On Saturday, March 22 we got tickets to see the Harlem Globetrotters at the Bobcats Arena. None of us have ever been before and we had a BLAST! Our seats where about 8 rows up and we also got to go by the locker rooms at half time to meet some of the players, get our picture taken, and get autographs too! We bought Tyler a basketball there for the players to sign... he had to have one :) The players were not only good basketball players, but good entertainers as well. Tyler especially liked "Globee" the mascot when he did the "Soldier boy" dance!

Look who's got a tooth!!

That's right everyone, Caiden is cutting not 1, but 2 teeth. They are both coming through on the bottom, with one more noticeable than the other. It was about 2 weeks ago when we first started to see the white in the gums and now you can not only see, but feel the teeth as well! He's been a real trooper about it too. We bought him some "biter biscuits"... or should I say "super messy biscuits" and he absolutely loves them. I can hear him saying "mmmmmmm" right now!

if you zoom in you can see a little white tooth on the right side

Batter Up!

Tyler had his first scrimmage lastTuesday night and I must say.. he's a natural athlete! Take a look at our star athlete!!!

Let's Play Ball!

"Take me out to the ball game, take me out to the crowd..." Baseball season has finally arrived! Tyler has been looking forward to play ever since he could say the word "ball." Last Saturday was his first practice and he had a blast. His good friend Tyler Musso is on the team with him which makes it even better! We got there early so we can get him warmed up, meet the coach, run the bases.. you know it, we did it! Our last 2 practices have gotten rained out so he's defiantly ready for Tuesday's practice. Opening ceremony's are on the 29th of this month and after that he'll have his first game! GOOOO REDS!

Tyler and his teammates warming up before practice

Stretching..

Nice catch!

Future pitcher!

"That's all folks!"

Half a year old!!

Weight: 17 lbs 4 oz. - 50%
Height: 26 1/4" - 50%
Head Circumference- 45.5 cm - 90%

I know I say this every month, but it's SO true- Caiden sure is growing up fast! He can not only roll over now, but sit up too (for a short bit)! He's laughing, smiling, blabbling, and cooing all the time! We are so lucky to have another happy baby! I'm still nursing him, but we have started him on cereal and some vegetables like squash and carrots. He's not 100% into them, but he's trying. If one of us is holding Caiden while we're eating he'll try and grab the food off the plate. Maybe he just doesn't want baby food at all... who would...yuk? LOL! He's mostly sleeeping through the night now.. about an 8 hour stretch then wakes up to eat then falls back asleep until I have to wake him up to go to work. Caiden is such a joy and we are so blessed he's in our lives!

Check out Caiden sitting up!!

Funny Commercial....

I thought this commercial was hilarious!

MoRe BiRtHdAy FuN

We threw a dinosaur themed party for Tyler yesterday and it was a huge success! Eric made a dinosaur puzzle out of wood and we hid the pieces in the back yard for the kids to find.. they LOVED it, each wanted to hide the pieces over and over! We also set up an art table for everyone to make/color dinosaurs and played the good 'ol pin the horn on the Stegasaurus! After the games we enjoyed some yummy ice cream cake from Baskin Robins and opened presents. Tyler says "thank you friends for coming to my party and for the presents!" After all that was done the boys played outside in the beautiful weather! It sure was a lot warmer than last years party




Tyler found the first piece!

Tyler and Liam searching for more puzzle pieces..


Happy Birthday Tyler!

Carrots for Caiden!

Caiden is almost 6 months old now so we decided to let him try some yummy carrots and boy were they YUMMY... we tried to record him making noises while he eats. He kept smiling, kicking, and waving his arms between bites and saying "mmmmmm" We think he likes it.... a lot different than "mommy's milk"



 
 
 
 

Here's a clip we took when we tried to get the noises he was making...

Tyler is 5!!

