Samuel Laughing Video

Here is another video of Samuel. He was sitting in his saucer, when Zachary started wrestling and playing with a little boy we keep named Camden. Samuel thought that was the funniest thing. This video gives you just a little dose of how much joy this little one brings into our lives. Enjoy!

Here are some more recent pictures:

If you guys don't hurry up and feed me, I'll chew my way out of this thing!

Dad, I KNOW you aren't about to post this on the internet!!!

HEY! Where did my "noodle" go???

OK DAD! If I could just figure out how to crawl,

I'd come get that camera and slobber it to death!

You will SSSOOO pay for this someday!

Yes, I know he'll hate me later, but man he is cute isn't he! Just couldn't resist posting them!

As for me, I'm doing better, not great, not terrible, lets just stick with better. Still in lots of pain. Seizures are flaring pretty bad. The muscle weakness is still present, but is some better than before. I still can't stand or walk for more than just a minute or two. Thank you all for your continued prayers they are much appreciated.

Love you all,

Micah

Samuel's First Video

We took a little video using our digital camera's video settings.
The picture is a little grainy, the audio a little low,
and the camera work a little shaky (your's truly's fault!) :-)
The kid is cute though, and that is all that counts!!!

Happy Five Month Birthday!!!!!!

Hey Everyone, I Turned Five Months Old on Tuesday, September 16th!
And Yes, I'm Darn Cute Too!!!!!!

Well, I'll guarantee each of you, we can't believe he is five months old either. I hope you will click on the picture above and take a good look at our little one. Check out that complexion. We jokingly call each other "crackers" (slang for a white person for the less slang informed). We say things to one another, like "Hey, watch it Cracker!" He is our little "Jalapeno Cracker"! We joke his complexion must be so dark, because Carrie wanted nothing but Mexican food while she was pregnant! We ate at On the Border until I thought I would choke. I love On the Border, but that was ridiculous. But, which of you are going to argue with a hungry pregnant woman? Not this cracker, I'll assure you! :-)

Samuel is "talking", a lot. He just jabbers and says a lot like AAAAAGGGGGHHHHH, loud and long! He especially likes to do this in the wee hours of the morning. The days of him lying there quietly unless he was crying are lllooonnnggg over! He is a noisy munchkin!

He continues to drool, a lot. We think he is close to getting his first tooth. He is an easy baby, a lot of fun, and certainly a great source of joy around our house. A lot of you have asked if Zachary is a jealous or anything. Not a chance! He is like a third little parent, he dotes on him, takes care of him, loves and kisses on him, tells him he loves him all the time. He is an awesome big brother! I think Zachary likes the uniqueness of the two of them. Zachary has blonde hair, blue eyes. Samuel of course, has brown hair, brown eyes. None of this even remotely comes across as jealousy.

Health Update

I haven't updated a lot of you in a little while on my health, so here goes. Good and bad, not really better, but not as bad as it has been. Still a lot of upper arm and upper leg weakness, but not as bad as before. Can't stand or walk for more than about 3 minutes or so. Getting up and down is hard, but I'm able. So, I guess you would say there is much to be thankful for, and much still to do to get better. All of your prayers, calls, emails, cards, gifts, and most of all your love is so very much appreciated. We love you all.

Here are some more pictures of our two "babies":

Oh yeah, this Bubba guy is the Bomb!!!!!!!!

Bubba, enjoy this snuggling while you can,
cause I can't wait to get in the floor and wrestle!

Man, what a day I have had! or Sleepy? What do you mean I'm sleepy?
or Folks, this is the real me!
Slobber, spit up, fat rolls hanging out, hair all frazzled, you gotta love it!

Health Update & Prayer Request

Evening All,

A lot of you have been emailing and calling wanting an update, so here it is. I had been progressively getting better, with the strength coming back a little each day until the first of this week. Monday, I really wasn't feeling well, and was beginning to feel that maybe the condition was flaring again. I tried to shake it off and pretend it wasn't happening only to wake up the next day with no doubts it was coming back with a vengeance. By today (Wednesday, September 10), my arm muscles are failing fast, my legs aren't far behind. I am growing very weak, very fast. Pain is increasing by the day. Again, simple daily tasks, even standing up from a seated position is getting so hard. I know, barring a change, I will be worse than when I entered the hospital within a day or two, at best. This time it is coming on even harder and faster. I feel far more sick and weak. I am unable to sleep, I'm exhausted.

