Russia banned adoptions to the US.

I'm not sure how many of you know but Putin just signed a law banning US Citizens from adopting Russian children. This doesn't effect Anton since he is already home but it does effect thousands of orphans in Russia. In fact there are 46 kids that have been approved by Russia to come home to their American families who may now have to stay in Russia. I am so heartbroken for all of the kids and for their families. I feel like there is nothing we can do because he has already signed this into a law but we have to do something!

 American families that have adopted from Russia have been posting before and after pictures on FB and on their blogs to show the world what love can do in these children's lives. Please feel free to link up to this post with your children's before and after pictures. To do a side by side picture you can use this software.  If you can't figure out how to link up please email me and I will walk you through it (vkdelgado@hotmail.com).

Here is Anton's before and after picture: 

Merry Christmas!

Hello everyone! Everything is going great on the home front and I will post a detailed update soon.

I wanted to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

11/30/2012

Sometimes I hate coming up with names for my posts so today it just gets a date.

Anton is talking a lot. He is now saying some 5 word sentences which is a big deal! My favorite thing lately is to listen to Anton and Judah talk to each other. Judah will bring Anton a toy and ask him if he wants to play with it then Anton will answer him and they just carry on this cute little conversation. Anton also likes to correct Judah. He will tell him "Judah Adoniram don't say that" or in a whiny voice he will say "no Judah no." Judah LOVES Anton and within the past few days they seem to have gotten closer to each other. They are always together and really love playing with each other. Judah will just play and play with him and he always calls him "my Anton" He will say "Mommy My Anton needs a cup" or "My Anton wants to sit at the table" Their bond is growing stronger and stronger and I know they are going to be the best of friends.

Here are some cute things Anton has said lately:

I asked Judah and Anton if they wanted to watch Cars and Anton said "yes yes I so excited."

A few days ago I was holding Anton when he leaned over put his cheek up to mine and gave me a huge hug we stayed like that for about a minute and then Anton said "Mommy I so happy." It was the sweetest moment ever and it made me cry!

Anton is also really good at remembering peoples names. The last time we were in the hospital we had a nurse the first day we were there and she didn't come back for several days but once she came back and walked in the room Anton said "Hi, Rachael." We were both shocked he remembered her name.

We were teaching Kenya the Lords prayer for Sunday school and within a few weeks Anton had learned most of it just by listening to me teach it to Kenya.

Oh and one more crazy cool thing he did. My nephew Blake was talking to Anton and he pointed to the word you on his shirt and he said Anton what does this say and with out missing a beat Anton says "you." We all just looked at each other like "he did not just do that." So the next day I typed out the word you and sure enough Anton knew what it was. He only knows that word and his name but I still thought that was amazing.

He is so happy and content and such a joy to be around. I sure do love my boy!

I hope you guys have a great weekend!

We met Anton for the first time...

It was one year ago today that we met Anton for the first time. That day was like a dream and even the memories don't seem real because it was such an amazing day. We didn't blog while in country and I don't think I really blogged about our first trip at all but I did email updates to our family and friends and so I am now going to share those with all of you!

So here you go DAY 1 OF MEETING ANTON:

We had our meeting with the Ministry of Education today and it went so good. She told us all about his medical condition and his parents. She even copied the paper she was reading for us so we know have his full name and his parents names (we found out in court his surrogate signed the paperwork so we don't have his bio-parents info). She questioned us about how we are going to be able to care for him and was happy with our answers. She told us "thank you so much for wanting to adopt our Anton and for knowing how to care for him." Then she gave us the invitation to meet him and we were off!  

Our first visit with Anton went REALLY well. We were thinking he wouldn't want anything to do with us and that he would cry the whole time but he did great. When we first walked into his part of the hospital I saw him through an open door and I got SOOOOO excited. We didn't get to go to him right away though because his doctors wanted to ask us a few questions first. They drilled us and I think maybe got us a little more prepared for court with all the questions they were asking. After about 45 minutes of questions the doctors seemed satisfied with our answers and took us to see him. 

His nanny was helping him walk out of his room as we were walking up and I couldn't believe we were really getting to see him. We watched him for a few minutes before we really tried to interact with him too much. I couldn't wait to get my hands on him but didn't think we would be able to hold him the first visit. Well not too long after we first saw him they took us in his room and started showing him our family picture that has been in his room for several months now and they would say Papa and he would look at Jason then they would say Mama and he would look at me or his nanny (he called her Mama but they had also been teaching him that I was Mama) :) He recognized us from the picture which was amazing!  Then is nanny handed him to Jason and he did really good. He didn't cry at all or try to get out of his lap. I LOVED getting to see Jason holding our son and interact with him. Then his nanny gave him to me and he cried a little but overall did really well.

We played with him for a few minutes and talked to him but then he was ready to go back to his nanny. We were able to spend about 45 minutes with him before he got tired and wanted to take a nap. At that point we said good bye and went back into the doctors office for more questioning. They wanted to know how we liked him and if the meeting went as we expected to which we replied we LOVE him and it went way better than we could have thought. They also asked what the Grandparents thought so we told them how excited they were and how they can't wait to meet him. 

