We Are Back!

 Good morning and Happy Mother's Day! 

I have been doing a lot of reflection lately. I have found, like so many do, that a lot of time gets consumed by things that don't matter. Especially, I have noticed the hold that social media had on me. I would look at it first thing in the morning when I woke up. I would have to check it all the time during the day and get lost in the endless scrolling. I would have to scroll while watching my favorite shows, while caring for Elijah, and definitely before going to sleep. I would even find myself doing it on the nights I was struggling to sleep. I then started to notice the toll it was taking on my mental health. Those who know me best, know that I am a major people pleaser. I do not like to hurt peoples feelings and tend to let myself be walked all over. I found myself trying so hard to be apart of certain groups in town that I knew would end up hurting my feelings. I thought it was what was best for Elijah so I kept putting myself out there. I felt like I would give everything I could and still never truly feel accepted or like I belonged. Then I would get on social media and see these people posting all of these things that would make it all worse. I felt that I was never truly apart of it, even if I gave the advice or equipment or whatever it may be. I was never acknowledged and never invited to do the fun things. I was listening to a book on audible after a week of being in my head about this exact subject. Turns out, the chapter I was on was about this topic exactly. Thank you God, I hear you. I came home from my walk and decided it was time to truly delete social media from my phone. I have done this so many times and find myself re-downloading it super fast or pulling it up on my browser, defeating the purpose. I did not even want to get on it on the computer, not even to say "Hey yall, time for a social media break". I kept telling myself that I wanted to keep social media going to share Elijah's story, which is true, but not a good enough reason to keep my mental health spiral spiraling. So, here I am, back in the blogging world. This allows me to share all the things that I want to share without having to go down the scrolling rabbit hole. 

Elijah Update: Elijah has been doing AWESOME! For those who don't know, Elijah received a corrected diagnosis in December of 2024. He does not have Spastic Quad Cerebral Palsy but has a rare genetic condition called Allan Herndon Dudley Syndrome, or MCT8 deficiency. Since learning of this diagnosis, I began doing extensive research on what this means and what can be done. Turns out, Cook Childrens Hospital in Fort Worth Texas had a clinical trial just for us! It has been an amazing experience. I have not only been able to get Elijah a treatment that is bringing some healing to his body, but I have also been able to give him experiences that I didn't know could or would ever happen. I was able to let him meet family, in person, that he had never been able to meet. I thought the drive there would be too much for him and didn't know if this could ever happen. I was able to take him to a Texas Rangers game at Globe Life Field. We love watching the Rangers together! I was able to experience road trips with him and my daughter. Seeing their bond through this has been awesome. When he would be struggling, she would step right in to try and comfort him. God is building a pretty amazing family for us! We have even been able to travel by airplane! The first flight went well and then TSA at George Bush International Airport in Houston made me never want to fly with Elijah again! Awful experience. However, I recently decided to try it again. I found a program that could be available to us through Southwest Airlines and decided to see what it was like to fly to Dallas and back in one day. We left so early in the morning, which Elijah was not too fond of. He slept the whole flight there and the car ride to the doctor. He perked up at the doctor though and then the flight back that afternoon, he was his goofy self! He loved the flight and people watching at the airport. It was really actually nice to get it all done in one day, even quicker than driving to Fort Worth. This may be our new way to do this. I do have him scheduled with a local provider in hopes they will consider taking on this trial here so that we can cut the travel and have the expenses covered by insurance. We also have a friend here with the same diagnosis, not a common thing to be able to say, and we would love to help him get this treatment as well. It's been a crazy year already but it has been amazing! God has blessed us so much and continues to do so. 

I do ask for prayers for not only Elijah and his treatments but for our family. We are hoping to grow by one more and are leaning on God to decide if this is the right thing for us. Pray for the potential kiddo that we are hoping to join our family and that the right decisions will be made for them. We have 2 amazing kids now and if that is where God wants us to stay, we absolutely will. There is just something telling me that He is not done with us yet. 

Also, here is the link to a site we have created to help with the medical expenses in Texas for Elijah. Unfortunately, all of the costs are out of pocket as our local insurance will not cover any of the care out of state. We are trying to get that fixed but as of now, everything has been out of pocket. Thank you for following our story. Please share this link with as many people as you can. https://www.supportnow.org/elijah-moulin