Thursday,
November 27, 2008
WE ARE HOME…..
. . . and we had NO motion sickness at all! We gave her ¼ of a
Dramamine early that morning before we left and she didn’t even
get queasy the entire trip. Don’t tell me that ¼ of a pill
lasted that long….NO WAY, it was all because of prayer….we know
so many of you were praying for her and that is why she didn’t
get sick….Thank you for praying and thank you God for answering
prayer!!!
I apologize that I am so late getting this post out. We have all
had extreme jet lag but I am so glad to share that we are about
over it now and we are all doing GREAT!
Our flights were good, there was only one time I felt a bit
panicky, we were all asleep and the pilot came over the loud
speaker telling everyone to sit down and put the seat belts on
immediately….Paul’s poor arm will never be the same again. It
was a bumpy flight but other than that the other flights went
well and we made it home safe and sound and about 25 minutes
early. I got so tickled at Vivi when the stewardess gave out the
warm cloths to clean your hands before they served the meal.
Vivi washed her hands and then she washed her face, arms, and
legs, then she put her tray down and wiped the surface nearly
off then she lifted the tray and cleaned the back of it, the arm
rests got a good thorough cleaning and then cleaned Baba’s
tray…she is one clean and tidy little girl….so precious!
When we walked off the plane at DFW and I saw the faces of those
we love so much, I was full of emotion, it was so good to see
everyone! Thank you so much for greeting us at the airport, it
really meant so much! Britney was squatting down and when Vivi
saw her, she let go of her Baba’s hand and ran into Britney’s
arms. We had been showing her photos of Britney, Mark, and
Hayden all week and she knew who her sister was. That was a
dream come true for one big sister! What a wonderful and warm
homecoming!
When we got home, immediately Vivi’s eyes lit up when she
spotted her bike and a big grin flashed on her face when I told
her that it was Hua Hua’s. When we came inside she again smiled
big when I told her that this was Hua Hua’s home, we had been
showing her the photo of our home. My sister in-law came over
while we were gone and placed photos of Vivi and Max together
while we were in China, all over the house and she loved seeing
herself in all the photos, thank you Abby…you are so good to us,
we appreciate and love you so much! I wish I had my camera handy
when she first saw her framed artwork that she created for us
while she was still in the orphanage, she recognized it as soon
as she saw it, she did look a little confused though…I am
guessing that she was wondering how we had it at our home. I
guess Vivi had never seen bunk beds before because she was so
intrigued with them and wanted to sit on the top so I put her
up, she was enjoying sitting and looking around from up high so
I turned around to put a few things up that were on the floor, I
turned around and she was in mid air, she jumped off the top
bunk….the girl has NO fear. She wanted to sleep on the top bunk
but there was NO way we were going to let her in fear she might
decide to jump again. We took her to every bed and too see where
she wanted to sleep, there was no question, she wanted to sleep
in Max’s bed, she was so fascinated that there was a bed on top
of a bed, so after a little play time in her new room, that she
LOVED and a bath, we tucked her in the bottom bunk, she laid
there happy as can be and quickly fell sound asleep. I woke up
early when the sun was just coming up to check on her and she
was not in her bed, she was not on the top bunk, not in Max’s
room….I thought that maybe she was in her room playing so I
check and NO Vivi, I check the family room and she is not in
there, at this point I am starting to panic running to every
room and she was no where to be found…I was so worried that she
went outside, I ran to our bedroom to wake up Paul and I tripped
over her, she was laying in the floor at the foot of our bed
rolled up like a little sausage in the covers that had fallen
off. I picked her up and put her in the bed with us and we slept
for a few more hours. She has been sleeping with us ever
since….I am so glad we bought a king size bed and I am thankful
Max and Vivi are both still sleepers :-). She woke up first so I
got up with her and Max and Dada slept for a few more hours,
which was great because it gave she and I time alone together.
Miss Vivian is bonding to me beautifully, better than I ever
expected this quickly. Max has been sleeping late and Vivi and I
have had some very special time in the mornings together. She
helps me make breakfast is even snuggling with me on the
sofa….my heart does flips every time we snuggle. We have learned
a lot about our daughter since she has been home. I am not for
sure who the orphanage was describing in her referral when they
said she was quiet, soft spoken and fairly introverted…they sure
weren’t talking about our loud, boisterous, free spirited,
extroverted daughter. One main reason I had such a hard time
deciding on her name was because I always felt that the meaning
of her name didn’t fit the personality that was described in her
referral. Vivian means alive, lively, full of life, joyous
spirit, vivacious…and does she ever so wonderfully fit her name.
She is FABULOUS….she is FULL of life, fun and laughter! She will
keep us on our toes and it will be a fun ride along the way. I
didn’t realize this until we got home but Vivi went to the
Sunshine Academy, she took English, she is familiar with a few
English words and can count to 10 in English, her teacher was
from the U.S. Vivi was given an American name that we was called
while at school and her name was Joy….how cool is that, her name
Joy that her English teacher gave her is the meaning of her
American name that we gave her…JOYous spirit…I LOVE IT! Her
teacher wrote her a precious note and I won’t share it all but
it begins like this, “ Dear Joy, You are full of JOY! You are a
happy girl that loves to hug and laugh and smile.” Now this
teacher described our precious daughter perfectly. Vivi was very
much loved by her teacher, her nanny and her foster mom and Vivi
loved them very much too. Our daughter is a little one that
loves deeply, we can already see that in her and we are so
blessed she is ours. She is a very strong little girl that has
overcome so much in her 4 years of life. She is beautiful on the
inside and out, she is full of determination and a whole lot of
spunk. It will be exciting to see how the Lord will use her in
the years to come. He made her perfect how she is to carry out
His purpose that He has for her life. We are blessed and
overjoyed that God has called us to be the parents of this
amazing and precious little girl.
Thank you for following our journey, your comments and emails
made us laugh when we needed a good laugh and cry when you
shared your heart., we love and cherish them all and will share
them with Vivi when she is older. We are so blessed that the
Lord has called us to parent a second time around to our two
precious Asian angels. We will post on this website monthly but
will post at least weekly on our blog
here, you are welcome to stop
by anytime and check out the antics of Vivi and Max.
We love you all,
Paul, Kim, Vivian and Max
“The beauty of family brings us
cherished memories we wish to hold forever, for it is through our
memories that our hearts find their way home.” ~Flavia |
Minneapolis, Minnesota is where
Vivian Josephine Xinhua became a U.S. citizen.
Vivi with JieJie Britney
Vivi with GeGe Hayden
Vivi with GeGe Mark
Vivi with her partner in crime. |