His doctors really liked us and are very glad we want to adopt him and are able to care for him. 

We will go visit him again tomorrow and watch them feed him and watch them do his dressing change. We are really excited they invited us to watch his dressing change because at first it seemed like they weren't going to let us be there for that. 

We love you all and thank you so much for praying! God is so so faithful and we are so blessed by everything that has happened so far on this trip! 

and now for some pictures! 

-------------------------------

I am so excited we emailed our family and friends, it is so neat to go back and read what was going on each day! 

What Disability Says vs What God Says

...For now I live with disability.
Disability still says ugly things to me.
Disability is a part of this broken sin-filled world.

But God has so many beautiful things to say.
And so I’m filled with hope.
God’s words grow louder and louder in my life.
The glory of his grace and mercy grow stronger and stronger.

I need to listen to his words.
I want to listen to his words.

God’s words change everything.
God’s beautiful words have changed my life.
And that is how I live with disability.

Read the entire transcript of this 9 minute testimony from God's Good Design in Disability

The Gospel

four years...

I can't believe it has been four years since I held my daughters...

Melody and Madison, I love you sweet girls and I miss you more than words could ever express.

this blog...

I have opened blogger hundreds of times only to close it because I didn't really have anything to say. I have tons of pictures to share but when I think about writing a blog my words fail me. Jason suggested just posting pictures he said I didn't have to write a ton. I thought I would give it a shot and who knows my writers block may leave me. Here goes...

But see now I thought of stuff to say, ha. I think I am going to do an update on Anton because I haven't done one in a while then I will try and just post pictures.

Anton has been battling infections since July, in fact he was readmitted to the hospital for a week in October because his infection was back and he wasn't feeling well at all. Thankfully we didn't have to stay long and we got to go home the day before Kenya's 6th birthday.

While we were in the hospital Judah, Jason and Kenya visited a lot.

Kenya put on a puppet show for her brother.

Even with his medical diagnosis Anton is the happiest most content child EVER!

This was our room! It was HUGE and had a really neat view of the hospital.

This is Kenya and I on her last day of being 5.

A few days after we got home his skin started looking bad again and his fever came back. I was freaking out because I didn't want to have to go back to the hospital. In the hospital his cultures came back showing he had Pseudomonas so I was giving Anton vinegar baths everyday to kill his infection. It was working great and most of his wounds were scabbing over. Then I noticed a few wounds were draining more and getting worse so I was pretty sure those had MRSA. I took Anton to the doctor and they cultured his remaining wounds and  they were MRSA. They put him on  antibiotics for 10 days and also put him on bactroban cream. He also had his first ear infection since he has been home. It went away on it's own though and it wasn't too bad. After the 10 days his infection was still there so we started doing bleach baths (it kills MRSA) and are continuing the bactroban and his skin looks AMAZING. He only has a few wounds and they are very small. His right leg is also getting a lot better. We took him to a new derm and she put him on KeragelT because that leg hasn't healed since we brought him home. It is still missing a lot of skin but it looks a TON better.

I talked to another EB Mom and she told me their routine to clean out the bed and bathroom so I have started doing that and it has made a world of difference. I think the way I clean now has a lot to do with the reason his infection is almost cleared up. I have added a few steps to what she told me but here is what I do... Once he wakes up in the morning I change out his pillow cases and sheet, I use cavi wipes and wipe down his crib, mattress and pillow cases. Then I bleach out the tub before I bathe him, then after the bath I bleach out the tub then rinse that out, then I scrub it with comet and rinse that out, then I fill up the tub with water and poor vinegar in it and let that sit for 15 minutes and then rinse that out, after that I cavi wipe the inside and outside of the tub, the light switches, the door knobs, sink and soap dispenser. I think that's it...

Anton had also been throwing up a lot. Every time he cried he would throw up. He would throw up 6 or 7 times and then he would eventually throw up blood. If he cried at night I had to FLY out of bed and run to his room in hopes to calm him down before he puked. It was a hard few months. He had done this for several months so his GI decided to change out his G-Tube for a GJ-Tube. This would make his food go right to his intestines because we didn't think his stomach could tolerate the food.  We slowed down his feeds until he could get scheduled to change out his tube and wouldn't you know it he stopped throwing up!!!  He is also sleeping through the night again! Life around here is getting easier! He has only spit up once since we slowed down his feeds, other than that he has done amazing! We still have the G-Tube which I like because I can change it if it comes out. He is doing great and is feeling a TON better.

Anton is doing great in physical therapy. This week he learned how to stand up by himself when he starts by sitting on a stool and he learned to lay down.

Anton standing up watching cartoons.

He also started to crawl!!! He doesn't do it a lot but the first time he did it I was sitting on one end of the couch and he was on the other side then the next thing I know he was crawling over a pillow to get to me. It was so cute and I was so excited!

We have had a great few weeks and I am so glad Anton is feeling better! Well there you have it, all I have to say is "I'm not going to write anymore" then it starts flowing.

I hope y'all have a great weekend!

