After Shot
So it looks like he only got 3 stitches - what do I know? I was sitting with my head between my legs when they finished up and then she put a band-aid on it so I had no idea there were 3. Here's a goofy picture of my frankenstein. Too bad Halloween isn't THIS week - it would be perfect don't you think?

I also wonder how the scarring will turn out. I just have to keep reminding myself that he's a kid and will heal better. He has some balding genes in him somewhere so hopefully it doesn't scar too terribly or it may be much more noticable later on in life.

 

Woo Hoo, Adventures in the Insta-Care #2

Well, Derek and I have been telling each other the past two months that something was BOUND to happen to Ryan that would send him to the emergency room since he is quite the dare-devil AND we have a temporary period without health insurance before his work health plan kicks in. I was actually beginning to feel pretty good because we'll be in on the health insurance on the 18th of the month. So, today, 6 days before we get health insurance again...

I was taking pictures of my living room for my blog, and Ryan was playing in the dinning room. He tripped and fell and slammed his forehead on a tile step we have in our entryway. I looked over when I heard him crying and he was dragging his forehead on the carpet and leaving a trail of blood. I picked him up and the blood was really coming out fast so I got a towel and applied pressure and tried to think of who in the heck to call to help me out. I had no idea where a walk-in clinic was and I needed help with Katie. I called my real-estate lady and she told me where I could go and told me that she'd meet me there to help with Katie.

I had to put the seats back up in my car (Derek and Jacob had gone to pick up a bedframe and the seats were still down) and install their carseats, and we were off. I said to Ryan, "Hey, we're going to the doctor and you're going to need stitches for your head, like when Dad got his staples. You can tell Dad all about it when he gets home." Ryan says, "Yeah, that will be really fun!" Hmm... not exactly.

He felt pretty good and when the receptionist asked what happened he energetically told her and showed her how he fell right on the ground. I knew with all the jumping around the blood was going to start gushing all over again.

This is a before shot. It's not in the shape of an "x" there is just a piece of hair caked in blood and plastered to his forehead crossing his gash. As you can see, he was a good sport. (And yes, he DOES look very old in this picture).

More of a close-up for those who aren't squeemish.

He got a sucker before going back into the room then the nurse washed the wound. We wrapped him like a mummy and I held his body, the nurse held his head still, and the doctor numbed it up for him. Of course he cried and bawled for that (it stings a little they tell me) and then they stitched him up. Luckily that part didn't hurt anymore. On the 2nd stitch I actually started getting light headed and had to go sit down with my head between my legs. What a wimp!!

4 Stitches and 3 suckers later - good as new. We'll go back on Wednesday to get them removed. When we got home he fell right asleep and is still taking a nap. I'll take an "after" shot and post that later.

 

SPINACH?

So what's the deal with spinach these days? Is it back in the stores or is the Trader Joes in Palm Springs WAY out of the loop. I found a bag there on Friday and was totally shocked about it. You all might have been scared and run screaming from the store. You may have politely informed the manager that he was endangering the population by selling spinach during the e-coli breakout. You also may have purchased every bag (to keep them out of the hands of unsuspecting customers) and gone home to burn them. Me, I bought a bag and have been eating spinach salad the past two days, and I have a reserve for tomorrow morning's green drink. I might even go and check out the Trader Joes near my home now to see if THEY are selling any because I'll be out by tomorrow.

Note: No children have consumed spinach in the making of this episode.

Pigtails?
If that is what you call this hilariousity, then yes.

That tongue just cracks me up!
I've actually been seeing a little bit of my baby pictures in this girl lately.

Top view.
So there you have it Jodie. It is humanly possible to get pigtails into this hair, but don't get used to the look. I am not up for the work and I figure I've just got to take those rubber bands out four times before it rips out all of her hair and we have to start all over from scratch. So, expect the comb-over look for at least six more months.

 

Chompers
Derek isn't going to believe me until he comes home and feels the sharp little pearly white barely revealing itself. I'm getting all nostalgic because she's really getting bigger. Heck, I look over and she's standing on the kitchen floor hanging onto the chair beside me. All 25 3/4 inches of her - vertical. She crawled/climbed up the slide today at the park and went up a couple of stairs and then went down the slide on her belly. (This all took a good 15 minutes mind you). Tomorrow, she'll be doing cartwheels.

