A new update!

I know, for those of you who are still hanging on, waiting on me to post again.........finally! It's not that we don't want you all to know what is going on in our lives, but we just forget to tell you all the wonderful things God continues to do.

I have to say, that we fall short, everyday, of what God wants from us. One thing leads to another and I find myself wondering where God went. I ask that question alot lately and I know the answer. He continues to be right beside me, waiting on me to ask Him for guidance. This is a lesson I have a hard time learning. Again, I fall short. I was listening to a CD in my car today, can't tell you the name of the artist right now, but the song I kept playing was "Mercy Said No". Really got me thinking that God has done tremendous things in my life and I continue to hide that fact. I am truly blessed, have absolutely NOTHING to complain about, but again, I find myself wondering about senseless things. How are we going to make it to the end of the month? (God has that worked out!) Are we EVER going to sell this house? (Again, God knows that too and is just waiting on me to trust Him!)

I guess, all this rambling is just a way for me to get these thoughts out of my head. Thanks for listening. Now, here is the update:

Christmas was wonderful. Jennifer is teaching two courses online for our local community college. I am taking two courses from UNCC for my master's. (this is required for me to keep my job!) For those of you who know me, you know that being a student is NOT my forte! (Again, I just need to trust God that He is going to get me through this.) Anna Claire continues to have a great year in third grade. She is growing up so fast. And then, there is Isaac! WOW. Where do I begin? His latest obsession is Star Wars, Clone Wars. It consumes his every being. He talks about it from the time he gets up, until he goes to bed. He is currently playing basketball with Upwards. He loves it! We have games every Saturday morning around 9 AM!!!! (who made this schedule???????) He also continues to amaze me with how he just fits into our family. I stand in awe of how God perfectly put our family together. Do I think that He is done with our family? Not by a long shot. I still have this tugging in my heart that He is still working on us. We'll see. I do, however, think that He is waiting on me to completely rely on Him and trust in Him before He takes us any further.

Lot's of Energy

Most of you who read this know that I am about 10% work and 90% just plain lazy!  Boy, am I getting a work out with this ball of energy I call my son.  He keeps me going.  As we walked through Walmart tonight, I had to keep reminding him that everything was NOT a monkey bar or jungle gym.  He has more energy than I think I ever had.  But when it is time to stop, he completely shuts down and stops!  He is a hard sleeper and trying to get him up in the morning is almost impossible.  He and Anna Claire are getting along these days remarkably well, which makes me think it is the calm before the storm.  It definitely comes in waves.  We are headed to the beach this weekend with our friends the Lee's and the Thompson's.  We are finally going back to the camper.  I still remember the first time we took Isaac to it.  He was very overwhelmed.  He was totally in his element.  Most of you also know that my version of camping is sitting on the floor at the Hilton!  Not so with him.  He loves the entire experience.  We have a small gas powered fire that he loves to roast weenies and marshmellows over.  But alas!  He is a little like me.  He HATES the sand.  That's my boy!  If there is ever a way to levitate, then and only then will I like going on the beach.  Don't get me wrong, us Ingram men love the beach, it is the whole sand thing that makes us not want to go ON the beach.  

I have to tell you about today's topic of conversation with Isaac.  Today started with Jennifer out of town, so I got up and got ready.  Then got AC and Isaac ready.  Well, AC took care of herself as she mostly does these days.  She is great.  More about her in a minute.  I decided to take the kids to McDonald's for breakfast.  As we are sitting at the table eating, Isaac looks at me and says, "Soldier go to war and get killed?"  Where in the world did this come from????  So, in my honest way, I said, "Well, some soldiers go to war and get killed, but not all of them do."  (So much for intelligent answers!)  So I ask him where that came from and he says he had a dream and a soldier got killed.  This conversation popped up several times from the time I picked the kids up until we were snuggling in bed.  He said he did not want to be a soldier and go to war.  I told him that he could be anything he wanted to be and anything he didn't want to be, he didn't have to.  (my luck, the draft will come back around and make me into a liar!)  This just made me think that I don't ever want to know what life without him is like.  Either of my kids.  I don't want to ever think about what I would do without them.  I know that God is in control, but as a parent, this crosses my mind and I get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.  I know folks who have had to go through this tragedy and I think that they have to be the strongest, most incredible people in the world.  OK, enough of this depressing talk.

