Ingram the Conqueror: Monday, Tuesday, And Wednesday July 22nd to 24th, Waiting, Waiting, and More Waiting

We were so exhausted when we got home from the lake but I think we finally caught up on all the laundry with every one's help. It rained all day Monday morning so we stayed at home and beau was so happy to have us at the house. He loved that Noah took care of him last week while we were gone, but he really liked busting through the bedroom doors to find the kids in their beds! Once the sun came out, we headed for haircuts for the girls; even though Ingram didn't get a haircut, he still got ice cream afterwards. Ingram also went swimming and played ping ping Monday night before we made him go to bed.

Tuesday was a full day with appointments at the dentist and the orthodontist for the girls; Ingram loves going and watching the girls get worked on and talks to everyone. He told everyone he could about wakeboarding, kneeboarding, tubing, and skiing last week at the lake and had me show the pictures to them all too. While we were at the dentist, Ingram had climbed up in the extra tall chair and was watching a show on my phone. Yep, it's coming...he leaned over and all of a sudden crashed to the floor and it was so loud!!! Everyone came running in the room and thankfully he was fine, just a little scared from the noise and fall itself. We also got to go to SJ as a family for a super fun photo shoot that had all of us jumping...literally jumping. At one point, we were trying to see who could jump the highest and two of the five of us landed on their rears!

Ingram had a super cool surprise waiting at our door when we got back and he was soooo excited! Danny Moeschle and the guys from Flintco Constructive Solutions (they're building the new tower at SJ that will house lots of stuff including the new Proton Radiation Beam) had sent a book "The Construction Zone" that was signed by author Richard Sobol to Ingram since we were not at SJ the day of the party. They also included the coolest bright yellow Flintco vest, a hardhat, and a pair of sunglasses that can help Ingram dress up as the guys he loves to watch from the cafeteria windows every time we eat at SJ! Needless to say, he worn it just about non stop since he opened the box.

Bright and early Wednesday morning after a not-so-good night's sleep, I had to wake Ingram up and get out the door by 6:30am! He was so funny on the way to SJ for his scans and said that he was going to take a nap on the way since he was "so tired!" After Ingram sailed through getting poked and weighing in (at a massive 40 pounds) we headed over to the MRI area and waited and waited and waited for our turn. All four of the MRI machines were running behind so Ingram was able to play Jenga and to play with cars in the waiting room. Once we were back in our Sedation Room, Ingram picked out a Hot Wheels movie to watch while everything gets ready. Daddy also enjoyed a little Hot Wheels movie before our sweet Child Life Specialist Amanda came in and asked Ingram if he'd paint a picture for the walls. Ingram had so much fun painting a dinosaur with a laser shooting fireballs and it will make its debut on the walls of St. Jude in the near future!

Soon though he was put to sleep and spent a couple hours in the MRI machine, had a spinal tap, and even had a little bit more of a nap before he woke up in the recovery room. While we were waiting (which seemed like it was forever), Craig and I sat around and attempted to plan Team Ingram stuff, but we of course were very sidetracked with Ingram being in the machine. Once we got to the call to come back to Recovery about 3 hours after we left him (it's normally around 2 and a half hours), he made up for the extra time delay by being extra funny! It was hilarious trying to figure out what he was saying and even more amusing when we let go of him on accident and he "leaned" over and bonked the side of the bed since his head was at an incline. Seriously, as stressful and exhausting as all of the waiting is, Ingram is just so sweet when he's coming out of anesthesia.

Once Ingram had eaten and woken up more, we left and headed towards the house and picked up the girls along the way. They had each stayed with a friend and had so much fun, but the first question from each of them was "Were they clear?" Sadly, we couldn't give them an answer yet but they were so glad to see Ingram that I think it okay for the time being, especially knowing that they were going back with us Thursday for our appointment with Dr. Gajjar and to hang out with Ingram all day. So until then...we wait and wait and wait some more.