Christmas begins

We are having a great time celebrating the holidays this year. Sarah Bess and Davis love looking for Fred the Elf and making Christmas goodies. Some of the highligths so far have been making a gingerbread house, making dough ornaments for family and friends and of course Davis deciding to put aquafor in his hair during nap! That will be one we won't ever forget.
Sarah Bess and Davis look forward to Christmas eve when Santa comes. They are also trying to understand what the real meaning of Christmas really is. Jingle Jam last night at church helped with the theme "God gave us the greatest gift. What will you give?". They are helping our family particpate in getting gifts for those that can't afford them for themselves. We are also reading lots of stories related to 'the meaning of Christmas'.
I look forward to posting in the new year all the excitement from the rest of the holidays....Hope everyone has a great holiday season!

Halloween Pictures

Halloween 09

Sarah Bess and Davis had a GREAT time at Halloween. Sarah Bess switched from her fairy costume she wore for trunk or treat at church to Cinderella. Davis continued with Bob the Builder. They had a great time trick or treating and then they really loved that Mommy and Daddy let them have candy for their dinner. I think they may have enjoyed giving out candy more than trick or treating (once Sarah Bess knew she didn't have to give out her own candy). Sarah Bess made our house a good one... gave about 5 to 8 pieces of candy per person.

Beach Photos

Ok- so these are late. I have new pictures I need to get on from Sept/ Oct also- but better late than never, right.

Holden Beach 2009 Video

We had a great time at the beach this summer- Pawley's, Shrimp A Roo and Holden. I'm going to post some pictures also in the next couple of days I hope!

Gotcha Day!!

Wow- one year since we held Davis for the first time. I just went through all the blog posts and his journal about this time last year. I am so glad we have so many ways to reflect and things he can read and see to learn about this time as well. (It also motivates me to try and write more often b/c it is so easy to forget the details). We are very excited to soon receive a video from one of the families that traveled with us that has been working on getting out footage they took to us and the other family. I really look forward to watching that.
So in determining ways to celebrate one year with Davis...we decided we should just take the kids to their favorite spot... Chick Fil A. I laughed b/c the first thing he ate with us in Nanning was McDonald's (even though we don't eat that here unless the rare car trip situation) and then we had fast food tonight..maybe that will be our tradition! They had a great time and we split a milkshake also. Sarah Bess said "This is a special treat!"
Both Davis and Sarah Bess were unsure what 'Gotcha Day' is and I tried to explain in the best way I could. We plan to really celebrate August 1st as our Forever Family Day- this is the day we arrived home and all four of us were together for the first time. This year it will be easy to celebrate b/c we will be at Shrimp A Roo at Wrightsville Beach with the Eskridges! Davis will get to meet many cousins he has not met before and Sarah Bess will see folks she hasn't seen in over two years (last year we missed Shrimp A Roo as it was the day after we got home from China).
Reading about the excitement of leaving Davis for 10 minutes with a friend with no tears shortly after we got home to our life now...wow what a difference a year makes.
We are so thankful for our blessings- especially our two wonderful children Sarah Bess and Davis Ke Eskridge.
Thank you again for all of you that have supported us and continue to support us in this journey. We love you.

Happy 3rd Birthday Sarah Bess

OK- so if only they didn't list the date at the top of the blog posts, I wouldn't have to tell Sarah Bess why it was over a month until I posted on the blog happy birthday to her!
Truth be told- we are busy!!! But in a fun way most of the time. I did want to post a few birthday pictures. Their party was great- at the pool with their friends and lots of family. They received 80lbs in donations for Wake Crisis Minsitry. This year they took an active part in taking it to church to be delievered.
Sarah Bess had the most delicious birthday dinner at her request- chocolate chip pancakes, ice cream and homemade whip cream (she and her Daddy even put syrup on top of that!).
We then spent a wonderful week at the beach with Sudie and Papa Rob. It isn't 'relaxing' really to have two 3 year olds on the beach, but they did really enjoy themselves much more this year. They loved to play in the sand and go out deep with Daddy, Mommy and Papa Rob. Davis was a little scared of the waves but got braver each day. We're off to the beach again next week for Shrimp-A-Roo and can't wait! (I guess with my record you can expect some photos of that around October).
Happy Birthday to our sweet baby girl. We love you. We can't believe how quickly you are growing up.