Amelia and Allison/ UPDATE

UPDATE: I am crying my eyes out as I type this, God is so faithful and so good. They were able to successfully separate Amelia and Allison. She hasn't update their website yet but keep checking it if you want to hear more updates! 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hey guys I just wanted to stop by and ask for prayer for Amelia and Allison Tucker. They are in surgery right now to be separated. I can't imagine the emotions their family is experiencing but I know that God is so faithful. 

Here is their website if you want to check for updates. Their Mom Shellie said she wont post update until after the surgery is over and they get to see the girls.

Thank you all for praying for these sweet babies!  

   

Presidential Election Reflections: (God's Sovereignty over the Presidential Election) [2008 repost]

Here is something I, Jason D., posted in 2008, but I still think it relevant today (Listen to readout of article):
_________________________________________

I have read some good prayers today from Al Mohler and from The Blazing Center blog.

I posted this on election day, but thought it still had relevance with Obama's inauguration going on today. I think it is a good reminder for us all,... so here it is again:

_________________________________________

Post-Election 11/05 Update: If you don't want to read my long post below, I think Justin Taylor summed up what I was getting at very good and pithy:

"No matter who you voted for--or whether you voted at all--it's important to remember that, as President, Barack Obama will have God-given authority to govern us, and that we should view him as a servant of God (Rom. 13:1, 4) to whom we should be subject (Rom. 13:1, 5; 1 Pet. 2:13-14).

• We are to pray for Barack Obama (1 Tim. 2:1-2).
• We are to thank God for Barack Obama (1 Tim. 2:1-2).
• We are to respect Barack Obama (Rom. 13:7).
• We are to honor Barack Obama (Rom. 13:7; 1 Pet. 2:17)."

_________________________________________

My original Pre-Election 11/04 post:


I pray that you would rest in God,...
Specifically in His ownership and rule of the earth:

For God is the King of all the earth;
sing praises with a psalm!
God reigns over the nations;
God sits on his holy throne.
- Psalm 47:7-8

...the world and its fullness are mine.
- Psalm 50:12

For the Lord, the Most High, is to be feared,
a great king over all the earth.
- Psalm 47:2

He is in charge of the rulers of the world and governments and presidents:

...Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,
to whom belong wisdom and might.
He changes times and seasons;
he removes kings and sets up kings...
- Daniel 2:20-21

...the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will
- Daniel 4:17

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.
- Romans 13:1-2

The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord;
he turns it wherever he will.
- Proverbs 21:1

No matter who is elected His plans and sovereign rule will NOT be frustrated:

Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?”
Our God is in the heavens;
he does all that he pleases.
- Psalm 112:2-3

For I know that the Lord is great,
and that our Lord is above all gods.
Whatever the Lord pleases, he does,
in heaven and on earth,
in the seas and all deeps.
- Psalm 135:5-6

The Lord of hosts has sworn:
“As I have planned,
so shall it be,
and as I have purposed,
so shall it stand,
- Isaiah 14:24

The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
he frustrates the plans of the peoples.
The counsel of the Lord stands forever,
the plans of his heart to all generations.
- Psalm 33:10-11

...he does according to his will among the host of heaven
and among the inhabitants of the earth;
and none can stay his hand
or say to him, “What have you done?”
- Daniel 4:25

...I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me,
declaring the end from the beginning
and from ancient times things not yet done,
saying, ‘My counsel shall stand,
and I will accomplish all my purpose,’
- Isaiah 46:9-10

Many are the plans in the mind of a man,
but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.
- Proverbs 19:21

The heart of man plans his way,
but the Lord establishes his steps.
- Proverbs 16:9

The lot is cast into the lap,
but its every decision is from the Lord.
- Proverbs 16:33

What should a non-Christian's response be to God's sovereign rule? I think Paul says it best:

The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for

“‘In him we live and move and have our being’;

as even some of your own poets have said,

“‘For we are indeed his offspring.’

Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”
- Acts 17:24-31

and a Christian's response:

The king is not saved by his great army;
a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.
The war horse is a false hope for salvation,
and by its great might it cannot rescue.

Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him,
on those who hope in his steadfast love,
that he may deliver their soul from death
and keep them alive in famine.
- Psalm 33:16-19

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.
This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior,...
- 1 Timothy 2:1-3

If by providence our new president or any earthly ruler is reading this, here is something extra for you:

Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying,
“Let us burst their bonds apart
and cast away their cords from us.”

He who sits in the heavens laughs;
the Lord holds them in derision.
Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
and terrify them in his fury, saying,
“As for me, I have set my King
on Zion, my holy hill.”

I will tell of the decree:
The Lord said to me, “You are my Son;
today I have begotten you.
Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
and the ends of the earth your possession.
You shall break them with a rod of iron
and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.”

Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
be warned, O rulers of the earth.
Serve the Lord with fear,
and rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son,
lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,
for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
- Psalm 2
"We don't have to despair or be driven into fearmongering or slander. No matter who wins, let's avoid despair. Let's avoid letting this consume us. Let's not sink to bitterness or slander.