I'm not going to bother everyone with a big prayer request this time. I try not to "overuse" my grace with people. I know many are still praying and there are many who regularly read this blog. I'll just leave it at that. If I'm going to have to live with this condition, I'd better get used to it. For those who are praying, please don't think I don't want you to continue, I just don't want to "dominate" the airwaves if you will. There are many more out there far more in need and worthy of your prayers than I am. God is on His throne. I trust in that. If this is His will for me, than so be it. I don't have to like it, just endure it. I've been sick a very long time, this is certainly far more difficult to endure than my usual struggles, but it is mine to endure none the less.

Your many prayers, calls, emails, cards, and gifts are abundantly appreciated. May the Lord bless each of you. To Him be the glory.

Micah

New Pictures

God, please help my bubba, he's in trouble with Daddy, AGAIN! or
God please help my Daddy get stronger fast cause I'm getting heavier by the minute!

Hi Gang,

Made it back to church today, the morning service anyway. Yes we backslid, and didn't make it to the pm service. :-) Each day is another day of ups and downs, some setbacks, but some improvements as well. I'm really, really fatigued, my muscles give out so quickly. They are getting stronger, just no staying power. If I stand / walk more than 2 or 3 minutes, my upper leg and back muscles lock up and hurt like crazy. But hey, at least I'm standing and walking! I'm trying to take it easy, but those who know me well, know I don't do "take it easy" real well. I tend to overdo it as soon as I see any improvement at all. :-)

Fortunately I didn't have to buy a media drive, I found my special USB cord that allows me to download directly from the camera to the computer. After all of the expenses of the last week or two, I'm really glad! Having to buy the new computer this week (without it we can't run our business), just added to the financial pressure. I spent the better part of Friday and Saturday updating all of our business files. I have never had a computer hard drive die on me and certainly never thought a top of the line laptop only 14 months old would give up the ghost the way it did. So, as you can imagine, I'm not the best at backing up files. Fortunately I had backed up a couple of times the previous month, so I only had to manually update about a month's worth of work. I have the new computer about 70 % ready for business Monday, trying to get the rest done as my hands, fatigue, and pain permit. We didn't lose a lot of data, about two weeks worth of pictures (fortunately we didn't take that many those weeks), and a lot of our music files. I don't think we lost anything that was truly irreplaceable, well, except the stinking laptop!!!! :-0

Here are some recent pictures of some of the crew:

My Grammy Sammy came to check on me while my Daddy was sick!
Man, she is GREAT!

OK, have any of you noticed that this bottle is EMPTY!
(My Mom, AKA Grammy Sammy and Step-Dad, AKA Papa J)

WOW, MY DADDY IS HOME!!!!!!!! Can I get a bottle?

Boy, there isn't much I like more than snuggling up with my Mommy and watching the Cowboys win their first game of the season!

Bubba, whatcha doin?

Hey! Can a baby get some clothes on first?

Yeah, I may be a pudgy butt, but you gotta admit, I'm cute with or without clothes!

If you guys don't get me something to eat, I'm going to eat this spit rag!

Family News Update

After three days out of the hospital, I guess I must report mixed results. No doubt I am feeling better today than a week ago yesterday, but it is still quite a struggle. My strength is improved, though I am still extremely weak. I find myself struggling to perform simple daily tasks. Even holding Samuel is very hard. The pain continues to be a real burden. I have of course, suffered chronic pain for a very long time now, though this is a whole new ball game. We've tried to adapt our house to be a little more "disability friendly" and it is helping quite a bit. I am able to shower much easier with the addition of a shower chair, removable hand held shower nozzle, and a grab bar. We purchased a simple seat for the "facilities" that makes getting up much simpler. We don't have a hospital bed, but we have found good results with using some over sized pillows to help me sleep at quite an angle. Getting in and out is much easier now.

No doubt, without the many prayers offered for this family, we wouldn't have made the progress that we have and might not even be enjoying life at home again as quickly as we were able to. Again, thanks to all for those prayers, we continue to covet them.

As for the rest of the family, I don't think Carrie has fully recovered from our ordeal. She is still wiped out. She slept so poorly the week we were gone. If you have never had a week long bedside vigil in a hospital, between the endless interruptions of sleep, the noise, and those cursed pull out "chair / beds", you don't know what you are missing! Zachary is doing great. He has been a big help around the house and with the munchkin. I do think he misses the unlimited video gaming he enjoyed while we were gone though! :-) As for Samuel, we were amazed at the little changes that occurred in just six days! He was holding his bottle more, and doing a better job of it. He was "talking" more, at least as much as 4 and 1/2 month olds talk. He laughs more, babbles more, and is just all around cuter than when we left!

