, after three days of talking about you nonstop, your Daddy and Mommy looked at each other and said, "She's our daughter."  We knew it all along, but we were so thrilled to say it to each other out loud.  It was real. You were ours.

That's your birth story, little girl.  That's how we were introduced to you and that's how you came to us.  We believe that God had set you apart for us from the very beginning, that you were a part of our story and we were a part of yours before any of us were even born, but what an amazing moment when God's plan is lived out on earth.

We may not have been there in the beginning, Vivi, but we promise we will be there all the rest of your days.

Love,
Mommy & Daddy

Introducing...

...our daughter, Vivienne Joy Ann Black.  We will call her "Vivi". (Rhymes with "pretty".)

Dear Vivi -

We finally get to share you with the world!!

As we reveal your face and your name to everyone, we want you to know that we have chosen your name very deliberately and carefully.  We wanted it to mean something, and also pay some homage to your Chinese roots.  So here's the story behind your names.

Ann is a family name, Mommy's middle name. Now you will share it, and it means "gracious". Joy is a tribute to the name that the orphanage gave you - Xin, which means "joyful". You have already brought joy to us and we know there is so much more to come. And Vivienne? Vivienne means "alive".

And that last part, your first name? That is the most important part.  We understand what a gift your birth mother gave to you and to us when she chose life for you. And now we get to share what we know will be your incredible life. We are so blessed that you will be part of our family - that you are alive.

We are so excited to share our gracious, joyful, and ALIVE little you with the rest of the world.  And look forward even more, if that's possible, to the day that you will be with us. Forever.

Love,
Mommy & Daddy