Our citizenship is in Heaven. Our hope is not in one who will promise change (in whatever party/ideology), but in the One who never changes. The King of Kings and Lord of Lords is still in control! Our salvation does not lie in human governments. Our hope is not in a candidate. True change does not come with a new administration. Let us hope in Christ!"

- last quote from http://makinghome.blogspot.com/2008/11/freedom-in-gods-sovereignty.html

Feel free to leave your election advice in the comments.

Soli Deo Gloria,

jason d.

p.s. to end with some truth and humor, always remember we will never find a Savior on Capitol Hill:

Happy Reformation Day! (Reformation & Solas History)

I plan on re-posting this every year on October 31st. My husband did a great job writing this post and it is such a blessing knowing how the Reformation changed our lives.
------------------

Yes, yes, I know you may have been expecting a Happy Halloween, but I wanted to talk about a different holiday that happens today that not many that I have talked to this past month are aware of,...Reformation Day!

If you are in a church where:

• The Bible is read (in a language you understand)
  
• The Bible is preached (in a language you understand)
• You sing songs based off Biblical truths (in a language you understand)
• Pray prayers (in a language you understand) and are Biblical in content
• You are taught that you are justified by grace alone through faith alone by Christ alone
  

Then you are in debt to these men involved in the Reformation. All those things listed above, before the Reformation, were neither being practiced or taught.

Even more than that, on a non-religious level, we probably wouldn’t have the form of Republican government that we have today. A Democracy, capitalism, the sciences (as we have them today), educational system, and family life as we do today.

Sociologist Peter Burger said the reformation is the most amazing organizational achievement in the history of man, based on the network of friendships, and these men pressing forward toward the same goal to change churches and nations.

Martin Luther, who sparked the start of the Reformation, is said to be amongst the top 3 most influential men of last millennium.

Even if you just have the Bible in your own language, then you can thank God for the Reformers.

So what is the Reformation?

Since many don't know what this holiday is let me give this brief overview:

On October 31, 1517 a obscure German monk by the name of Martin Luther nailed a list of 95 theses to the door of the church in Wittenberg. He was protesting the abuse of indulgences in the church. In particular he was offended by Johann Tetzel, one of the Monks who had been sent out by the Pope to raise money for the building of St. Peter’s basilica in Rome.


In Roman Catholicism indulgences were a remission of a certain amount of time in Purgatory granted to the repentant sinner for a number of different reasons. One way to gain an indulgence was to go on a pilgrimage to a distant land. Today an
opportunity to go to the Holy Land would be considered a special privilege. But travel in medieval Europe was a major hardship, filled with many dangers - and a trip to Israel would only be undertaken because of the granting of an indulgence. To be fair we need to say that Roman Catholic theology required that the penitent sinner have a godly sorrow for his sins for the indulgence to be of any value. Tetzel, though, was going around selling indulgences as a “get out of jail free card.” He had a little slogan he used to promote his activities that went “As soon as a coin in the coffer rings, a soul from purgatory springs.”

Luther’s initial protest was not against the granting of indulgences but against abuses of granting indulgences practiced by Tetzel (and against the Pope's authority). It needs to be remembered that what Luther did in nailing his theses to the church door was not an act of rebellion. This was the normal method used by scholars to call for debate on an issue. Support for this statement lies with the fact that the theses were written Latin (the scholarly language) and not in German (the common language).

However, some enterprising students copied the theses, published them - and within a few weeks they were all over Germany. This was the precipitating event of the
Reformation of the church. The flame of reformation was soon kindled across
Europe. Ulrich Zwingli in Switzerland, Thomas Cramer and Hugh Latimer in
England and John Knox in Scotland were just a few of the reformers that God used
to awaken His church.

The changes that God brought about through the Reformation were not merely
cosmetic. Though there were massive changes in the liturgy, the fundamental change was the recovery of the Biblical Gospel as seen in the slogan of the reformers -
“After darkness light!”

Another change that came about was a radical departure from the medieval way of interpreting Scripture. The church had gotten off track very early through the influence of Origen who promoted allegorical interpretation. Today we use the literary historical method which examines the text according to the literary form (such as historical narrative, didactic or teaching texts, poetry, etc.) and asks the question, “What did the author mean in this text? (This question requires us to consider the historical setting.) This change in our understanding of how to interpret Scripture was not just a reformation, but a revolution!

Often the Reformation is understood in light of the five “solas,” (sola being the Latin word for alone.)

Sola Scriptura - Scripture alone
Sola Gratia - Grace alone
Sola Fide - Faith alone
Sola Christus - Christ alone
Soli Deo Gloria - All to the glory of God alone

The scriptures were seen as the formal cause of the Reformation. It was the issue of
authority - the Bible or the church - that was behind the other issues in question. Was the Bible the only authority for all faith and practice or was it the church, as Rome said. The principle of Sola Scriptura did not mean that there was no teaching office in the church. It meant that the church must interpret the text according to what it actually teaches and not according to the traditions of the church.