Anna Claire!  Where do I begin?  She is becoming the smartest, most beautiful girl.  She loves school and I hope that never changes.  She also roots for the underdog.  Which I love about her.  If she thinks that anyone is getting left out, she is all over it!  We joke at home and call her Julie the cruise director!  (for those of you much younger than us, that is a reference from a show called "The Love Boat".  Google it!)  She also loves a good musical.  She makes me play the music from Hairspray on my iPod when we are in the van.  This I also love about her.  Sometimes I feel like I have the perfect family.  No, I don't mean that WE are perfect, just that Isaac is such a boy and Anna Claire is all girl.  I feel very blessed.  I will post pictures from Christmas in a different post.  Enjoy.  God bless.

Finally, an update!

Well, it has been a while since we updated.  Lots have happened and we are constantly on the run.  I guess you all want to know how Isaac is doing.  Well, he has decided that he wants to be President when he grows up!  He has decided that Jennifer will be the cook and cook his meals.  Anna Claire is going to fly his airplane.  At first he thought that we would have to change his name to Barrack Obama when he becomes President.  We finally convinced him that he could keep his name and be President too.  School is good for him.  He is constantly amazing us with what he is learning.  His Kindergarten teacher lives across the street from us.  Since the last update, we have moved to a new house.  We had to sell our other house due to the amount of money we financed for the adoption.  We came to the point where we don't care where we live, as long as we have our family together.  I could exist in a cardboard box as long as I have my wife and children with me.  I changed jobs at the beginning of the school year.  I am now a 21st Century Skills Facilitator with the school system and I cover two different schools.  Anna Claire and Isaac both take acrobatics on Thursdays and they love it.  I can't wait to see them both in the recital.  Other than the changes, we are life as usual.  

I have to tell you all about the conversation Isaac and I had at bedtime tonight.  He wanted me to tell him a story from the bible, so I told him about Adam and Eve.  He also wanted me to tell him another story.  So.....I decided to tell him about our trip to get him and bring him home.  I really thought he was asleep because he wasn't saying anything.  Then, all of a sudden, he started chiming in with things he remembered from our trip.  His eyes got really big when we were talking about the day we met him.  I told him that his birth mother was there.  He said, "I never know her."  I told him that we had pictures if he wanted to see them.  He didn't say anything.  He loves to talk about the day we met him.  A couple of weeks ago, I told him about putting him on my shoulders.  I told him that I was so hot and sweaty, that they lady at the orphanage thought he had peed on me.  He laughed and laughed!  He reminded me of that tonight.  He made me go through the entire story until we got to the part where we got back home and he met his grandparents, aunt and sister.  

I just can't describe the joy I felt telling him that story tonight.  Life with Isaac in the house is the greatest thing.  I can honestly say that about both my kids.  They are the best gift.  I promise I will do better at updating.  It may not be as interesting as when we were in Vietnam, but I think our lives are pretty riveting!  Love to all.

Very Sad

Jennifer and I heard it at the same time.  We were listening to the radio (she in her van and me in my car) and I called her to make sure she had heard it.  The news hit like a ton of bricks.  Steven Curtis Chapman's youngest daughter, Maria, had been tragically killed.  Many of you know our adoption story and the inspiration behind it.  If you don't, please let me tell you.  Jennifer and I had given up on adoption and decided that God meant for our family to be a family of 3.  That was about the time she gave me Chapman's newest Christmas album for our anniversary 1 and 1/2 years ago.  In it was a slip of paper about adoption and Holt International.  It was only a week later that we found Isaac.  If you haven't heard this album, find it and listen to the song about adoption.  (number 3 I think???)  That was all the inspiration God needed to give me.  At that point, I didn't know what we were in for, how we would accomplish such a task and how in the world we would ever pay for it.  God saw and is seeing us through every part of this wonderful plan He has for us.  Isaac is here now and living at home!  He is the one of the best gifts we could have ever received.  God has blessed us tremendously and I would live in a cardboard box just to have my family.  Know that we are saddened by this tragic event and are praying for this family.  They were a major inspiration for us.  Take time to spend with your family and "Dance with your Cinderella" today!  (another SCC song.)

