Carson got a hair cut!

Finally a post dedicated just to Carson. Carson got his first hair cut. I said before he turned 2 (which is tomorrow) he would get his hair cut. Yesterday was the big day and I have to say that Aunt Christian did a great job and Carson did a great job himself sitting in my lap and being still. These pictures are from my phone. Yes, I forgot to bring my camera. What an awful mother I am. I did get some more pictures when we got home, but now my home PC has a virus so I can't download my pictures yet. And let me just say how ticked I am about my computer. These hackers need to get a real job!! April fools on me...ughhh!! Here are a few pictures and I'm going to be adding birthday party pictures soon, or whenever I get my computer back. O, BTW...we all finally got over the flu and Alan never got it!

The before picture. Man that kids hair is crazy! Carson's hair is curly although you can't really tell in this picture and he has a double crown.

The After...Carson and Aunt Christian. We were going for kind of that middle/spiked look. I told Alan if he had glasses then he would kind of look like that kid in Jerry Maguire, haha! He didn't really want to smile...he was ready to go!!

My little man turns 2 tomorrow. That's cRaZy!! He looks like a little boy and not a baby anymore.

The Flu hit hard!

Sydney started with it last week, then I got it and now I think Carson has it. This flu stuff is bad and hangs around for a while too. I hope none of you have had to deal with it and if you have then I feel your pain. Thankfully Alan has not come down with it yet (knock on wood). He does not need to get this (no spleen). Anyway, have not had time to post anything lately, but I do have some funny bowling pictures from last weekend I would like to share. We'll see if it happens. Anyway, everyone hang in there through the "sick" season and God Bless!
Melissa

Our 2008 Book

I wanted to share our 2008 Photo Book with everyone. I finally got it finished up in January and got it in around the first part of February. I give these books as Christmas gifts to Alan's parents and my parents, but I was a little behind on getting it finished up this year...can't imagine why! They are awesome...I love creating them. This is a great item if you just don't have the time to scrapbook. I got alot of my templates from Smilebox and some I created myself. You can view the book via the link below. There are a few mistakes in my book, lol. I wonder if you can find them. Not that I want you to, but I'm sure a few of you will catch them quick! HA Enjoy

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0EauG7Vu1YsnPw

A Nephew Post

Just wanted to share a few pictures of the boys. Some picture are from last Tuesday (March 3rd) when Alan went to visit and some are from Saturday (the 7th) when I was able to go and visit. It was so great to see them. Alan actually was able to hold Grant and I got to hold Ethan and feed him, and then he spit up...it was great. Brought back some great memories of our own! Ha The boys seem to be doing pretty well this week and you can catch up on them by visiting The Mixon's blog. Thank you for your prayers for these sweet little babies. We pray for strength for Kara and Michael. They are already amazing parents!

I didn't get alot of pictures while I was there, but I got a great video of Michael changing Grant's diaper. haha

Ok, I think this is Grant.

I know this is Ethan b/c he has the feeding tube going through his mouth.

Alan and Grant

The whole family

Me feeding Ethan his yucky vitamin/milk. He didn't like it and neither did it!

Poor Sydney is about to go crazy that she can't see them yet. Pretty soon she will have three little boys chasing her around and driving her crazy!

Houston Update

Back again from the 38 hour trip to and from Houston. The only good thing about this trip is that you can go 70 mph in Texas!!

Now for the Great News! Dr. Amato has compared all three of Alan's scans that he has had since he started seeing him in November. By comparing all of the scans, Dr. Amato can now get a better idea of what is no longer there and what is decreasing. We already knew that the two larger spots in Alan's lungs had decreased, but there were a few freckled size areas that we were still unsure about. It takes about three scans to know for sure b/c each time Alan has his scans done, he could possibly be breathing different and that would make each scan different, so we are now at a good place to compare scans. With all of that said, we know for sure that the freckled size spots are GONE and one of the larger spots is GONE and the other spot has decreased in size some more.!! Now, the spot around the renal vein...yes, that same ole spot. This time, Dr. Amato says post op. By looking at the first scans and now yesterday's, he says he really feels like it is just post op and it will be there forever...no tumor!! Can we just stick with that verdict please!! We can never know for sure due to the risk of doing a biopsy, but the mass has not changed since the last set of scans. He says post op, so that's what it is. I never want to talk about this spot again!! With all of this great news, of course we were extremely excited. I personally am trying to live in the "now" and not think about the future, but it is hard. I am so excited for Alan and this great news, but that question still lingers in the back of my mind..."will it come back?" We just pray that it will not.