Tyler is 5 years old already! He has been looking forward to this day for a while now because a lot of things happen when your 5. If you ask him he'll tell you that he is now old enough to play T-ball, Soccer, Football, AND he starts Kindergarden this year! On Friday (his actual birthday) he wanted to bring doughnuts to school for him and his friends so we stopped by good 'ol Krispy Kreme to get some hot glazed doughnuts. Tyler had them for like the first time last month in Florida and LOVED them.. he took a bite of one and his eyes opened real wide as he told me "WOW mom, these are GOOD!). His classmates enjoyed them as we sang Happy Birthday. After work/school we took Tyler to his favorite resturant, Showmars, where his favorite teacher Ms. Lao works and had a yummy dinner. The Musso's met us there then came back to our house to open up gifts from them and family. The kids enjoyed decorating their own cake! This Saturday we're going to celebrate his birthday with all his friends from school as well as his other friends :)

More Brotherly Love...

Our boys are growing up fast! Caiden's already 5 months old and Tyler will be 5 YEARS old in just a few weeks! Tyler adores his little brother and wants to help out every chance he gets. Caiden has "found his tongue" and loves to stick it out all the time, blow bubbles, and make that spitting sound.. you know, when you stick your tongue out and blow... I'm not sure what that's called.. horse tongue? LOL

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

A true miracle....

Here's all the updates/emails that went out the past week about my little sister (21 years old)who went into Cardiac Arrest last Wednesday while taking a spinning class at the gym. She young, active and perfectly healthy and we still don't know why this happened. It's a miracle she's here today and we are so blessed.

First email- January 10th
Hello all; Just wanted to inform and update on Katelen's status; I know all of you would want to know. For those of you that don't know, Katelen is in the CCU at Morton Plant Clearwater recovering from an apparent cardiac arrest that she suffered yesterday while taking a Spinning Class at the gym. No one knows why it happened. As you all know she's a fighter and, thanks to everyone that was there when it happened, we are all confident that she's going to be fine. As a preventative measure, she is currently receiving a special treatment called "Arctic Ice" - she is heavily sedated while she undergoes a lowering of her body temp for 24 hrs. According to the experts here, the cardiologist that we've spoken too, and all we've read about this treatment - this is the way to go. This treatment will continue through tonight before any diagnostics are performed. Basically, we will not know anything until the treatment is completed. Melody is hanging in there and doing as well as can be expected. We'll be at the hospital all day.

Next email- ThursdayRight now everything is the same, she still in the "artic ice" treatment until 7pm. She has developed a touch of pneumonia, which was expected.

10:00pm update-They continue to raise Katelen’s temperature from approximately 32 degrees C to 37 degree C, about one tenth of a degree every 25 – 30 minutes. She is currently at 33 degrees C. Raising her temperature will take 12 hours plus or minus a few hours. As the temperature is raised there is a greater risk of a cardiac event than when her body temperature was reduced.Increasing her body temperature is just the first step. Once the temperature has been raised the medication used to maintain the comatose state will be removed. There are a total of the 3 medications (Nimbex – paralytic; fentanyl – pain; diprivan – sedative). Nimbex is removed first, followed by fentanyl. The third medication will most likely remain at a reduced dose. This is to prevent her from rejecting the ventilator. It is conceivable that she will remain on the ventilator through the weekend. Once the medications are removed it can be anywhere from a few minutes to 10+ hours before Katelen fully begins to wake up. It is dependent upon how sensitive her body is to the medication and how much, if any damage was initially incurred. As medication is removed, movement of her eyes (fluttering) and/or hands twitching as she fights to wake-up may be observed. Essentially, it will be at least 24 hours or more before she truly begins to respond/wake-up.

12:15 AM We have made it to the 35 degree mark. Which puts us in the critical range (35-37) where there is a greater risk of a cardiac event. Good new, her pupils are responding to light stimulus.

7:15 AM-At approximately, 5:30 am when her temperature returned to normal she started becoming very responsive. She has been responding to yes and no questions, looking around and starting to mouth words. Has told her sister not to sing to her. The medical staff has indicated this will be a very critical day of recovery and has indicated it would be best to limit the number of visitors to the immediate family. They want to keep her calm to allow her body to continue to heal. She is confused, and does not understand/know why she is here. They have told her what happened, but due to the heavy sedation medications she forgets easily. Melody and Joe do not want to discourage anyone from coming down, but please realize you will not be able to see Katelen. It may be tomorrow or the next day before you are able to see her. We will continue to send updates throughout the day.