Special thanks to my best friend Tony Burns. I've known Tony for over 32 years and I'm only 36! I grew up with the Burns brothers. Our older brothers played pee wee baseball together. We all stayed friends through the years. Though he now lives in Colorado, he was in Texas visiting his fiance. When we called, he happened to be in Dallas. He dropped everything and stepped in for my brother who had been watching the kids for us. They were heading out of town, and though they would have canceled and stayed if we had needed them, there was no need. God had Tony here when we needed him. Tony watched our kids from Friday night till Wednesday night. He even stayed over till Thursday, to help me and allow Carrie to run around town and try to get the things we needed to function at home. He helped install all of the accessories I needed before he left. With my parents out of state, willing to come if needed, but difficult for them, Tony was a true Godsend. For those who might cringe at the thought of leaving a 39 year old bachelor in charge of a baby and a teenager, I assure you Tony is fully domesticated! :-) In fact, he was awesome! There is no one I know who has a truer or finer friend than I do. Thank you Tony for all of your help, there are no words to express our gratitude and appreciation. The offer still stands for me to sing at your wedding! ;-)

I'll start posting pictures again next week hopefully. With the premature death of my laptop last week (only 14 months old!) :-( , I don't have a computer with a media drive that will download my pictures. I'll get a portable drive that plugs in to our new desktop computer this week. More pics of the munchkin when I can. I'm going to be putting together a neat collection of Zachary's photos next week also (hopefully, energy permitting). It will show him aging from infancy to teen years. I also hope to put together some nice side by side shots of Zachary and Samuel. You all won't believe how much they look alike. Tune in again next week!

Love you all!

Micah

Out of the Hospital - Update

Good Morning Everyone,

I'm writing this in the early morning hours of Friday, September 5th. I was released from the hospital yesterday and made it home a little before 5 pm. It was a LONG 6 days to say the least. There are no words to express our gratitude and appreciation for the encouraging words, prayers, calls, visits, and everything else that has been done for us these last few days.

I have received so many emails, I haven't begun to be able to answer them all directly. I hope you all can forgive me for that. My hands are so painful right now, typing one email is hard, answering everyone would have been impossible. On top of that, while in the hospital, my laptop died, forcing me to email from my cell phone. You can imagine, that DID NOT make answering emails any easier or less painful.

As for my health, it is improving, slowly. Even simple things are still very difficult, painful, and slow. My wife spent the better portion of the day running around town trying to get all of the things I will need to function at home and not have to go into a rehab facility. Simple things like going to the restroom, getting out of / rolling over in bed, taking a shower, etc., I no longer can take for granted. When you are any age, much less 36 and those things slip away in less than 48 hours, it is a difficult thing to endure. The progress is slow, but I think being at home is a help, psychologically if nothing else. I'm still so weak, my proximal muscles (those closest to the trunk of the body), are still a wreck. Whatever this latest episode was, it simply ate up those muscles over night, leaving them wasted, weak, and excruciatingly painful. My overall body pain is much higher as well, making even simple tasks like typing this letter so much harder.

(OH, and if that wasn't enough, I'm currently working on passing kidney stone number 23!, yep they are a hoot to pass!) :-)

We will have a hard long road to recovery, of that I am certain. There will be set backs, and the ever present threat of another episode / flare, which of course could be less or more severe. We just don't know.

On that note, the doctors were left at a loss, as always, my body showed some signs of lots of things going on, confirmed problems, but none or no combination that would point to a definitive diagnosis. The polymyositis that was initially suggested still fits all of the symptoms to a perfect T, but I didn't have enough of the diagnosis criteria to say I had it. So, we continue to work and wonder. My fibromyalgia specialist will be looking at all of my many, many test results. She will try to determine if there was something that was missed or if there is something that might be unique to fibro patients that an indicator of mine might point to. We might not know, but God does I'm sure. Wouldn't mind if He would let us in on it though! :-)

We continue to covet your prayers both for recovery and answers. We ask you to pray that we might have patience with my progress, disabilities, and frustrations. I'm sure there will be many frustrations and slow progress at times. Pray for our financial situation, without health insurance, this past stay will be in the many many thousands of dollars I'm sure. God is soveriegn and has never failed to meet our every need. Pray for my family that they will have peace in their hearts and not be overcome with worry about me and peace in their hearts when I am a bear! Between the pain and the medications I'm sure those days will come too! :-)

Thank you all once again for everything. Please continue to pray. We love you all and will use the blog to keep everyone posted, unless there is urgent need of another email update. Again, the address is www.micahmauldin.blogspot.com

May the God of heaven richly bless you all. To Him be the glory.

Micah

PS Several of you have written and asked for our address, here it is:

Micah and Carrie Mauldin
8008 Clear River Lane
Denton, TX 76210