Road Trip, Baby! - The Sequel

Sorry, folks, but this is a long one!  I can't help it - it was one jam-packed weekend!


After months of patiently waiting for a good time to go, and one successful road trip under our belts, we took Makenna down to College Station to meet "the gang."  We had been dying to get down there to see everyone, so we were more than excited that the time had finally come.  Chad's mom, Maria (aka, Grammy), decided to hitch along with us, so she could visit with Chad's brother, Colin.  It was a great plan - we would take her car, which has more room in it than mine, and have some extra company for that three-hour drive. 


Packing the car was all kinds of fun - multiple bags for Makenna, her pack and play, her Bumbo, the doggie crate for Grammy's new dog, plus all of OUR bags for the weekend.  Cramped?  Just slightly, but we managed.  As we started to pull out of the driveway, I remembered we had forgotten Makenna's cooler of bottles inside.  Maria put the car in park, I hit the garage door opener, Chad ran in and grabbed it, ran back out.  We started to pull out again...and Chad was missing his phone charger.  Repeat.  FINALLY, we were on our way.


Makenna did great at the start of the trip.  She was happy and comfy in her carseat, and we had lots of peek-a-boo time before she fell asleep briefly.  

We stopped in Bellmead for dinner, a diaper change and a potty break, and then it was back in the car.  After another 30 minutes, Makenna started to get hungry again.  And she CRIED very pitifully (and LOUDLY) to let us know.  Trying to be the resourceful mom, I pulled out her bottles to give them to her in the carseat, since we were in the middle of nowhere and didn't have a place to stop.  Yeah.  GREAT idea, Mom.  It calmed her down briefly, but then the real trouble started.  She had to BURP.  Middle of nowhere, no place to stop.  I had no way to do it!  She SCREAMED and bawled her little eyes out for at least a good 20 minutes.  And yes, Mommy bawled her eyes out with her.  It was terrible not to be able to help her!  Finally, we reached Calvert, TX and were able to pull over.  After a big burp, she was feeling much better and ready to keep going.  


As we continued, Makenna started rubbing her right eye, and there was greenish-yellow gunk coming out of it.  My immediate thought was, "If she has PINKEYE, I'm going to FLIP."  We got into CS pretty late, dropped Grammy off and briefly said hi to Uncle Colin and Amy, then headed to the house of the Wallace Clan, where we were staying.  Even though it was over an hour past her bedtime, Makenna managed to stay up and entertain Damon and Krissy for a little while before we got the pack and play set up and got her to sleep.


Saturday morning, Makenna woke up in her usually happy, quiet mood.  But one look at her confirmed my fears - her right eye was matted, pink and swollen, and she was stuffy as could be.  We had been fighting a stuffy/runny nose all week, but this was worse.  We cleaned her up, and while Chad fed her, I called her pedi.  An eye infection and possibly a sinus infection.  Since we were out of town, the nurse suggested taking her to an urgent care facility or the ER (ER?!?!?) to get checked out.  NOT how we wanted to start our day, but we threw on some clothes and headed to Brazos Valley Urgent Care, where we were the second people in the door.  Diagnosis - pinkeye and a "sinus" (nasal) infection.  (Did you know babies don't actually have sinuses yet?  I didn't!)  The PA let us know that the pinkeye was probably just the infection from her nose that had moved up.  I was so sad for our poor little baby, but of course, she was in a delightful mood, and you would never have known she was sick.  So we headed to Target for her Amoxicillin, and it was back to the Wallaces' to rest up before lunch.


Makenna napped for part of our Wings 'N' More lunch (YUM).  Luckily, she woke up in time to visit with Mikey, Pam, Mike, Leslie, Damon and Krissy for a little while!  After that, it was up to The Theatre Company to try to catch some folks there.  Bad luck - most of the people we had gone to see weren't there!  We visited for a little while, then had time to kill before dinner.  So what did we do?  We had dessert!  A DELICIOUS, AMAZINGLY WONDERFUL Strawberry Tart at LaBodega.  Man, I miss those.  Makenna hung out and watched us eat, and even chewed on Daddy's finger for a little while.   SO CUTE.

We hit TTC one more time for a few minutes, then off to dinner at Chicken Oil Company (YUM #2).  Makenna entertained the Pettys, Grammy and Uncle Colin as we chowed down on fries, burgers and Texas toothpicks.  We hit Spoons for dessert #2, then went to the Wallaces' to settle in for the night.  After a quick bath in the "big kid" tub, Makenna was in her PJs and ready to settle in - we thought.  Her poor little nose was SO stuffy that it made it very hard for her to fall asleep.  She fussed and cried, which made us all VERY sad.  I was gearing up for a long night sitting up with her in the living room chair, but lucky for us, the Wallaces had a humidifier that we could set up.  A few minutes after that was ready, she was out like a light!  She didn't move a muscle ALL NIGHT!


Sunday morning, it was breakfast with Damon and Krissy, then chicken fingers at Layne's with Adrienne, Grammy, Uncle Colin, Amy and Michelle.  Makenna was still sniffly, but still sweet as could be.  We went back for one last visit to Spoons (and a visit with Miss Mandy!), then hit the Wallace house one last time to visit with their boys, Braden and Liam.  I think Makenna liked Braden just a bit.  :-)

By then, it was WAY past time for us to head back home.  We were sad to leave all of our friends, but glad to be getting back to our own beds.  We had some fussies on the way home, but nothing like Friday night had been.  She was just worn out, so she slept pretty well!

Overall, it was a great trip, even with the urgent care visit.  It only served to remind us how blessed we are to have such a wonderfully sweet and good-natured baby, who can smile and love on everyone even when she isn't feeling well.  


So, how about road trip number 3, you ask?  I think we'll just stay home for a while...