The Jungle Book meets Madagascar!

So, Saturday the kids, Gigi (my mom) and I headed to Monroe to the Zoo. I have not been to this zoo since I was in kindergarten...so that was ?? years ago. When we finally FOUND the Zoo, we had a blast. I think we saw everything except the Bald Eagle. I have to say if you go, be sure and do the boat ride. It was pretty neat. The kids really enjoyed it. Now, after the zoo...when Carson had his 30 minute nap and we tried to go and eat lunch...that was not fun for us or the other people at the restaurant. HA Lets just say my mom and I had many looks at each other as Carson cried pretty much the rest of the day. But besides that, it was ok. Besides the weather being perfect for an outing, we were also getting out of the house was so Alan could sleep in peace. He is working graveyards. Here are a few pictures.

Alot of the pictures of the animals were taken from the boat.

Have you ever seen a Pelican up close? They are huge!

A Lemar.
Sydney got to feed the giraffe a ice cream cone.

Here is the Peacock that Sydney and Carson chased. I got that on Video. The peacock made a "great escape" to the bushes. This wasn't his first chase.

The King!

The Jaguar. Hummm, no Tiger. I guess Crossett should feel pretty lucky. Now if we can just get that Tiger in a nicer enclosure like these guys have.

I guess I never got a picture of the zebras. Well, I could have posted more pictures of lizards, snakes and bats, but I figured this was enough. Hope you guys had a wonderful weekend with beautiful weather.

Houston Update...It's long!

Soooo, lets start with the good news!
I found some really neat places to shop at in Houston. Alan didn't think it was as neat as I did though, haha! We met up with a friend of mine from High School that lives in the Houston area. I'm sure many of you remember Lindsey Milburn. She and her husband (Brian) and their beautiful daughter met us for lunch Sunday. We had a great visit and we hope to catch up with them again since we will be going back and forth to Houston so much...which brings me to...
The Bad News!
I'm just going to cut straight to it, the Sutent is not working and Alan's cancer is growing back in his lungs. The cancer spot in Alan's left lung has increased in size and there is a new cancer spot in the right lung. The Kidney Cancer has found a new path. I'm not going in to all the technical names and all that b/c it is very confusing. Basically, Alan is off of the Sutent and will start two new drugs in 4 weeks. The news chemo drugs are Nexavar and RAD. Nexavar has been around for a little while, but RAD is something new that our Doctor has actually produced. When Alan started seeing Dr. Amato, Amato had just started a new trial with the Nexavar and RAD with about 120 patients. All 120 patients responded well to the combo drug, but they all also had severe side effects such as complete hair loss, hand/mouth/feet blisters, fatigue...basically pretty physically sick. Feet sores so bad that the patients could not walk and I'm sure hand sores to where they can't hold things, etc, etc. Phase II of the trial is starting soon and Alan is very lucky to even be able to be a part of it. Since Alan has only been on the Sutent, then he will be able to be part of this trial. He will be about 1 of 60 nation wide that will be involved. He will have to be on a pretty strict diet. Unlike the Sutent, Alan will takes these two drugs daily. With the Sutent he would take it for 4 weeks and then off 2 weeks. That helped with the side effects to subside some before starting the 4 weeks of Sutent.

Dr. Amato seemed very disappointed with the news, of course. We were shocked and it defiantly felt like a major hit to the gut. Of course I turned red. We just got our guard down b/c Alan's appt. had been going so well and now this. It's just that never ending roller coaster ride. We just keep praising God for all that he has done for Alan. Unfortunately, these next 6 months are going to be very challenging. Alan might have to be off work again, but we will not know until he starts the new treatment.

Alan's next Houston appointment is May 18th. He will not be on any meds for the next 4 weeks. He has to completely cleanse himself of the Sutent before starting the new drugs. He will have scans. I'm already anxious about these scans b/c, like I already said, he will not be on any meds for the next 4 weeks, so I'm sure we will see an increase in the cancer spots when we go back. Maybe not and I pray we don't, but I'm not letting my guard down anymore.

We love you all soooo much and thank you for your continued prayers. I'm serious, we don't take anything for granted and we know prayer is powerful!
I Will Praise You In This Storm!! What a strong message in this song. That's why I keep it on the top of my playlist.
Melissa

Another Houston Trip

Hey guys, just wanted to let you know this weekend we will be in Houston. Alan will have the same drill Monday....Get up early, blood work, scans, waiting, Dr. Amato visit (alot of waiting), but it's all worth it! This time we get to leave Saturday, so hopefully the trip will not be so tiring. We just ask that you continue to pray for Alan's healing. God has answered so many prayers for us.