Alan's next appointment in Houston is April 20th, so we have about an 8 week break.

Thank you lord for all of your power and for your healing hand. Our God is an awesome God! We pray for healing hearts for the ones that have lost family to such an awful disease and we pray for anyone facing difficult times. I thank God everyday that we have such amazing family and friends to pray for us daily and that care. What would we do without you and those prayers!

I want to ask anyone reading this blog to please support your local Relay For Life! Our Ashley County RFL will be held May 15th. You can get more information about this by visiting the website at: www.relayforlife.org/ashley

Prayers and Love To You All,
Melissa

Houston Weekend

Yes, we are off to Houston for Alan's monthly test and scans. We will do our normal. Leave early Sunday morning and come back late Monday. Alan is working graveyards, so that means I will probably be driving the whole way there so he can sleep...Yikes!! Alan is doing pretty well. Side effects seem to be the same as normal. Nausea, fatigue and head and feet sores and of course, the white hair! Poor guy has blister like sores on the bottom of his feet and lets just say he is up on his feet alot due to his job and his feet are tender. He gets off of them as soon as he can when he gets home. They are pretty good to him at work and let him rest when he needs to. I will probably post again with Alan's results Tuesday. We just ask for prayers for our travels and for Alan's healing. I also ask for you to send prayers to other families going through difficult times. No, Alan's situation is not the best, but man, there are families loosing their children to cancer and I just can't imagine.
Thank you to everyone. We love you! God is good, all of the time!
Melissa

Grant and Ethan Mixon!

AKA..."the boys" or "our nephews"! These precious little ones have made their arrival and we are all so excited. These pictures were taken this past Thursday and they have both improved so much since these pictures. I'm not going to go in to much detail about each ones situation b/c Kara has done an excellent job of that on her blog. Her blog is listed on my blog role, so hop on over there for more information and pictures. The boys had TTTS (Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome) so they have had some complications, but seem to be improving every day. I just talked to Cookie and Rusty and they got to hold Grant today and at least touch Ethan.

Ethan and Uncle Alan.

Ethan and Aunt Melissa

Here is Michael showing us Ethan's hair.

Grant.

Grant and Uncle Alan

The proud Aunt with Grant!

HELLO, are these last two pictures not the sweetest! He just reached up to me and was like"hold my hand Aunt Melissa"...ok, not really, but he was waving it around so of course I kind of put my hand up there and we had a bonding moment! I was like, "Alan, hurry...get the camera!" Priceless!!

The Twins Are Here!

I want to share with everyone that our twin nephews have arrived! Ethan and Grant Mixon were born this past Wednesday about 5 weeks early. Everyone is doing pretty well, but I'm sure you can imagine that being 5 weeks early means some complications. I have pictures to post, but you can also stay updated by visiting Kara and Michael's blog to the right or here. Kara will of course do a much better job of explaining everything.
Thanks for your prayers for the Mixon family!
Melissa

"Celebrate Good Times, Come On!"

Ok, that was a corny title for a post, but it just came to me so I went with it. This post is a celebration of Gigi's (my mom) birthday and Valentine parties. There are actually a few pictures of Carson in here too. Not great ones b/c this little son of mine will not look at the camera. Lets start with some Valentine Celebrations!

School party

This is the craft we did at Sydney's party. The kids made a card from their hand print.

Here is the gift that Alan and I had sent to school for Sydney. I bought all of the items to go in it including the two pink roses and I took them to Becky at Carlynne's (local interior business) and she put it all together for me and delivered it to the school. WOW...she did a great job. She went above and beyond and bought this cute pink bucket and painted Sydney's name on it and some flowers and put it all together just how I wanted. Remember her next time you want something special put together and delivered. She can do it!

Sydney and Alia.

On to the next celebration...Gigi's Birthday. Today is my moms %( Birthday, hehe...figure that one out. Poor Gigi, she had to cook her own birthday meal, but she said it was fine b/c she knew what she wanted....Mexican. She cooked it all except for the cheese dip. That came from Fiesta Linda's (local mexican restaurant). So, she and my granddad (aka Big George) went and picked up the cheese dip and then headed to a local business to pick up a gift. As they were getting back in the car, by mom said, "O NO"..., but it was too late. Big George had squashed the cheese dip and chips all over him and the car. Yep, it was a big ole mess! So, after a few laughs and paper towels, they headed back to Fiesta Linda's to get another order, and let me just say, they do not give this stuff away...that was until yesterday. My mom and BG went in and told them what had happened and they got so tickled at the story, that they gave my mom a large cheese dip for free. How nice was that!! Our whole family is well known there. We see these people alot.

