Porter House: Our First Family Vacation!! Port Aransas

"Unbelievable" is the only word I can think of to describe our very first family vacation and that is not necessarily a good "unbelievable". Things did not go exactly as planned but we made the best of our time together and it can only get better next time. Below is a day-to-day recap of everything that happened.

Friday, June 22nd
I was super excited to get off work and officially begin our week long vacation so I picked up Preston from school and headed home to begin the packing process even though we weren't scheduled to leave until early Tuesday morning. Preston has had a running nose all week and while I was getting things ready, I noticed his nose was getting a little worse and he had developed a pretty strong cough. When Brent got home, I suggested we take him to the doctor just to make sure he was ok to fly on the airplane. He agreed.

Saturday, June 23rd
I called Dr. Mix's office Saturday morning and learned that her office was closed and another office was the one on-call. So I made an appointment and took Preston to see this other doctor. I had to wait an hour and a half before seeing the doctor which didn't make me too happy but I guess that is what happens with Saturday appointments. She looked in Preston's ears and listened to his chest and both were clear, thank goodness!! She took his temperature and it read 98.8 so he seemed to check out ok other than definitely has a virus of some kind based on his very running/stuffed up nose and barky cough. At that point in time, we didn't know if he had the cold virus, RSV or another virus she mentioned that I don't remember. But the ultimate result was there wasn't too much we could do for him other than keep an eye on him, keep him elevated and if his fever spiked or if he started to tug on his ears then we should bring him back in to see the doctor.
The rest of the day, Preston seemed pretty normal other than his nose constantly running and his cough sounding bad. So we decided to continue with our packing and getting everything ready for our trip.

Sunday, June 24th
My mom came over on Sunday to spend the night and watch Preston on Monday so I could do the last of my errands before leaving for our trip and so I could get a good nights rest since Preston hadn't really been sleeping too well from his runny nose.

Monday, June 25th
I woke up all nice and refresh Monday morning from my long night of sleep just to have my day somewhat ruined to find out from my mom that Preston had a rough night. He had her up since 1am coughing, crying and having a hard time breathing from his nose. I learned from my mom that Brent had already called Preston's doctor and made an appointment for 11am that morning. It was 9:30am so I got myself ready and Brent and I took Preston to the doctor.
Preston didn't seem that bad but we wanted to just double check that his drainage hadn't moved into his ears and lungs since Saturday's appointment since we were planning to fly to Port Aransas. I didn't want the pressure of the airplane to hurt Preston's ears.
Brent and I made it to Dr. Mix's office and we both were not prepared for what was about to happen to our little man.
The nurse took Preston's weight and then checked his temperature. Poor guy was running a 100.4 fever. Then Dr. Mix came in and Brent and I filled her in on Preston's symptoms. She had to clean deep in Preston's ear so she could see down into his ear. He didn't like that at all and tears ran down his face for the very first time. Until then, when Preston cried, tears didn't develop but they sure did then. It broke my heart to have to wipe his tears away. Unfortunately, that was not going to be the last time I had to wipe his tears away during this doctors visit. She then listened to his chest and luckily both his ears and chest were clear!!
She then took a look at his throat and said that she found his fever source. He had white spots on the back of his throat and she said that was causing his fever and his harsh barky cough. She had to hold Preston down to swab his throat to test it for strep. That of course made him cry big time.
The results came back negative which was a great sign but she wanted to run a few more test to make sure he didn't have a secondary infection that might have been overlooked.
This is where, Brent and I were not prepared for what was about to come. The nurse came in and first pricked his finger and had to squeeze it several times to fill up a little tube of blood. I was holding Preston and had to look into his sad eyes the whole time. They then layed him on the table and held him down to put in a catheter in and take a urine sample to check for a bladder infection. I was beginning to lose it by this point. The nurse said they only had one more test to run and that required them to draw his blood. That made me sick to my stomach. Preston was in a full force cry and it took me a while to calm him back down. Right when I did, the nurse came back in to draw his blood. I ended up stepping out of the room because I just couldn't take hearing him cry at the top of his lungs anymore. It was breaking my heart. Thank goodness Brent was with me because he stayed in the room with Preston. I wouldn't have left had Brent not of been there but since he was, I took the break.
I came back into the room immediately after they were done and held Preston as tight as I could and sang his favorite soothing song.
Just when I thought it was all over, Dr. Mix came in and said based on how bad his throat looked, she wanted to give him 2 antibiotic shots, 1 in each leg and infant Tylenol . I couldn't believe we were about to put Preston through more pain but at least I knew this one was only going to help him. The needles were good sized and Preston screamed the minute the needles went in. He also didn't like having the Tylenol squirted down his throat.
My the end of the appointment, Preston was covered in bandaids but smiling at his mommy and daddy.
We informed Dr. Mix that we had a trip planned and were scheduled to leave that next morning. She advised us not to go and said she wanted to see Preston tomorrow morning to recheck him and make sure he wasn't getting worse.
Highly disappointed, we called Brent's dad and told him we weren't going to be able to make the trip. He was totally bummed but understood.
Later that day, Preston seemed to be doing ok despite his bad cough and running nose. I asked Brent if he thought we could still make out trip after Preston's appointment the next day and after talking about it, we both decided to play it all by ear.