The absolute necessity for and the sufficiency of the Grace of God in the salvation of
every individual was seen by the reformers as a critical issue. This truth did not come first from the pen of John Calvin. Martin Luther was proclaiming Sola Gratia years before John Calvin was even a Christian. Luther’s book, The Bondage of the Will, was written as a response to The Freedom of the Will written by the Roman Catholic humanist scholar, Desiderius Erasmus. Erasmus’ position (on this subject) was essentially the same as the Arminian position that is so prevalent in the church today.

Sola Fide was called the material cause of the Reformation. The material cause was the doctrine over which the battle raged. It was in the foreground while Sola Scriptura was in the background. The reformers said that faith alone was the means of our justification. It must be remembered that the Roman Catholic Church did not deny the necessity of faith. What Rome opposed was “faith alone.” The reformers acknowledged that true faith would produce good works, but said that those works
followed faith and did not contribute to our acceptance by God. We are saved, they
said, by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone.

Sola Christus says that Christ alone is the meritorious cause of our salvation. Roman Catholicism said that while our works were not as meritorious as those of Christ, they did have sufficient merit that it was fitting to reward them. It has been well said that Jesus Christ supplemented is Jesus Christ supplanted. That is, if you add anything to the requirement of Christ alone for salvation, then you have replaced him.

Soli Deo Gloria taught that since the other solas were true, all honor and glory
belonged to God for our salvation. While no one would be so bold as to say that the
glory for our salvation should be shared and deny that all glory belonged to God, that was the net affect of the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church. What the
reformer’s clearly saw was that the Bible taught that our justification was by Grace
Alone through Faith Alone in Christ Alone - all to the Glory of God Alone.

There was also an essential difference in the understanding of the doctrine of
justification between Protestants and Roman Catholics. Luther and the other
reformers said that justification was the legal decree of God that we were righteous
based on the imputation of Christ’s righteousness to our account. (Abraham believed God and He reckoned it to him as righteousness). This righteousness, they said, was an alien righteousness, one that came from outside of ourselves. Our righteousness
was as “filthy rags.”

In contrast, the Roman Church said that in order for God to declare us righteous we must actually be righteous. This is sometimes called analytical righteousness - that is God analyzes us, and when He see’s that we are righteous, He declares us to be righteous. It was this teaching that so vexed Martin Luther. He used to spend hours in the confessional meticulously reciting his sins of the previous day but without finding peace.

Most of us have defense mechanisms that allow us to continue to function despite our sins. Luther saw more clearly than anyone else of his day that his efforts to placate a Holy God were useless. But, God broke through his despair and awakened in Luther the truth of the Scripture - “The just shall live by Faith” Romans 1:17.

In Luther's own words:

For further knowledge on the Reformation I suggest watching the following two videos that will give you a little more in depth overview: The Protestant Reformation 1 of 2 (9:29) & The Protestant Reformation 2 of 2 (10:43)

In conclusion I thank God for these men, for they revived the true saving gospel. A gospel that relies on God for our salvation not any works of man:

yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
- Galatians 2:16


Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for "The righteous shall live by faith."
- Galatians 3:11


You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace.
- Galatians 5:4

Oh sinner, let me plead with you, trust Christ, there is NO hope in the flesh, no hope in your good works, no hope in keeping the law. There is only hope in believe what Christ says to do, to repent, and to trust alone in Him for your salvation.

Christian, let us not go back to any system that teaches a false gospel:

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel
-- not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.
But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.
As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.
For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man?
If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.
For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel.
For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it,
but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.
- Galatians 1:6-12

Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, noone get's to the Father except through Him! (John 14:6)

Soli Deo Gloria!

jason d.

Kenya is SIX!!!!

This little baby 

is now SIX!!!

Happy Birthday Kenya Grace we love you to the moon and back!

We are home!

Sorry I didn't update more it was hard with the hospital's Internet only working when it wanted to.

After our 18 day stay at the hospital we are finally home. Overall it was a great stay and I didn't go stir crazy too much. If I got overwhelmed I just tried to remind myself that there were children in that hospital fighting for their lives and we had so much to be thankful for. Now don't get me wrong there were times that were really hard and I had to have some cry fests but overall it wasn't that bad.

I have lots of cute pictures and lots of stories that I can't wait to post but it will just have to wait because I'm tired and my brain needs a reboot.

love you all!

Anton is doing Great!

Anton is doing great!

They were able to place his central line without any problems (well other than the fact they couldn't really secure it). Once he got back up to the room Jason, two nurses and myself all brain stormed and figured out a way to secure it a little better. Hopefully it will stay in for the rest of our hospital stay.

The staff here has been amazing and have (for the most part) done a great job of listening to my dos and do nots for EB. I am the only one who takes his temp., moves him, changes his diaper and every nurse that comes in has to ask me before they do anything, even at night. I'm pretty tired at this point but it's worth it to keep Anton safe.

Now don't get me wrong the staff here is amazing and I have grown very close with some of them, it's just hard because they are use to doing things one way and they just can't do the things they normally do with Anton. So I just stay on top of it. All of the nurses have been very eager to learn about Anton's skin and several of them have personal experience taking care of an EB kid. I can't say enough how much I love this hospital and love the staff.