Gigi, the kiddos and Big George

Sydney's Valentine gift from Alan and I. A tent is in the red box. Alan and I just put it together and yes we are still speaking! HA

Carson got another train and a few other items.

This last picture is just a random picture that I took. This is a normal around our house. Carson in the pirate hat toting around his shot gun (not real) that he got for Christmas. It was just funny! Obviously he is not happy.

Happy V Day!

Happy (early) Valentine's Day everyone! These are the cards I made for the kiddos to pass out. Once again here is a picture of Sydney, but I do not have a good recent picture of Carson, so I made his card about something that reminded me of him...Kung Fu Panda, b/c he likes to kick and hit! HA Lets keep my KFP picture on the down low...don't tell Disney!!

Hope everyone has a special and happy Valentine's Day!

It's All About.....

Sydney

but, isn't it usually. Maybe the next post will be all about Carson. Sydney is just at that age where she is active in alot of activities and Carson, well, he's just active.

First, let's talk about Sydney getting the Busy Bee Award at school. Man, what a shocker! We are all so proud of her. She really has done great this semester. We have gone from getting notes sent home the first week of school, to getting something out of the treasure box weekly and no notes. Major improvement! We were eating lunch with Sydney today and she said, "I'm about to explode....I'm so excited." It was too cute. One of Sydney's classmates said to Sydney, "Hey Sydney, your daddy's hair is white!" Alan and I got tickled about it. It didn't bother Sydney. She just looked at Alan and was like, "Yeah, I guess it is" and kept on eating her corn dog, lol.

Sydney and her friend Brady.

Gigi and Pops with Sydney

Nena and Papaw with Sydney.

Moving on to the next event...Upwards Cheerleading! This is Sydney's first year to do this, O and apparently mine too. Somehow Sarah and myself ended up volunteering to coach these girls. Long story. It's like high school all over again! HA Sorry, but I'm not demonstrating any jumps or kicks!

Sydney and Lainey in deep thought!

Sarah and I showing our coaching skills! hehehe

Next, the 100th Day of School! This was last week, but I never did a post on it. Sydney's shirt had 100 polka dots on it. I printed on those iron on sheets and then like an idiot cut out 100 polka dots to iron on Sydney's shirt.

Here is Sydney's poster with 100 bows. I tied all of these while traveling to Houston this last time. Lets just say it made the trip go by faster. I had a design in my head and it didn't quiet work out, so we made a butterfly out of the bows. Yes, another one of those, "what was I thinking moments!"

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and I hope the weather is nice where ever you are!

Houston Update

We are back from yet another short trip to Houston. We leave from Crossett on Sunday and then start our day Monday morning leaving the hotel at 7Am and our morning is full of blood work, scans and Dr. appt...usually leaving Houston a little after lunch.

Now for the news...Alan's scans showed that the two areas on the left lung are unfortunately still there and have not changed in size. Dr. Amato did not seem concerned that there was not a significant change this time. He said that many patients see a drastic change after their first round of meds and then they might not see anything else until around the 6th month of meds. Alan will be starting his 3rd round of Sutent this coming Sunday.

Remember that spot around where Alan's renal vein is. Yea, that spot that just about every Dr. has been going back and forth on. Well, after these set of scans, Dr. Amato seems to think that it might actually be tumor or as he likes to refer to it as "real." His words for "really is cancer." He said that the mass has shrunk some in size and that it still has the shadow behind it which makes it appear to be a tumor. He didn't talk about this too much b/c he could tell we were shocked with the news, but just like the spots on the lung, we will monitor this area and hope that the Sutent does what we need it to do.

Alan will be on the Sutent for a complete 12 months. After the 12 months, if the lung spots and tumor are still there, then he will have a solitary wedge resection to remove the nodules on the lung and take out that other spot by the renal vein during the surgery. They will not have to remove any part of the lung, just the cancerous areas.

I pray that none of you ever have to go through this, but if you or someone you know if ever diagnosed with RCC there is a great Dr. and staff in Houston. We love this man so much and his nurses. They are great and even though we only see them once a month, they remember us every time. I guess that is basically everything. I probably left something out, but I'm tired.

O yeah, our next appt. in Houston is March 2nd.
Love and Prayers!!