930 AM update- Well, Katelen the fighter is blowing everyone away. She much further than anyone expected. She is off all sedation medication and breathing on her own. The ventilator tube was just pulled and she is talking. Next is for her to take another nap. We will continue to send updates as the day progresses.

Katelen is continuing to improve. As a matter of fact she said "Thank you for coming and emailing". Only Katelen would think to thank all of us within a couple hours of waking up. We've been getting lots of requests for what can be done. After 2 days and several more to go hospital food is getting old. So we'd like to organize a sign-up for meals and snacks. Let's just do today (Friday), Saturday and Sunday to start. Also, there are several people who are either flying or driving in from out of town that need a place to stay.

3PM Update (Friday Jan. 11)-Katelen is doing very well. She is telling everyone “thanks for coming,” and so far does not seem to want to sleep. She has a chart next to her that gives her a time frame of the last couple of days. We have established an account at Merrill Lynch to help the Dixon Family cover the some of the cost. (Time off work, travel, food, cell bills etc). If you would like to contribute please make checks payable to:”Joe Dixon FBO Katelen Dixon.” Joe Dixon FBO Katelen Dixon C/o Merrill Lynch Greg Hicks 26301 US Hwy 19 NClearwater Fl 33761 If you have any questions related to donations please don’t hesitate to call my office on 727-799-5604. We have been working on food and accommodations for family members and quests, for which my sister is handling. (Karen Hicks 813-447-0527) At this point donations would be very much appreciated.

10 PM Update-Katelen is continuing to grow stronger. It will most likely be the first of the week before a timeline for her recovery, how long she will be in the hospital, when the AICD will be implanted. There is a long road ahead still. Melody and Joe would like to thank you for all your thoughts, prayers and support. They are reading your emails and are very touched by the out pour of support. Thanks to all of you who have volunteered to help with food, transportation and housing. We are covered for the weekend. As you know this is a long process of recovery.

Saturday morning update-I just spoke with Joe; Katelen had a great night’s sleep last night. She has been able to sit up and eat. She has some soreness in her shoulder and arm where she fell of the stationary bike on Wednesday for which they are able to now give her some pain medications.

Katelen had a very restful day and is doing great. She does have a little bit of short term memory loss, but that appears to be “normal.” For example she doe not remember some of the conversations from yesterday and saying “thanks for coming.” Mel is staying at the hospital tonight. Joe said he was going to eat dinner and smoke a cigar.

Just wanted to let you know that things continue to move in a very positive direction. She will have the "cardio-cath" in the morning (Mon) as the Dr.'s begin their quest for possible causes. The prognostications are flying freely around here ranging from nothing to a defibrillator. Though nothing may sound good, we are hoping for some answers. We are trying not to speculate further until the results of tomorrows morning's test. Thanks for all the prayers and support; I believe the support circle played a key factor in the recovery. All of our friends here really (really!!!) stepped up to the plate; and, they are doing more than we'd ever expect or imagined. I will let you know tomorrow as the results of the tests begin to come back. Just to let you know how Kate is feeling today: We are having to keep an eye on her to keep her from walking out of the hospital. They've disconnected everything except the IV and the last of the antibiotics. Best quote of the day from the infections specialist: "I wouldn't be surprised if she were home on her birthday (16th) and playing volleyball in no time".