Poor guys is covered in bandaids but still smiling

He had a blast playing in the white table paper

He tore that paper all up but at that point he could do whatever made him the happiest

My little trooper

Video: Doctors Appointment

Tuesday, June 26th - The day we were suppose to leave for our trip
Preston's appointment was at 9am and when we got there they took his temperature and he was running a 99.9 fever. Not as bad as the day before but he was still running a fever. Dr. Mix looked in his ears and listened to his chest and luckily both were still clear. His throat didn't look worse but it didn't look any better. Dr. Mix said she wanted to give Preston another round of antibiotic shots and another dose of infant Tylenol. It broke my heart to watch him go through that pain again but at least I knew these were things that would only help him. Poor guy cried so much and it took me a while to calm him down. After waiting 15 minutes to see if he had a reaction to the shots, we were good to go. Dr. Mix said his test results were suppose to be in by the next day but advised we take it easy and call if Preston's eating decreased, if his fever spiked or if he was inconsolable for up to an hour.
We took Preston home and decided to try to make our trip anyway since Preston really seemed ok for the most part despite his running nose and cough and the Tylenol was helping with his fever.
Brent re booked our flight for the next morning and we spent the rest of the day packing.
Later that afternoon, I noticed the house seemed really hot. I checked the air and it was reading 84 degrees. When Brent got back from running errands, he noticed it too and said our AC was out. I couldn't believe our luck. Brent called the AC guy and he came out pretty quickly but said our outside unit was frozen and he couldn't do anything to it until the next day.
So, we quickly packed up our things and went to spend the night at his dad's house. By the time we got there, I gave Preston his bath and got ready for bed. I had to sleep in bed with Preston because his pack-in-play was already in Port Aransas because John and Kathy took it with them so we didn't have to check it on the plane. He coughed all night and woke up so many times. I ended up getting no sleep what so ever.

Back at the doctors office

Ready for vacation but shush, don't tell Dr. Mix

Wednesday, June 27th
By the time my alarm went off, it was 5:30am and I had no sleep. Preston was up too so I gave him to my mom who spent the night with us and she watched him while I got ready.
We made it to the airport and luckily Preston was an angel the whole time we waited at the gate and then he slept the whole hour plane ride to Port Aransas.
By 11am, we landed in Port Aransas and John was there to pick us up and take us to the beach house.
I was disappointment that we missed a day of our vacation but was glad we finally made it and didn't have to miss the whole trip.
We unloaded our bags and met everyone at the condo pool. Preston floated in his float for a while then everyone loaded up and headed to the beach.
I was super excited to take Preston to the beach for the very first time!!! He seemed to like the ocean on his feet and didn't seem to mind the sand between his toes. I got a lot of pictures of Preston's first experience in the ocean and got a few family photos on the beach!!
That even for dinner, John digged a hole in the sand and created a make sift grill to cook up some hot dogs and brocs. My stomach was feeling a little off so the hot dogs and brocs didn't sound too good but I was hungry and it filled me up. Brent had a good time feeding the seagulls and flying Bridget's 2-handed kite. He also showed Mason how to throw a frisbee. It was soo cute.

Waiting patiently to get on the plane

We finally made it. Off to the pool!!

Playing with his cousins Mason and Ellie

He loving Daddy pouring water over his hands

First family vacation picture!!

First time experiencing the beach

I think he likes it

Proud Daddy

Fun in the Sun

My sweet baby

Preston and Daddy playing in the water

Preston met some of his cousins for the first time. Ellie, Amy & Bridget

Mommy lovin on Preston

Traditional feet in the sand picture

The 3 kiddos

Nana holding Preston up in the chair. You do want you got to do to get the shot!!

