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.

P is for Park

This evening all five of us loaded up in the Swaggerwagon and headed to the park. Besides being so humid out, it was only around 80 degrees which is unheard of here in July. I made sure to bring along my DSLR because it seems like it's been for.ever since I took pics at the park. (maybe not but my days all run together) Because it was overcast out I didn't have any crazy shadow issues and even shot in manual most of the time :) For the first hour we had the entire playground to ourselves and it was wonderful.

Here is peanut showing me his ''tuck"

Bubba looks so grown up I want to cry!

Pooks jumping off the Merry-go-round

landing while yelling ''YEAH"

Daddy showing them how to ''SUPER jump"and yes we told them they were not allowed to try it until they were very, very big and really it was a moot point because all of them are afraid to climb up that high to begin with. ahem.

Trying to get a good family pic...B was so busy showing Peanut where to look that he ended up looking ridiculous

Peanut swinging with his daddy

Bubba climbing up the ladder to the big slide

Whoosh! Down he came and landed while saying ''See Mom, I did it!"

Peanut thrilled to have spotted an airplane

Pooks playing with his digger and dump truck. (I ♥ that when he concentrates, he sticks out his little tongue)

Pooks climbing up the really really big slide, only to slide down

"Cheese"

Yours truly with Miss Sweetcheeks in da bump
(can you believe I'm over 6mos pregnant already!??)

Pookie running down the edging/wall, then jumping down (click to see full size)

We ended up spending over an hour and a half at the playground. As soon as we got home the boys went straight into the bathtub and as soon as they came out, I promptly cleaned the tub. I think we may have brought home 1/2 the playgrounds sand with us, but it was worth it.

We are Family!

On Monday we headed down to Nanaw Phew-Phews; which is a common occurrence. We try to visit her and Great Great Grandma B at least once a month and get an updated 5 Generation photo whenever the kids' moods allow it. I realize that being able to have 5 Generations together is rare (heck even Hallmark only carries frames up to Four!) so we seize the opportunity when we can.
And while visiting the Gram's is a great reason to visit, the reason for this visit was different. My two out-of-state-cousins were in town for a visit. Steph came from Ohio and Cassandra fly in from Germany. The ''mission" of the day was to have all 6 cousins sneak off and get a portrait taken together to surprise Grandma. We hadn't had a cousins portrait taken since about 1997 and lets just say the last picture was less than flattering. The updated one is much much better:
and the "funny" one is quite humorous as well. Seeing how we are now all between the ages of 18 and 28, it was nice to not have to stand around and retake a million photos hoping to get a good one. There were a couple that no one liked but that was more the photographers error than it was ours.

After the mall, we headed back to Grandma's house. These pics are all from there. Hanging out, being silly, making memories, general shenanigans.

B and Peanut

Myself and cousin Stephanie

Nanaw with Bubba

"Regular" Nanaw with all her grandkids

Cassandra and Steph with Nanaw (their Auntie)

Peanut teaching Grandma how to fist bump

Myself, Steph, Grandma and Cas

Us girlies with both of Grandma's

While it was a short trip, it was nice to get to see everyone. We were joking that it was like Christmas in July but with Pizza Hut instead of a turkey. Growing up we were often always all together for Christmas but rarely for anything else.

Oh and Grandma *loved* the pics. (We were able to show her all of them off of the Photo disk). Imagine how excited she will be when the framed 20x20 collage is ready for pick up!

Pretty in Pink

Well I finished up Sweetcheeks bedding. I kinda feel like I should end that statement with ''finally'' but realistically I'm a little over 24 weeks pregnant so my timing was good. {I just feel like I've been sewing for.ever.}

I had previously shared some photos of the crib bumpers and crib skirt---

Here are a couple pics of the 2 quilted blankets and a Boppy cover that I made. The first blanket is my favorite. It's a rag quilt made with the fabric that I love from Hobby Lobby and a super soft pink flannel. Honestly, after seeing it fresh out of the dryer, I kinda wish I had a one big blanket like this instead of even bothering with the second one. This is probably 30x30 inches. Perfect for a baby. Oh well, I can always make one when she's ready for a toddler bed or something.

Here is a close of the the ''ragging''

The second quilt is larger, about 36x36 inches. I used up a lot of leftover fabric on this one. I had to play around with the pattern based on how much of a certain material was left. This is what I came up with--
It looks really busy hanging next to the bumpers but realistically it probably won't even be used very much in the crib. For one, it's big. For two, it's a pretty heavy blanket...I imagine it will be used more as a floor blanket or when she is older.

The back is super soft Minkie Dot fabric in a light pink.

And lastly, the Boppy cover. One side is the botanical print and it reverses to the large dots on bright pink.
Over all, I'm very pleased with the way everything turned out and the work/effort that it took. I have much more appreciation for it, that's for sure! I think grand total for the fabric, cording, bumper inserts, etc I spent around $80. Considering that with that $80 I made the bumpers, the crib skirt, 2 blankets, a boppy cover, decoupaged a shelf and I still have leftover fabric--not a bad deal at all! Much better than shelling out almost $200 to a big box store for a 4 or 6 piece set!

And I still have a few smaller ideas in mind to use up the scraps (binky clip, cloth baby rings, a bib and maybe a taggie blanket). But those are definitely being saved for another day. My only remaining ''projects'' before Sweetcheeks arrival is to fill the nail holes and touch up paint on that wall, hang up her name letters, vinyl wall decals and shelf, and have B dig the changing table out of the basement so we can clean it off and get it set up. Whew! And about 12 weeks to get it done. (not to mention wash ALL of her laundry...ugh!)

At 24 weeks little Miss should be measuring about one pound and 4oz and almost 12 inches from head to toe. Here's the view from the outside:
As I mentioned in previous post, not much has changed for me. I've gained a few pounds and I seem to have more energy. My nails are growing super fast and stronger than ever! My latest cravings have been for Twix candy bars...can't get enough though I do limit myself. My hip bothers me but Dr. P suggest I get a maternity support belt to help relieve the pressure that is happening when she pushes her big ol' noggin into my side. It'll help lift the weight up off of my hips some. I'm skeptical because it's July in Kansas...it's already hot enough, let alone wearing a big velcro covered belt. Ugh!

4th of July

♥ words later, I'm bushed!