Happy Birthday, Isaac !

We celebrated Isaac's first birthday in the U.S. on a cold Dec. 21. (His birthday is actually on Christmas Eve.) We wanted to help him understand the difference in his birthday and Jesus' - he has a big enough head as it is. We had a small party for him at Marty's parents house. We invited our friends - David, Wendy, Cole, and Katie Lee, and Raygan.

Marty's dad hooked a trailer to his tractor and covered it with sleeping bags and blankets. He also built a bonfire. Papaw drove us around for a while - just until the frostbite began to set in. We sang lots of songs and did a lot of laughing. After we returned to their house, we roasted hot dogs over the fire. Then, we promptly went inside to eat them along with all the fixin's. (For our friends who "aint' from around here", that means chili, slaw, and onions - along with barbeque beans and potato salad.) We had a birthday cake that was made from cupcakes and made to look like a tractor in a field. Isaac loves tractors! We braved the cold again and went back out to roast marhsmallows and make s'mores. You know, you can't let a good bonfire go to waste.

Next, we opened presents. He loved his Hummer set from Papaw and Nana, the Hungry Hippos game from the Lee family, the tractor from the Thompsons, and the basketball and goal from us. But, the gift that got away with him the most was the bag of Sweet Sixteen powdered sugar doughnuts from the Griffins. See the picture above where he is hugging them. When he pulled them out of the gift bag, he screamed and kept jumping off the floor with both feet. He was also yelling something in Vietnamese. It was priceless. I have to brag in him and say that he did share them with the three of us for breakfast the next two mornings.

He loves for us to sing "Happy Birthday" to him. He sings along and then pretends to blow out candles. We have sung it for days.

We have now celebrated his birthday again with Grandma, Pop, and Aunt Rachel. He received a Playmobil fire truck set. He and Anna Claire played with it until bedtime and couldn't wait ot get up and play with it some more. He also received a stuffed dog from Germany, a truck, and some dinosaurs from Aunt Rachel.

In a few days, I'll do a post on Christmas. We are getting together with Marty's side of our family on New Year's Eve to celebrate. We hope you all had a wonderful holiday and we're glad you checked back in on our blog. God bless.

FINALLY!!!

OK, we realize that we stink at this blogger thing. Also, like with two children is very different than life with one. So....for various reasons, we have failed miserably at keeping up our blog. Life at the Ingram house could not be better. Isaac has adjusted just fine and Anna Claire has done much better at having a little brother to bother her! We had our second of three social worker visits yesterday. That went well and Isaac showed off! He sang one of the songs he has learned in Pre-school choir (Ho, Ho, Ho, Hosannah, ha, ha, ha, le lujah) which he loves..... and he said two blessings for her (God is Great, and God our Father). Life in Pre-school is good. He has the best teacher, Mrs. White who finds no fault EVER in him, and the school as a whole is wonderful. We could not have been more blessed in this area. I know this is going to be short and sweet, but bedtime is here and work is tomorrow. We just can't thank people enough for all they continue to do for us. God has really blessed us and we know we don't deserve it, but we are thankful for it. Christmas is here and we are in the throws of decorating. Isaac is in amazement and loves to "touch" all the more breakable things. He has a tree in the dining room and he wanted his train around it, so we put it there. He loves the Polar Express movie and then we brought out the train to put under our big tree, he had a fit! He will go and just sit on the floor and look at it for the longest time. He seems to be so happy and laid back. Anna Claire is wonderful at being the big sister and they have really grown on each other. I think they could get together and over take us at any minute! In case we don't get to post again before, we hope that everyone has a wonderful Christmas and New Year. Take care. We will post again.