 

Some things that make me happy

I am really so pleased with how things have been going this week. Before we moved out to California Ryan and Grandma Bayles were talking something like this;
Grandma: "Where are you moving to Ryan?"
Ryan: "California."
Grandma: "What are you going to do in California?"
Ryan: "Make friends."

So we drive up to our new home on Friday night at around 5:30 p.m. There are about 8 kids outside across the street riding scooters and bikes and playing on the grass while their parents visited with each other (3 different families) and Ryan yells out, "MY FRIENDS!" That's pretty much how things have been going for us this past week.

Our home was fixed up pretty nicely with a few minor issues, but nothing like our Provo apartments so I've got no serious complaints. I love having a garage, 2 refrigerators (ghetto as they may be), tons of windows, a window box in the kitchen, a patio for Ryan to ride his bike on, the fantastic park in our backyard, and such nice neighbors. The weather is fantastic, even chilly sometimes, and it feels SO safe in the neighborhood.

I look outside in the park and see families out there pretty often playing together, people will take their dogs on walks regularly so I have learned to expect certain people. For instance, there is a man and his wife who walk their dog and their parrot, Joaquin, each day around 2:00. The real-estate agent who showed us our place lives right around the corner and yesterday she took Ryan on a walk around the park while she walked her dog. There is a playground right around the corner and we don't live on a very busy street so Ryan will ride his bike and I'll take Katie in the stroller and we go on over to the park right after lunch. Sometimes we'll take our lunch and have a picnic. We'll get home and Ryan will be all worn out and take a 3 hour nap (YES!!) and I can work on unpacking things.

Really, this might all seem unimpressive to other people, but it just feels really good where we are. I could only be happier if Derek were home all day long with us. It is an adjustment to realize that he will be at work all day long for a good couple of years before he will get into the "swing" of things, but we'll manage, I'm sure. Derek has some great people that he is working with (probably about 15% of the lawyers there are members of the church) so that should help. Incidently, we heard that Derek is the 22nd lawyer in our ward. Crazy!

Tomorrow we're off to look for some couches so wish us luck.
I'll post some pictures of our place when we have some furniture and not just a million boxes in each room.

 

Gone Fishing
(with Grandpa Cozza)

In case you all are wondering, it's the reflection!

That kid could not seem to get enough of that power bait.

It was beautiful out there and Beaver Creek had plenty of tiny little fish. And then there was the HUGE one that Grandpa and Ryan caught (pictured below).

They were only able to catch 3 fish before it started pouring rain and Ryan fell in the creek one too many times. Still, he remembers it fondly so it was a big success in the end.

 

She's back!

I'm not going to go on and on about how my normally very content Katie spent a month and a half being incredibly clingy (to put it lightly) and quite cranky. I just wanted to break the good news that she's back to her normal cheerful self. She'll spend an hour just exploring around the house and playing with Ryan. She is also putting every little tiny thing in her mouth so I am digging things out of her mouth all day long. The most common item, carpet fuzz from our new carpet. Need I say more?

 

Meet Charlotte

My first thought was, "Holy cow, did we move next door to Jamie or what!?"
I did some internet research and have determined that Charlotte is an Orb-Weaver spider which (as far as I can tell) is non-poisonous. I am thrilled about that because boy howdy does she ever spin some awesome webs. She lives on the corner of our house right outside our patio and if she ever steps so much as one leg in this house, she is DEAD MEAT. Until then, we can live in peace together.

Can anyone else make out "Some Pig" or is it just me?

 

A few highlights of the Bayles family campout
(in random order)

• It rained every day at around the same time
• Ryan ate about 2500 calories each day
• Katie never touched the floor (but luckily for me she did crawl around the camper trailer)
• Derek showed us all that he still has the bow and arrow skills with 5 bullseyes in a row
• Ryan and I discovered a pond of tadpoles
• Grandma and Grandpa brought a port-a-potty so I didn't have to squat in the woods
• I shot a gun for the first time ever (and didn't totally embarrass myself)
• Denton is a pyromaniac and builds awesome campfires
• We had a bed to sleep on in the camper trailer
• I got about 18 mosquito bites
• Ryan got filthy dirty but we were actually able to keep him out of the fire pit this time
• We found out that Joanne is pregnant (okay, that is just a rumor that Derek is starting)