Ingram the Conqueror: Monday to Sunday July 8th to 14th, Doing A Little Better

Monday morning we were lucky to have G-Daddy with us at home for one last run to the donut shop before he had to head back to Texas! Ingram and Lindsey navigated the way to the donuts and Lindsey even talked him into getting her a Chocolate Glazed Sprinkle Covered donut so that she could lick the icing off; normally I'd be a little upset, but she did already have her breakfast so we'll just call that a snack. We also talked him into staying for lunch too and made an unexpected trip to Chick Fil A by Daddy's office for lunch so that we could see Daddy too! Ingram got to hang out with Lindsey and her friends in the pool after soccer practice and he literally thought he was going to sleep with them too; he was determined to have a sleepover with them, but all we had to do was mention our room and he was happy as could be sleeping on a pallet on the floor. If Madison hadn't been at Kanakuk, Ingram would have been excited to sleep with her, but she's getting to have her own sleepover for two weeks with 13 girls instead!

We spent the next few days between having fun and getting stuff done! We went to the movies to see Space Chimps, went swimming several times a day, ran a few nights, and rode scooters a bunch, but also managed to take care of the car which took all day long and included two different places to get it all done! We got a shuttle ride to the mall across from the car place and had fun spending the last of our Build-A-Bear bucks and playing with the trains and reading books at Barnes and Noble. And just in case you were wondering, I didn't hit anything with the car this time, it just needed some work before a long road trip to pick up Madison from Kanakuk on Friday!!!

We made it to Branson just in time to get in before they let the campers out; this was a big deal because last year we were 5 minutes late and were reminded of it over and over again! Even Lindsey was excited to see Madison and she was even talking about going back to Kanakuk next year since she went last year. The greatest moment though was when Madison spotted us and came weaving in and around people to get to us for our great big "I missed you so much" hugs! I was a little jealous this year because Daddy got the first hug, but I think I got the longest hug so that could make us even! Madison went to both Lindsey and Ingram and gave them special hugs and they all talked before she ran off to meet with her group again. It was such a fun time hanging out at Kanakuk for the weekend and Ingram definitely loved being carried around by Madison! All three of the kids fell asleep on drive back to Memphis Saturday, but Madison was definitely the most exhausted from her fun two weeks away!

One of the funniest events happened while the pool was "unofficially open" since Madison's counselor was the Lifeguard. Madison's whole cabin was in the pool and so the rest of our crew (Daddy, Lindsey, and of course Ingram) wanted to get in as well. They were going off the diving boards, the slide, and the trapeze bar and it just looked like so much fun that I didn't want to miss out. I got up to the trapeze bar with the encouragement of my crew, the Rowlands, Madison's cabin, and her counselors and what happened next could definitley win the America's Funniest Video award if that show was still around! Make sure you check out the Vimeo link at the bottom so that my sore neck for four days didn't go to waste!!

Sunday morning I was given a gift that my guys had been working on for about a month! Ingram had an idea for a project to do with Daddy and he told Daddy he wanted to make something to hold my phone and the iPad for the kitchen. So a couple days later after Daddy drew up the plans, the construction began at night and on the weekends with Ingram helping Daddy every step of the way...even with cutting the wood!!! They were very sneaky and hid everything from me; at some points I was told to go to my room so that I couldn't see what they were doing even. It turned out to be a beautiful work of "heart" and it's capped with Ingram's hand prints on each side. I've been told it was a one of a kind design and a one of a kind gift, so those of you wanting one...Sorry, it's all mine!!

Ingram has continued to have frequent trips to the restroom or to a trash can feeling like he was going to throw up, but his episodes of vomiting have been fewer. We've also adjusted his diet and removed some of the things that we've noticed he's eaten/drank when he does end of getting sick. We haven't made a special trip into St. Jude or even talked to our doctors because those changes have seemed to work more so than not. With only 10 days left until Ingram's MRI, we're using our time to hang out together and stay busy to enough to take our minds off of our thoughts. Please continue to pray for all families dealing with cancer of any kind because it's a long journey for each of them.