Anton hasn't had a fever in two days and his infections are looking amazing!!' I'm not sure how much longer we will have to stay but hopefully we will be going home soon. I miss Jason, Kenya and Judah a TON and I can't wait till we're back together in our house. I can't complain though because every time I do I am flooded with the thought that right now in this hospital there are many, many kids fighting for their lives. We have so much to be thankful for and I hope we never forget. If you guys could be praying for a friend of two of my friends, their son went to be with Jesus yesterday. My heart breaks for their family.

I was able to take Anton outside for the first time yesterday and he LOVED it. It is finally cooling off in Texas and I'm pretty sure we will be playing outside everyday. I can't think of anything else to say except thank you all for loving and praying for our boy! God is so faithful and is so so good to us no matter what!

updates

Anton woke up very grumpy today and wouldn't open his eyes. He stayed grumpy most of the day. Anton's midline was leaking a ton today so we had to take it out and he will be going into surgery tomorrow to have a central line placed. Anton has been home for six months today!!! Well I'm tired, sorry for the lame post. Goodnight.

Anton is in the Hospital

It's amazing how fast things can change.

September 6th Anton had a great day. We had a very special visitor come all the way from Russia to meet him. We laughed and played and had a great time. September 7th I took Anton to the GI because he was having some issues with feeding. She put him on new meds to help his stomach empty a little faster (he was throwing up cause his stomach was holding the food in too long.) That night he had a fever of 102 and wasn't feeling well at all.

September 8th Anton wouldn't open his eyes and cried most of the day.

September 9th Anton still wasn't feeling all that great so Anton and I stayed home from church. At about 4pm I noticed Anton was feeling warm so I took him temperature and it was 104. I packed a bag and we went straight to the ER and have been in the hospital every since.

September 10th his second IV infiltrated and there was no where else they could put one. So they gave him antibiotics through his g-tube hoping they would clear up his infection and we could avoid getting a PICC line. 

September 11th they checked to see if the infection was in his blood and praise God it wasn't.

September 12th Anton's fever broke and his infections were looking a lot better, they were even saying we might get to go home. Then his fever hit 103 again and I knew we were staying.

September 13th his infections were clearing up and he was doing awesome until about 3pm and he went down hill fast. He was in a ton of pian and was thrashing around and couldn't keep still it hurt so bad. He woke up all night screaming even though we were giving him pain meds around the clock. I have never before seen anyone in as much pain as he was in. He wouldn't even let me hold him because it hurt him too much.

September 14th same thing, he was in tons of pain no matter how many meds we gave him. There is nothing like seeing your child in pain and knowing you can't fix it.

September 15th Anton had the biggest poo of his life and was back to his happy little self. Anton went into the O.R. to have a PICC line placed but they couldn't get it in as far as they wanted so he ended up getting a Midline, which is in between an IV and PICC line. The antibiotics they were giving him through his g-tube weren't strong enough so he had to have IV antibiotics.

September 16th Anton was pretty fussy today but overall it was a good day. I went outside today for the first time in five days and I couldn't believe how nice it felt outside!!! Jason and the kids came to see us and a few friends from church. I miss my family but I'm just trying to enjoy my time with Anton. God has always been so faithful to us and we will continue to praise His name. Sorry I didn't update sooner but the Internet hasn't been working very well at the hospital. I am back on Facebook (it's a long story) so you can follow us there or I will try to update on here as much as I can.

All about Anton

Well hello everyone!!! I have so many things to share but hardly any time to do it so I am going to write a super long post and hopefully fill y'all in on all the details.

Anton is doing sooooo good. I wish I could record one full day of his life and share it with y'all because you would all be shocked at how well he has adjusted to being a part of our family.

When we brought Anton home he could only say three words (that we knew of) and with in two months we couldn't even count all the words he could say. Anton has been in speech therapy since he got out of the hospital and it has helped a TON. Now he is starting to put three words together most of the time and he has even made some five word sentences. We were sitting at the table eating lunch today and Judah said something to Anton and then Anton looked right at Judah and said "Don't say that Judah." Jason and I died laughing and at the same time were amazed by how well he is talking. He also speaks so clear. It doesn't matter if you have been around him for 5 minutes or his whole life you will be able to understand what he says because of how clear he talks.

One of my favorite things he does is when I open his closet to pick out a shirt for him he says "green one, soccer ball." He always wants to wear his green shirt with a soccer ball on it. If you ask him what do they say in soccer he yells "GOOOOOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLL!" Yes we are brain washing him early to LOVE soccer.

He picks up on words so fast too. We were at a baby shower and someone was telling us that her phone sounded like a grasshopper then about thirty minutes later Anton started saying "grasshopper, grasshopper." We have never said that to him that I know of, so he just picked it up from listening to her. He also has an amazing memory. I will introduce him to someone and tell him their name then I say "Anton what is her name?" Then he gets really quiet thinks for a minute then says the persons name. There has never been a name he wasn't able to say. So far he has gotten everyone's names right.