May 21, 2009 Happy 3rd Birthday Davis

We were so glad to have Davis here at home this year for his birthday. We had a GREAT Day. Cupcake party at school, afternoon at the pool then a homemade strawberry ice cream party at home! He and Sarah Bess will have their big birthday party together June 6th. Happy Birthday Davis!!!!

Cast is OFF

So much has been happening these last two weeks it has been hard to get on and update. On May 18, Davis got his cast off. He did great. He was very brave when they were cutting it off (which was interesting that they use this machine that had blades that vibrated, and were not sharp). I think it helped that he saw Mom and Dad stick it on his arm. We were all there even Sarah Bess and Sudie. He got somewhat upset after it was off. He felt weird and was itching all over. He also didn't like the XRay's. He was screaming, Sarah Bess couldn't see him. Sudie looked over and SB had tears running down her face. Sudie said "What's wrong". She said "Poor Davis". After we left the doctor, all was well. We went out to Breadman's for brunch to celebrate.
The first couple of days Davis didn't want to move much. By the third day, we went to the pool and he started to really get around. Now, two weeks later, he is walking holding our hand or furniture, he can get up and stand by himself and is using it more everyday. He is primarily using his right leg and then using his left leg for only balance.
It has been a long three months. I have been proud of both Sarah Bess and Davis for how well they have done. We are also so thankful for Sudie who gave up three months in order to help us and go to school with Davis. We are so thankful that the cast is off now just as it starts to heat up and before Davis's birthday.

A First Dance

This is at Thomas Vinson's 3 year old birthday party.

Easter 09

So I'm a little late getting to posting pictures and information- no surprise there! But got some cute pictures from Easter- love the one with SB laying one on Davis! We had a nice weekend. I went to the Easter Sunrise service than got home just as Sarah Bess, Davis and Jimmy were starting Easter baskets. The children had a great time- they loved that Mommy and Daddy were keeping the nursery at church. Then we had Emily & Craig, Jessica & Matt, Shannon, Brian, Riley Ann and Regan over for Easter Brunch.

Dress Up

A current favorite past time of Sarah Bess's is playing dress up. She got a great "cinderella dress" from D Daddy and Ga Ga that she loves, made a "tiara" at the birthday party and is getting (butdoesn't know yet), a tinkerbell dress from Sudie and Papa Rob for Easter. She also likes to create her own dress up outfits I wanted to share.

First Birthday Party

Davis and Sarah Bess went to their first birthday party that was a friend of theirs and not one they had due to Mommy and Daddy (Sarah Bess of course has been to Charlie's parties, etc. but this one they got an invitation for to join their friends from school). It was Lily's 4th birthday held a craft/ place in Durham called the scrap exchange. They had a great time and I wanted to share a couple of pictures and singing happy birthday in Chinese!

Cast 2

This morning we went back to UNC to get cast number 2- we were all looking forward to this as the first one was pretty nasty- a smell we hope we don't experience this time! Davis has been doing amazingly well. He has his frustrated days with the cast where he is very difficult to please, but 90% of the time he is his happy laid back self. Sudie has been going to school with him so he can continue in his normal routine- I don't know what we would do without her.
Cast #2 went great. His hip is still in the position they want it to be. He has been a happy boy here this afternoon at home and doesn't seem to be experiencing any pain. The best news... we have a date to take the cast off!! May 18th we will go into Dr. Campion's office to remove the cast- 3 days before Davis's 3rd birthday. We are very pleased with that. He won't be able to walk right away, but we know just having the cast off will feel so much better to him.
Sarah Bess continues to be a great little sister (hard to tell at this point that she is the younger one as she loves to tell us all what to do!). I look forward to them being able to really play again after he is up and moving around as that has been tough to see that not happen too much with the current situation.
We are blessed with two wonderful children, and family and friends to help us!