I also want to ask you to pray for a family friend of ours. Their 2 month old son was recently diagnosed with Leukemia. My heart breaks for them. I don't know why, but I just feel like every time I turn around, somebody is being diagnosed. We don't question God's reasoning, but we just pray for that healing hand and we know there is a reason. Here is Blayton Craig's Caring Bridge Site:

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/blaytoncraig

Blayton Craig

Easter 2009

So, I'm a little late with the Easter pictures. Better late than never! We had many different Easter festivities this year, so I'm just going to do a little description under the pictures. I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter. While we were enjoying our Easter Sunday school lesson, my car was getting hail damage...no biggie though. I was where I needed and wanted to be!

Easter Egg Hunt at Sydney's School. Look, I'm trying to take a "neat" picture like I'm a photographer or something, haha!

Sydney's Kindergarten class ready for the hunt and games.

Hunting eggs at Wee School.

Church Easter Celebration. The kids had a great time and our church put on a great party.

Two happy guys. Carson and Papaw got to ride in the front seat.

No matter where we are there seems to always be a dog and Sydney seems to always become best friends with it!



Thank goodness we got another tractor b/c I don't think we have enough!

Everyone got a new swimsuit!

See, they do love each other!

And...last but not least...The Family. Carson looks like such the "little man" in his Easter outfit. I loved the kids outfits. They were so bright and fun!

We have a 2 year old!

This past Friday was Carson's 2nd birthday. Man how time flies...when you're having fun..right!?! LOL It just amazes me how different but similar Sydney and Carson are. He is definitely the "boy". He loves his trains, trucks and tractors ALOT!! His favorite word is "tractor". He will say that word 100 times in a day...no joke! Since our town has this "endless" construction going on, Carson knows where all of the tractors are parked around town and he gets pretty upset if you do not drive by them so he can see them. It cracks me up. His birthday party theme was "Tractors" of course. Here are a few...ok alot of pictures from his party Saturday. We had a great time and thank you to all of our friends and family for helping to make his party special. It was also a beautiful day to celebrate his special day.

One early gift Carson got for his birthday was his first hair cut. The first three pictures are a few more of the new hair cut. It's amazing how much it changed his appearance.

Please excuse the mess in the back..:-)

It's party time!

Carson's birthday invitation. It cracks me up that it looks like he is driving the tractor.

These were the party favors...blow up hammers with some candy.

I love this picture of Alan and Carson. They both have the same expression.

Of course I had to get one of Sydney in there. Our little girl turns 6 next month.

This electric screwdriver came with a toy we got Carson. He has already tried to take apart every toy he got for his birthday...I'm in trouble!!

He got this tractor from Nena and Papaw and LOVES IT!!

Gigi and Pops gave him this tractor and he LOVES IT TOO!!

This is my granddad..."Big George". He slept through alot of the gift opening, lol. I don't know how he did it with kids everywhere. It was his nap time apparently and he was not going to miss it.
Here is big George's gift to Carson.

This is Carson's gift from Kayla, Gary and Patty Higgingbotham. We consider them Carson's second family. Kayla is Carson's babysitter and they have all helped us out soooo much this last year and half. I wish I would have gotten a picture of Gary and Kayla with Carson.

Tractors, Tractors and more tractors.

The gangs all here...well most of them. We had a few that were sick.

Summer and Ryder
Gavin pulling Carson. I think they are about 8 days apart in age.

Sydney and Parker. Kami, I don't know if you ever saw this or not. Yeah, they went all over the yard!! Look at those beautiful hair bows (hehe)....and little girls!

Janet got a little stuck leaving our house, so Alan Trent and my dad had to give her a little push. Sorry Janet, I just happen to have my camera in hand, lol.

And finally the family picture. I know, Carson was not looking, but it was either that or a picture of him crying, so I opted for this one.

See, I told you it was long. I just want to say what a wonderful family I have and I am so blessed! We have two beautiful, healthy kids. Just a few fun facts about Carson:

Favorite Word - Tractor

Favorite Food - I'll say pretzels, noodles and anything sweet. He is not my eater.

Favorite Drink - Chocolate Milk ("Choc")

Favorite Movies - Any Thomas the Train movie

Favorite Toy - small trains or tractors he can carry

Favorite Person - Sydney...he loves her...most of the time anyway.

Happy Birthday Carson!!