Anton can count to 5, he knows seven of his shapes, he knows all of his body parts, he knows seven of his colors, and if we write his name down he says "Anton Delgado." One of my favorite things he does right now is we ask him "who made you?" Then he says "God made me!" I LOVE it!!!

This boy is BRILLIANT!!! He is caught up with where he needs to be for speech which is amazing since he has only been here for five months. He will have a speech evaluation done next month and will most likely not need speech therapy after that review. It is such and exciting thing but also sad because we LOVE Mrs. Britt.

Anton has also been in physical therapy since we brought him home. He was crawling a little bit before we brought him home from Russia and could pull himself up to stand when he was sitting but he hasn't done any of those things since we brought him home. His physical therapist has been working with him twice a week and our goals right now are to keep his body parts moving and teach him to walk. He wont really bend his right leg so we try to work on that and we are working on walking!!! He has the cutest little walker he uses and I love seeing him with it. He gets tried really fast but hopefully he will get more endurance as the time goes on. He has HATED walking every since we brought him home and really didn't even want to try but on the way home from the EB conference we were sitting at the airport with him and he said "Kenya walking?" I said yes Kenya's walking." Then he said "Daddy walking." I said "yes Daddy's walking." He went through everyone in our family then he pointed to himself and said ANTON'S walking." Every since then it seemed like something clicked and he has the desire to walk. He can't do it on his own yet but he doesn't cry anymore when he tries which is amazing!

He is also doing occupationally therapy. She works with him on opening and closing his fingers. Bending his arms and reaching way up high. We LOVE his occupationally therapist and we were so surprised that we ended up getting a good friend of our as his OT. He LOVE it when she comes over.

All of his therapists have been amazing with him and with Kenya and Judah. I kinda get stressed out when they come because Kenya and Judah are always trying to "help" but the therapists are great and include them in everything.

Anton sees one million doctors... okay not really but sometimes it seems like it :)

He sees a hematologist because he has anemia (low iron). He had an iron infusion in July and it has seemed to help a lot. An iron infusion is where they give him iron through an IV. The process took about 6 hours but the hospital we went to was amazing and took great care of us. His iron was around 6 when we had it done and it is up to 8.6 now. He will get his blood checked every few months to see where his levels are and as long as they stay in a normal range his doctor will just check on him and if they get low again we will do another infusion. If it gets really bad and the iron infusions aren't working then we will do a blood transfusion but we are trying to avoid that. I really like his hematologist and everything he has told me is exactly what I learned at the EB conference so I know he knows what he is talking about.

He also sees his pediatrician as needed. His pediatrician has been amazing. I call their office ALL THE time and they are always soooo helpful and get us in right away if we need to be seen. I can't say enough good things about them. Anton's health has been up and down. He will do really great for a few months then get an infection and we just have to stay on top of it and work super hard to get it cleared up. We found out on the 27th of July that he had an MRSA infection which can be a big deal so I ended up taking him to the hospital and they admitted him for two days so they could give him IV antibiotics. His infection took about a week to clear up after that but as of now it is under control. We gave the whole house a good cleaning and are just being overly careful to avoid further infections. We now bathe him in hibiclens and also make all of his therapists wash their hands with it before they do therapy with Anton. We make everyone take off their shoes once they come in our house and they have to wash their hands as soon as they walk in. We also got Caviwipes and that is what we sanitize with. We are doing everything we can to keep Anton healthy and infection free.

This is Anton when he was in the hospital with MRSA he is with his favorite nurse Jason. Every time he would come in the room Anton would yell "HI JASON!" It was so cute! 

Anton and Tona.

He has seen his dermatologist once and I was not impressed. Other people have raved about him but I decided to change doctors so he has his first appointment in October with his new dermatologist. I am really excited about this appointment because right on their website it says "treating rare conditions such as epidermolysis bullosa." YES PLEASE!!! What doctors office has that on their website?!?! I will tell you NONE!

He also sees a Gastroenterology doctor. A VERY good family friend is his GI which is really neat! She is the one who ordered the swallow study after we brought him home and that is when we learned that he was aspirating. She has also ordered a repeat swallow study to be done next month and we will see if he is still aspirating. If he is aspirating then we will just continue with the g-tube feedings and if he is not then we can start feeding therapy with him (along with the g-tube feeds)!!! Please pray this has improved, we would LOVE for him to get to eat and drink by mouth. He will always have his g-tube as he can't get enough calories without it but if he can also eat by mouth that would be great!

We will be taking him to see the pain management doctor at the local children's hospital soon to make sure we have his pain under control during baths. He doesn't really need anything other than baths and when he does the whole not opening his eyes thing. But we do want to make sure he is on the right dosage for what he needs.

He sees an infectious disease doctor as needed. They saw him in the hospital when he had MRSA.

He will be going to an orthopedic doctor soon so he can get fitted for an AFO (splint to help straiten out his right foot).

He sees his surgeon that placed his G-tube only as needed.