A few at home pictures after surgery

Surgery Update

Surgery went very well last week. Recovery has been difficult. The surgeon is very pleased with how things went- they were able to remove scar tissue, move his ball into the socket more and somewhat reconstruct his socket with the hopes that this joint will start to function together and grow into a working joint for him. The ball is still at a bad angle and that may have to be addressed down the road, it is unknown at this point.
The few days in the hospital were tough. Davis had more pain than I anticipated including muscle spasms that I hadn't anticipated at all. He was also very anxious the whole time he was there. It was very nice to come home. Now that we are at home, his pain level is better but we are still trying to get him off the heavy pain medication. At this point the difficulty is his frustration level over the cast-which is extremely limiting to him and I would be frustrated too! He is such a sweet boy though and just wants to figure out ways that he can still play. He isn't one to just sit in front of movies too long!
Sudie is here with us and we wouldn't be making it through without her. Davis is very content to sit on our laps and play but doesn't want to be put down to lay on a couch or bed, or his wheelchair for long at all.
Sarah Bess is also trying to adjust to being indoors much more than is usual for us as well as a decrease in attention. She is both sympathetic (saying last night "poor Davis") and frustrated...(following this about an hour later with a shovel toss at him- telling him "That's enough Davis. I don't like the screaming").
Davis was so brave prior to surgery and we got some great pictures of that I will post. I haven't gotten many post-surgery pictures but Mom has, so once I can download those from her camera I will put some of those on here as well. Thanks so much for all the prayers and keep them coming for Davis as he goes through this tough time.
We go back to the doctor on Thursday and will learn more about the next few weeks.

A Day at the Park

Just had to post this picture to show how cute Sarah Bess and Davis's relationship has become. They are the best of friends (they love and fight like it!). I now can't imagine not having two two year olds (now closer to three!)
One other update is to let you know that Davis will be having surgery on his hip on Feb. 25th. If the surgeon can do what he hopes to, Davis will be in a body cast for three months. It will be a difficult time for all, most especially Davis. However, we are very hopeful at this point for the body cast which would mean the surgeon was able to make improvements. Keep Davis and Dr. Campion in your prayers.

Snow Day

Sarah Bess and Davis had a great time when we got 6 inches of snow! The most in Apex in 7 years! Their favorite was a toss up between making Frosty the Snowman and throwing snow balls at Mommy. Their least favorite was falling out of the box slide Matt made!

Pictures

6 Months

Davis has been home for almost six months!- in some ways it seems like it has gone by so fast and others it seems like he has always been a part of our family. Our six month social worker went really well- in fact our children were both perfect angels. Davis and Sarah Bess's relationship continues to flourish. They play more together every day and are both beginning to develop more pretend play.
One of my most special moments as a mother happened yesterday afternoon. Jimmy and I were cooking in the kitchen (ok, Jimmy was cooking and I was chopping). Sarah Bess decided to get her Cinderella Pillow/ blanket and babies and lay in the center of the kitchen floor. Davis was playing with his trains beside her. They were both being very good and nicely entertaining themselves. Then I looked down and Davis had laid down beside Sarah Bess and was stroking her hair- it was the sweetest thing! After a couple of minutes he started playing with his trains again- Sarah Bess must take after her mother and wanted him to keep playing with her hair. He was done with that though!
They are both continuing to thrive at their preschool and continue learning Mandarin. We all really enjoyed their Christmas performance and our regular shows we get here at home.
Davis and Sarah Bess both loved all of the recent celebrations of Christmas, New Year's and yesterday Chinese New Year.
They both continue to expand their language at their level. Davis is using many 3 and some 4 word sentences and learning new vocabulary. Sarah Bess sometimes says the most hilarious things (last week she said "I tell you what. This car's a mess").
They keep us busy (causing our posts to be less and less). They also continue to bless our lives everyday.