A not so normal New Years...

Well I don't know about your plans for New Years Eve but in the past we have gotten together with friends, played games and had a great time! This year we didn't have any plans, which we were perfectly fine with; we had a relaxing night being together as a family.  What we also did, was fill out an application for international adoption.  Lucas and I have talked for the past few years about the desire to adopt, but never felt like the timing was right.  But this past fall we agreed that now was the time! it took a while however to research agencies and more about the whole process.  So in the comfort of our VanDerPloog home on New Years Eve, we filled out the application to adopt! We are so excited for this new chapter in our lives and thankful for God's provision for us already!

We have already had to jump a few hurdles but would like to announce that our family has been approved to adopt from China.  There are many factors that helped us arrive at this decision. God definately opened and closed several doors for this to happen!

We would appreciate your prayers as move forward with our homestudy, financially providing for this huge expense (God has proven so faithful), preparing the dossier, and ultimately matched with our precious child. Also if there are any families who have adopted or are currently in the process and you have resources/books that were helpful please pass this information along- it will be greatly appreciated. There is lots to be done!! And if anyone has further questions for us you can message me privately or email me: katevdp@hotmail.com. And we would be happy to answer them!

So i wanted to give an update on our doctoring at CHOP.  We went back in beginning of Decemeber and the blood work was ok, but definately not where we wanted it for Walker. Lincoln's looked positive, however we were waiting to check his titers, as he approached 1.

We just went for our check up last week at CHOP which went basically fine and we were just awaiting the blood results. I had the boys' wellness appointments with my pediatrician on wednesday morning and that same morning I was waiting for a call from our Dr. at CHOP with the results. I thought how cool if she calls while I'm in this office and I could tell our peditatician the latest! Well she called 2 hours after i left the office. ;) Anyway, the good -was Lincoln's blood work looked great, right where he should be for his age.  The bad news- Walker's did not look great.  He is making good immunoglobulins (IgG, IgA, etc.) however his titers from Hib, DPT, and pnuemoccocal looked horrible. He is basically not protective against any of those. 

So...back to the pediatrician the next morning to get more vaccinces! He was so brave! I asked him after the appointment if it hurt, he said, "yes!"  Then I asked him, "why didnt you cry then?,"  he replied, " because I'm NOT a baby!" He is too cute!
So now we will recheck his blood work 4 weeks after the booster vaccines, and decide on a plan for the future. He still remains on prophylactic antibiotics. We could end up playing this game for two more years until he is 5, and at that point he will have grown out of it, or it will remain an issue and we will put him on an antibody replacement therapy program which would include monthly infusions of the antibodies he doesn't produce.

So half of me wants to freak out when I hear this news! What!? He's not protective against Hib (not to mention that's what Brady died of), Pnuemococcal (so prevalent in society), and diphteria and tetanus?!
And the other half wants to say, we are doing everything we can do, God is in control and His plan is best.  So I am here staying strong and whenever my mind wants to go crazy I lift the situation up in prayer and surrender it to the only One who can take these problems and worries away.  And believe me I feel so much better when I give my cares to Jesus, the only true one who can take them away and give me an indescribable peace!

Happy Birthday Brady Boy!

As we get ready to celebrate Brady's 5th birthday tomorrow, it makes me think about how we know this is God's plan, but it doesn't take away the fact that we still miss him on earth.  Which then leads me to think about God's love for us, His children.  I know how much I love and miss my Brady boy but God loves us even more?  Yep. Wow. I can't even fathom how much it greives Him when we stray from His side, distance ourselves or disobey His commands (every day!).  He desires to be near to us and for us to want to spend time with Him.  After all, He created us to bring Him glory.  I hope and pray that as I think of Brady and the joy he brought to us the short time he was here, I can remember God's grace and mercy towards me and try to love Him more, and bring Him glory. 

One of the fun memories of Brady that i think of, especially as spring approaches (or shall i say is here!), is when we had a TON of caterpillars in our yard (and i mean millions!).  He would constanly pick them up and play with them, and maybe even try to eat them.  Wonder if there are caterpillars in heaven that he is playing with now?! Love it! Miss you buddy, Happy birthday, hope your partying it up!! Save your mama a place....

This is the worst I will ever know... :) yeehaw

So as Christmas approaches I always feel like something is missing, which it is...but I try to make the most of the family I do have now, and the circumstances from which God has brought me. It makes me think about all the things in life that happen, that stink. Even the little things of everyday to the bigger things that have made us who we are....and I realize that THIS is the worst (hell) I will ever know. I hope and pray for everyone around me and reading this that this is the worst hell you will know too (because I would hate for it to get worse for anyone), and that you know Jesus as your Savior.
It wont get worse than this life here on earth because I have a Savior who will take me to paradise someday, and that makes me realize how silly my bad days are here and to be thankful that this is as bad as its going to be. It makes me excited and hopeful as I think of a day with no more tears, pain, sadness, sickness, fighting, loss, anger, biterness, materialism, gossip, financial stress, etc. And just the thought of this makes me get through those hard times...in perspective they are petty, because I serve an awesome and huge God that will wipe all those things away. I gotta keep focused on the prize...

