Accident prone

We have loved our Aflac insurance policy (no, this is not an endorsement) because we've made money. We've covered our premiums every month with extra cash left over because of our filed claims on our accident policy.  It saved us when we received a check to cover our co-pays for Ethan and Sydney's 2 month NICU stay last year.  We are, however, realizing that maybe we are just accident-prone.

Two weeks ago, Doug proposed that we go on a Saturday morning hike.  We borrowed our neighbors really nice packs and Ethan and Sydney had a great time in them (at least at first).  We headed up a trail in Alpine after picking up Dallin, Doug's nephew, to join us.  Dallin had recently backpacked with his family and they had chosen a trail that was new to us.  Doug was, of course, thrilled at the idea of a new hike so we headed up. 

It was a little tricky for me to handle my weight shifts with a 21 lb child in a 10+ lb pack on my back. Several times I had asked Doug for his help. We ate lunch and Doug and Dallin continued up the trail to see a waterfall that was close while I started down because I was a little slower than the 2 mountain goats with me.  I didn't have a watch, but started to wonder what was taking them so long. Ethan fell asleep in the pack and I was pretty frustrated that they were going to miss their nap in their beds--we seem to pay for that later.  After reaching a fork in the trail, I stopped and Doug and Dallin came through the bushes within 10 minutes.  Doug was limping and they had quite the story with an injured ankle and spotting a large rattlesnake on the trail just 2 minutes after the injury.  I guess nearly 2 hours had passed since we parted ways and I was nearly to the car.  We hobbled along and went that afternoon for an x-ray to find out that it wasn't broken, just badly sprained. 

We took Ethan along to the doctor that day because the night before, he had fallen after tripping over his walker and somehow hit face first.  He got a bloody nose and his mouth was bleeding like crazy.  I held him over the sink while blood literally dripped from his face.  I was suprised how calm I was and ended up taking charge of the situation--my first bloody experience as a mom and I survived!!  The doctor told us that one of his 2 front teeth may die and that the little peice of skin joining his upper lip to his upper gums will probably never heal as it was severed.  Can I tell you how excited I am for family photos with a grey tooth until he's six?  Or maybe seven??  Ugh.