Ayi-yai-yai!

Well the weekend is over and what a weekend it was! Friday was a normal day and a regular Friday evening; B hosted a poker game at our house and stayed at home with the kiddos while I had a girls night. (Okay, girls 'evening'? I was home before 10pm, lol).

Saturday we hung around the house and didn't do much other than decide to take the boys to see a movie, after their naps. Our theater was showing both Toy Story 3 and Despicable Me in regular 2D so it was their choice. After picking Despicable Me, we were off. Movie was cute, a little harder to enjoy while wrestling/convincing/bribing a certain almost 20 month old to sit in his seat. Let's just say that he ate a lot more Twizzlers than he probably should have, m'kay?

We leave the movie, just like normal. Load up in the Swaggerwagon with no problems and leave the parking lot. We get to the stoplight immediately outside the theater and have a red light. We're waiting to turn, but had no chance to go right on red because of oncoming traffic. We'd been sitting there for a minute or two, not moving and at a dead stop, when all the sudden we were rear-ended...hard. At first, we couldn't figure out what happened then I realized we had been hit. The kids were crying but okay, just scared. Got out of the van to find that the Ford Ranger behind us not only had rear-ended us but had hit us so hard (from a dead stop mind you) that his airbags actually deployed. He was pissed, his daughter was crying but okay as well. I called the police and they wanted us to pull forward if possible so we weren't blocking the intersection and they were sending out an officer.

We pull forward and then get out to actually look at the damage. In the words of Ricky Ricardo: "Aye-yai-yai". I was floored at the damage that was incurred from being stopped and yet amazed that all 3 kids were perfectly fine. Esspecially bubba and pooks since their seats are in the third row and closest to the impact. Here are a few pictures of the damage (taken the following morning at home)
Obviously we can't open the trunk/gate at all. Amazingly our taillights weren't damaged and still work and the car is drivable. It does sound quite interesting; the muffler is hanging on sideways. From my non-professional opinion, it looks like they will have to replace the rear bumper, the gate door and possibly the left side panel (it's dented but I don't know if they'll be able to pop it out or if it will have to be replaced). The muffler needs replaced and they'll need to check the alignment on the entire thing; because our front wheels were angled to the right, now when we drive it it pulls to the right.

And his truck? Well his airbags deployed but other than that his front bumper had a tiny dent in it (that may or may not have been there previously). He willingly admitted that it was his fault; he was talking to his daughter about not running away from him in the parking lot and for whatever reason, accelerated. HE called himself an idiot and apologized, asking if the kids were okay.

The police officer filled out all the paperwork, asked if I wanted to go to the hospital to get looked at but I passed knowing that I could always go later if something was wrong. (I wasn't having any immediate pains or cramping, I wasn't bleeding and I knew that as long as I felt Sweetcheeks moving, she was okay.) Although no one was hurt, we will have to replace all 3 of the boys' carseats and possibly our stroller. The NHTSA recommends replacing a seat if it was involved in an accident where airbags deployed and if the door closest to the seats was damaged. Since the door closest to the boys is the rear gate...yeah it was definitely damaged.
While the seats look fine, apparently the impact the seats absorb around the straps can cause "stress fractures" in the plastic. The seat appears fine but is actually weakened...so if we were in another accident, they might not hold up like they should. (if the impact of another accident was severe enough, and the seat wasn't replaced, it's possible that the seat could break and be ejected from the vehicle seat or even the vehicle.) That is NOT a risk I'm willing to take. At all.

Our stroller was in the trunk and while I can't get to it now, I would imagine it took in quite a bit of the impact as well.
All the seats and stroller should be covered by insurance so hopefully they'll be replaced without a problem. I am completely and utterly grateful that no one was hurt and that everything should be replaced and not at our expense. I am going this morning to get an estimate and hopefully to replace the kids seats; I just need to figure out protocol before I do.

DIY Stroller Handle for "Big" Siblings

 If you have come to this post by Google or Make It and Love It, thank you for visiting! Due to the success/interest in our Stroller Buddy, I have now created an Etsy shop where {new and improved} straps are available for sale :)  If you are interested in making them on your own, here are basic instructions. 

Please check out: http://www.etsy.com/shop/tictacbaby
Thank you for visiting!

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Now that peanut is bigger and I'm pregnant again, we aren't baby-wearing very often. When the straps tighten across your lower abdomen/hips and you already feel the need to pee 500 times a day--well, let's just say it's not pleasant. So as a result, we usually end up using the stroller on walks, at zoos, the mall, etc. Peanut rides in the stroller and his not so big brothers walk along side. Usually this works really well. The older boys know better than to walk too far ahead and most of the time, they hold on to the side of the stroller. Which in theory sounds great. But in reality it means that about every 10 feet, a little shoe gets in front of one of the stroller wheels and someone gets their foot ran over, or pulls the stroller in their direction, or peanut get's flung forwards a bit, etc.

I needed something that could attach to the stroller for them to hold onto. So, this is what I came up with at 10pm on the night before I needed it. (We're going to "the city" tomorrow and probably the zoo where if crowded, I'll make them hold on to the stroller).

**HOW TO MAKE A TODDLER HANDLE FOR YOUR STROLLER**

Step 1:
First, I took two links and taped the opening shut with some tape. I used electrical because it's all I could find; duct tape would probably work great too. You'll need one link for each handle (Hence why I have 2)

Step 2:
Then take a piece of elastic and sew it into a circle, a bit smaller than the link. Again, one for each handle.

Now because I'm anal and a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to making things, I chose to join the two using some leftover, super cute fabric. To cut to the chase and make things easier, I'm sure you could use 1-inch wide grosgrain ribbon. If you go the ribbon route, skip to Step 8.
Step 3:
Measure a piece of fabric approximately 4inches wide by 22 inches in length. (if only making one handle, 4x11 is okay) Iron it flat.

Step 4:
Cut out your piece, then fold in half, wrong side up. Press flat. (I have 2 because I was making 2 handles)

Step 5:
Sew the long open side, shut. Make sure to leave both ends open!

Step 6:
Now pull the fabric through itself so it's right-side out.

Step 7:
Press flat, again. You should now have one long piece, about 22 inches long.

Step 8:
Decide how long you want each handle then add about 2.5 inches to that number. I wanted my handles to stick about 8 inches out from the stroller (to avoid running over little feet), so I cut at 11 inches. (this is when I realized that I wouldn't need that second piece of fabric after all. I could simply make 2 handles from the 22 inch length)

*If using ribbon, measure and cut, then follow the rest of the directions.*

Step 9:
Place the link at one end, folding over one side of the fabric until it completely covers the link with little room to sew.

Step 10:
Sew fabric, securing the link inside. I used a few straight stitches as well as several zig-zag stitches, reversing to secure. (I did this...a lot. I don't want pooks pulling the link off of the fabric).

Step 11:
Now take your elastic loop and do the same, securing it to the other end of the fabric in the exact same manner.

and then....tada, you are finished:

Step 11:
Now it doesn't look like much but just wait. Attach to stroller, looping the elastic to a secure spot and pulling snugly.

TADA!

The boys now have a safe, secure and best part TOTALLY FREE handle. From start to finish, from finding elastic to folding the up stroller, took an hour and a half.  And it even matches. ;)