Mason loved making Preston smile by clapping his hands

Mason learning how to throw a frisbie from Brent

Mason is already a pro

Grandpa and Nana loving some Preston time

Having so much fun despite being sick

Sand dollars straight from the ocean floor

Having fun with Nana

Our beach front home

2 peas in a pod

Talking mommy talk

Cute Mason playing in the sand

The boys setting up for dinner

Working hard to get that grill going

Heaven for mommy...the beach and my baby sleeping in my arms

Grandpa and Mason keeping an eye on dinner

Brent flying a 2 handed kite for the first time

Doing good

Feeding the birds. I was too scared to feed them

Sunset pictures

Love this picture

No denying Preston is a Porter

Exhausted to say the least

Thursday, June 28th
We woke up Thursday morning not necessary refreshed because Preston had coughing spells all night but we managed to get a few good hours of sleep. Later that morning after breakfast, we went to the pool for a little more swim time then we headed back for lunch. I layed down because I wasn't feeling too good and then all of a sudden I had a terrible headache, chills, ache pains and my throat felt a little swollen. I had been feeling a little off the past couple of days but was hoping it wouldn't turn into anything but it certainly did. Luckily, John had a Z-pak with him and he offered that to me along with a few ibuprofen pills. I layed in bed for about 5 hours sleeping on and off while Brent watched Preston for me.
For dinner that night, it was the annual shrimp fry and I was so disappointed because nothing sounded good for dinner and I had been looking forward to this famous dinner every since Kathy told us about their dinner tradition. Brent made me a plate but I could only manage to get a couple of shrimp down before my tummy started to turn. The couple shrimp I did have were delicious though.
The ibuprofen started to kick in and I made my way out of bed and sat on the porch with Kathy and a few of her family members. The fresh air felt good and then Brent asked me if I wanted to go for a beach ride with him on the 4 wheeler John had rented.
I accepted and it felt good to get out of the house.

Back to the pool

The pool at the condo

Play hard, sleep hard

Happy boy

Friday, June 29th
Preston woke up pretty early Friday morning, 5:25am to be exact so to not awake everyone up, I took him for a walk and we walked to the beach and sat on the beach for about 45 minutes. He ended up having a coughing spell and got chocked and scared me to death. I had to stick my finger down his throat to make him gag and throw up. I still wasn't feeling good, so we headed back and I told Brent he needed to wake up and take care of Preston for me so I could go back to sleep. Everyone headed to the beach and I hung out at the house until the ibuprofen kicked in. I then met them at the beach for a little while then we all headed back to the house.
We ate dinner then Brent and I took Preston back to the beach at sunset to take his 5 month pictures on the beach. A storm was rolling in so it was pretty windy but we got a few good shots and ended up drawing a crowd of on interested onlookers watching Preston. It was kind of funny.

5 Months Old

Touching the sand with his hands for the first time

Pic of the beach

One of my favorite pictures

Saturday, June 30th
A stormed moved in over night and it was raining when we got up on Saturday morning. It didn't bother me because I had been wanting to do a little souvenir shopping and the rain was the perfect excuse to get out and go shopping. I was beginning to feel better and Brent was a sweetheart. He let me buy whatever I wanted...within reason. I got Preston a blue shark made from a coconut, a Christmas ornament, a sand container to hold the sand we collected from the beach and a lighthouse book that played "Light Your Light Shine". We stopped by the candy store and had a good time sampling the candy and filling a goodie bag full of our favorite candies. The rain cleared out, so we went to the beach for the last time. I didn't realize how much it had rained because the beach looked a little flooded but that didn't stop us or the many other people out on beach.
To finalize our trip, John started a bonfire and we sat by the fire and roasted hot dogs and talked the rest of the evening. I really enjoyed the bonfire but we had to head back a little early to get Preston in bed.
The bonfire was Brent's idea and Kathy said she was going to make it a tradition from here on out because she really enjoyed it too.

I like storms but this one looks a litttle scary

Went candy shopping waiting for the rain to pass

Got some yummy Carmel

Batman is ready to go

View from the beach house

Batman hanging at the beach

Daddy body surfing

The beach was a little flooded from the rain

Looking for sea shells

Batman sleeping

Awesome sand turtle a couple with their little boy made

First bonfire

Roasting hot dogs. They were delicious

Sunday, June 31st
We packed up our things, I took lots of pictures of the beach house and then we headed to the airport. I was looking forward to being back home but was not looking forward to not being able to go back to our house. Our AC couldn't get fixed until that next Tuesday, so we had to stay with John and Kathy for 2 nights when we got home. My mom ended up keeping Preston for me so I could get a couple good nights rest. I got to reunite with him on Tuesday afternoon and I missed him soo soo much.

Preston was feeling better by the end of the trip