I think that is all the doctors he sees :)

I was talking to Patrice the other day and I told her I felt like I was made to do this.On a totally random side note if you haven't been to Patrice's blog in a while GO check it out. God is doing amazing things for their family and I could not be more excited for them! Back to Anton... I have always loved all things medical. I love watching the real ER shows and I wanted to be a nurse when I was little. Don't get me wrong I would love nothing more than for Anton to be healed of his EB but while he has it I will take the very best care of him that I can. In the same breath as I was telling her I feel like I was made to do this I said and other times I feel like I have no clue what I'm doing. And that's the truth, sometimes I am at a loss. When his whole body is cleared up (except for his right leg which hasn't healed at all since we brought him home) then he is missing skin in random places and I am just thinking "what happened, we didn't do anything different???" Or sometimes Anton wont open his eyes for a few days at a time. We have ran every test we could and NOTHING is wrong with him during those times and our best guess is he is just in a lot of pain and shuts down. I have started giving him pain meds when he does that and after about an hour he snaps out of it and opens his eyes. But times like that can be really hard. We just keep on loving our boy and trying to figure out the best way to help him heal.

Anton is so happy and is so easy. He is so laid back and just goes with the flow. He is a JOY to be around and anyone that is around him just falls in love with him. When we were at the EB conference I had him in the meeting with me for several hours one day and he was so good and so quiet. Anton was coloring and got a little on his bandages so Patrice and I started coloring on his bandages. That was great fun. If he got loud I just whispered "Anton you have to whisper" and he would get so quiet. He did soooo good!!!

Anton is also FINALLY gaining weight. He weighed 19 pounds when we brought him home and his weight has gone from 19 to 20 pounds to 21 pounds to 20 pounds to 19 pounds it was crazy there for awhile but he finally hit 22 pounds and I could not be more excited. He is 34 inches long and weights 22 pounds.

I'm trying to think if there is anything else about him... I can't think of anything else but if y'all have questions please feel free to ask.

I hope to blog a little bit more to keep you all updated and so I can look back and see what neat things our kids were doing.

I hope you all are having a great day and please if you haven't read the tab at the top of our blog that says The Gospel please do so. There is nothing more important than where you will spend ALL of eternity.

LOVE you all!!!

Last chance to win an iPad

Two blogs in one day w00t :)

I just wanted to let you all know the iPad giveaway ends TONIGHT!!!!!

So PLEASE go enter to win this prize! I can't stand the thought of Baby N in an orphanage not getting the proper care he needs. He NEEDS to come home to his family, he NEEDS his Mama to love on him and snuggle him close, he NEEDS the medical care that he will receive once he gets home. YOU can be a huge part in making this happen even by making the smallest donation to his adoption fund.

HERE is the link to the giveaway, now go try to win yourself an iPad :)

Favorite picture of Anton

I am in a blogging slump and I can't really think of anything to say but I did want to share my very favorite picture of Anton. This was taken at the EB conference by Laurie Sterner President and CEO of The Butterfly Fund

Not only did she take this amazing picture but she sent us the most amazing print of it. I can't wait to hang it up in the living room. THANK YOU Mrs. Laurie we LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this picture!!!

Vanessa

Baby N and Tona :)

It is so hard to put into words what has gone on the past two weeks of our lives but I will try to do it justice and try to shine a little light on an amazing person who is now one of my dear dear friends. 

A few months ago I got an email from the family who would be pursuing Baby N's adoption. If you don't know who Baby N is I can't really give many details other then he is one year old, has EB, and is an orphan in Eastern Europe. I told her to call me right away because I had so many things I needed to tell her and I couldn't wait to hear the details of their adoption from her! Once she called we talked for a really long time and I knew without a doubt that she was serious and that her family would do whatever it took to adopt Baby N. Before we got off the phone I told her we would LOVE for her to come stay with us and I would teach her everything I knew about EB. She was very excited and agreed to come stay with us. I kinda laugh about it now because Anton has only been home for 4 months so I really didn't have much to offer her but I was sure I would teach her everything I knew. 

Fast forward to the 22nd of July when Tona arrived in Texas I think she was as nervous as I was but it didn't take us long to hit it off and we became instant friends :) Tona wanted to learn as much as she could so when they bring their baby home she will be prepared to care for his needs. We spent the next ten days getting to know each other but more importantly I tried to pour into her everything I knew about EB. Tona was a very fast learner and by the middle of her trip she was bandaging Anton's arms and legs by herself. I know without a doubt Tona will make an amazing EB Mama and the fact that her husband is on board and is excited about adopting him makes me so happy. 

Tona advocated for EB for a few years before her family decided to adopt Baby N so she knows what she is getting herself into and I can not be more excited for her family. Baby N will be so loved and so well cared for and I can't wait to see him in their arms! 

Most of you followed our journey as we adopted Anton and you guys know how hard the process is and how much money it takes to adopt a child from EE. The Crooker family can not do this alone they need our help and here is what we can do to help them. Tona is giving away a brand new Apple iPad away to help raise money for their adoption so please please please donate to their fundraiser and PLEASE share their fundraiser on your blog and your FB pages HERE is the link to the fundraiser! They can not do this alone but together we can help get Baby N into his family's arms where he belongs! 

Here are lots of pictures of Tona's visit :) 

Thank you in advance for helping this sweet sweet family!