I'm thankful...

A verse that I have been meditating on recently is found in 2 Samuel 7:18, "Who am I, Sovereign lord, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?"


And this is truely how I have felt even before studying this verse in our David Bible study, by Beth Moore. I feel so humbled and honored that God decided to bring us this far, given our circumstances.  Luke and I say to eachother ALL the time, "We would never be at this place with the Lord had it not been for the death of our sweet Brady." I would never want to go back to that time, but am so thankful that we have come so far, only by the grace of God.  So as hard as that is to go through, it produces perseverance and character that would not have come about.  Who am I... that He would show so much peace and grace to me? I don't deserve that, but He loves me so much to carry us through hard times, in no other way possible.

"Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;  perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. " Romans 5:3-5

I have been reading through Mary Beth Chapman's book the past few weeks, about their story of loosing their daughter, and it brings back so many real thoughts and feelings. And even though all of our stories are different, they are all quite similar. I guess that is the process of grief.  And also the way God carries us through our trials...because he is  God of love, peace, strength, grace, and healing. 

So in light of thanksgiving, right around the corner, I wanted to say I am thankful for the circumstances I have gone through, because I have a deeper love for Christ than ever before! God is good!

New Beginnings

WOW! Its been forever since I wrote on this blog....but I had some much needed time off...time of reflection, and time of growing. You know that saying, "two steps forward, one step back." Well thats exactly how last year has felt.

Where to start? I figured I would just give an update on our family for now. We have welcomed a new little boy to the clan...Lincoln Kade. He is just the sweetest and I love this stage so much. He was born on May 1, 2011. Thankfully we were home and in the swing of things to celebrate Walker's 2nd birthday which was on May 6th. We will get to combine birthday parties in the future...at least for friends and the big family, but will always do something special for each one as an intimate family!

Medical update from CHOP. Walker was cleared medically for his Hib titers last June, 2010. Not sure if I mentioned it then, however when we went back in November his levels were low again, making him not protective against Hib. So we repeated the shot and waited for more blood work. Had it repeated a couple times since then and just in June 2011 it was up again to the protective level! Praise the Lord! He remained on antibiotics the whole time though just to prevent him from getting the disease. The Dr. we are working with is awesome!!!! but she did say there is no right or wrong thing to do here, keep him on antibiotics or not. And basically I told her, " well i can keep him in a bubble, or let him be a kid and put him on antibiotics!" She agreed! (btw: I talked at length with them about becoming resistant to antibiotcs and what the long term side effects would be of his long treatment, and she basically said there are less side effects to being on it every day for years, then if he were to go on and come off a lot for infections)

Lincoln's first round of blood work looked great! So now we are waiting for him to have more vaccines and recheck those levels sometime this winter.

I really feel at peace through all of this, because as I have learned God is completely in control of our lives and worrying about it changes nothing but my attitude for the day.

I am really learning a lot about my relationship with the Lord as well. I've really been digging into the Bible for answers to questions I have never thought twice about before, mostly because I just believed what I was taught in school, church or at home. So its totally exciting to grow and really know what I believe. And I am also learning HUGE things in parenting!! Some the hard way of course but I pray that I can get a grasp on how God wants me to raise my boys before I run the other way. Aiden is in kindergarten this year, and that alone is opening up issues I didn't think I would have to deal with this early.

I am also learning about contentment, as that is ongoing. Our plans and thoughts about the future may not be a part of God's plan for us no matter how great it sounds in our heads. We are also learning this the hard way too. We will be let down, dissappointed, hurt, discouraged, by this world and the people in it, but God will never let us down and that has to happen sometimes for His will to be accomplished....something I've known forever, but again when going through trials He reminds me again.

Ok that was enough of a basic outline to the year. Please pray for me as I have some huge things God is asking of me, and I pray I will obey Him. Thanks! And I promise it wont be another year til I write again :)

Trials and parenting?

So I know that many people ask the question, " Why do bad things happen to people who love God?" I think I have always thought that it's because we live in a sinful world, and because all things are for God's glory, so if it brings Him glory to go through a trial, then that could be why. But many reasons we may not know until heaven one day.

1 John 2:16,"For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world."

Romans 5:12, "Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned— "

Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

But this past week I was thinking about parenting (basically consumes most of my day!). Would any of us not want our children to expereince pain...well silly question, YES! But in a way, no, we want them to experience some disappointment, consequences, etc. because it builds character and helps them grow. I am constantly having to discipline so that my children learn to obey God and others, and become less selfish. So I believe that God does not like to see us hurt, but at the same time He knows that it produces character and growth, and that we wouldn't be the way we are after a trial had we never experienced it. I know in my own life I would not have made the same decisions had we not lost Brady. And I pray that God is glorified through all of life's ups and downs.

Romans 5:2b-5,"And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. "