January 16- Kate's Birthday

Hello friends and family (seems to be synonymous these days), Katelen says hello, and continues to extend her "thanks for coming" salutations to everyone. She looks absolutely wonderful and very at ease with everything. Looks like she's opened the new book and she is prepared to proceed to the first chapter. Everything has pretty much followed the plan laid out earlier in the week as for as the diagnostics; basically, we don't know anything????. The doctor said the surgery went extremely smooth. She got back to her room after 2 hours of surgery around 11:30 or so. She is, of course, her smiling self and on her way to full recovery. Doc says she should be released not later than mid week; hopefully, we'll be out of here a little sooner. Very hard to digest where we were a week ago. The litany of restrictions are beginning to accumulate. The Dr. said no driving for at least 4 months....Kate said, "no problem there; I hate to drive." Guess who she looked at next? :) Small birthday party later. She already got the big gift (aka LIFE) plus the special customized addition ($50,000 defib). Good thing she didn't exploit the situation...We'd gotten her anything she'd wanted. Your thoughts and prayers remain with us. Joe, Melody, Erin, and Jay

"You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face . You are able to say to yourself, 'I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.' You must to the thing you think you cannot do." - Eleanor Roosevelt

Caiden + Cereal = YUM

Caiden is growing by the second! His Doctor told us that it was okay to start solid foods if we wanted, so Eric went out this morning to get some rice cereal for the little man!
I just mixed about a teaspoon with my milk to make it kinda soupy and he ate most of it. We all got to feed him a little, even his big brother Tyler!

For my mom...

Happy Birthday
Mom/Mimi

We LOVE you!!

Mom you are amazing in every way; mother, Mimi, wife, friend.. You are beautiful inside and out, kind loving, caring to everyone around you whether it's a stranger in the grocery store to your own family, you're sensitive to your feelings and even to sad commercials, selfless- always thinking about others first, you have a funny laugh.. you know, that one we all(you me and Kate) do when we laugh so hard nothing comes out and our mouth is WIDE open! I'm so lucky to have you not only as a mother, but as a best friend too! I love you! XOXO

4 Months old already!!

Caiden had his 4 month check up on Wednesday and everything went great except for his (very first) minor ear infection in his right ear! I felt so bad because I never knew... the Doc said since it might be from the cold he's getting over and that since it's just a minor one he can still get all his schedule immunizations and he'll just prescribe some antibiotics for the ear ache. Caiden's development is right on track. He can hold his head up, reach for things, smile, laugh, very close to rolling over, and he's even got his own little personality... I LOVE it! And recently I've noticed he likes to mimic you when you sick out your tongue! Adorable!

Weight: 16.2 and 3/4 ozs. (75th percentile)

Height: 25 3/4 in. (70th percentile)

Head Circumference: 44cm (90th percentile)

PS- The doc said we can also start introducing rice cereal! We're gonna try it on Saturday!

click to see his developement since his birth and 2 month check up

Christmas time has come and gone..

Caiden's 1st Christmas!!

This Christmas was extra special this year for many many reasons. Tyler is getting really into Santa and it's so cute listening to him talk about him and we even "tracked" Santa online on Christmas Eve. It was Caiden's very 1st Christmas and even though he's too little to remember and know what's going on, it was still fun dressing him up in his little Santa hat! AND we got to share it with our new dog Buck! We stayed in Charlotte this year for Christmas day and eventhough it was nice to be together as a family, I sure missed the big gatherings with ALL the family in one house. Luckily we got to have that not long after Christmas!

"why does mom put me in these silly hats?"

Tyler opening his stocking (he asked if we were bad this year because Santa didn't put anything in our stocking, just his... LOL)

Buck's enjoying his hickory smoked bone Santa brought!

The Friday after Christmas we surprised my family in Columbia a couple hours earlier then we had said originally because I was able to get off work which was really great! We went to my Nana's house in Gilbert, SC along with my Aunt Robin, Uncle Jimmy, Jimmy and Zach, my whole family, my Papaw, Aunt Cherri, Uncle Robbie, Caleb, Joshua, Skylar, Aunt Becky, my cousins from Charleston and many more! Nana made a DELICIOUS dinner with a roast, pork, ham, corn, green beans, asparagus cassarole, rolls, mac and cheese, red velvet cake, etc...YUM!!!

Me, my Great-Grandma, Kate, Nana, Aunt Becky

Tyler with his cousins- Skylar, Caleb, Joshua and his Uncle Jay!

My cousins Zach and Jimmy

We brought Buck with us and he had a blast playing with my parents dog Sparky. They chased each other around the big yard and played fetch in the lake out back