We got a van!!!!! Yay, I am sooo happy, I posted a while back about needing one since we have a 2 door and we are going to have baby #3 in a few weeks. I am so thrilled. I love it. We ended up getting a 2003 Honda Odyssey loaded even with navigation This will be our first vehicle with leather seats. DH is bringing it home right now. It has only had 1 owner and never been smoked it (and you can tell..mmm) Just thought I would share since you guys are like a 2nd family.

By Andi on Monday, March 28, 2005 - 03:23 pm:

You are going to LOVE IT!!!!! Congratulations and welcome to the Mini Van Mom Club! LOL

By Maryg on Monday, March 28, 2005 - 03:44 pm:

Congrats! You are going to love the convenience. The Odyssey is a nice looking one too. Is it a pretty color? Yes, I know, this is a typical gal question, but here's the reason I'm asking.

I have an old green Dodge Caravan, and in parking lots there are a zillion of them. I can't tell you how many times I've tried to open someone else's van. Next time I'm going for magenta or cerulean or whatever crayon color that pops out from the box.

Anyways, your kids are going to love it!

By Boxzgrl on Monday, March 28, 2005 - 03:46 pm:

Congrats!!!

By Bellajoe on Monday, March 28, 2005 - 04:15 pm:

congrats! My brother has one and so does my sister. I have wanted one, but my dh is against minivans. Anyway, i am sure you will love it, they are so comfortable!

By My2cuties on Monday, March 28, 2005 - 04:16 pm:

It is like a light blue-green. I have not seen too many of that color around here. I will post pictures soon.

By Trina~moderator on Monday, March 28, 2005 - 05:47 pm:

YEAH! Welcome to the minivan club! You're going to LOVE it!!

Just looked in the LATCH/Tether manual... 01-03 Honda Odysseys have 2 LATCH positions with tether anchors under each seat attached to the floor in the center outboard seats. For the 3rd row - the center position has a tether anchor in back wall under the tailgate sill. Outboard positions - two 8mm weld nuts in the tailgate sill (which means you can install tether anchors there).

Leather seats sometimes cause problems when installing car seats. If so, CPS techs use thin, rubber shelf liner to get a better install and to prevent the car seat from slipping.

Gosh, I'm such a CPS nerd. I'll stop now.

By Trisa on Monday, March 28, 2005 - 06:18 pm:

Congrats!!

By Palmbchprincess on Monday, March 28, 2005 - 09:19 pm:

Congrats! I'll be joining the Minivan Mommy club soon, so I'm jealous! ;)

By My2cuties on Monday, March 28, 2005 - 10:27 pm:

LOL, Trina!! I was looking all over the place for them, I found the ones for the infant seat in the captain seat but I couldn't find the ones on the floor. You may be a CPS nerd but we all love you for it.. lol

We are so excited, just got back from driving around. One thing I have seen that I LOVE is that the seatbelts, when pulled all the way out, tighten when they go back in. Something that the car didn't have! Thanks for all the congratulations, we are so thankful for it!

By Andi on Monday, March 28, 2005 - 10:50 pm:

Sooooooo, when do we get to *see* it?? Post a picture...please....

By My2cuties on Monday, March 28, 2005 - 10:53 pm:

I don't have a digital camera I am going to take a picture and get the one hour photo done tomorrow. You'll see it tomorrow.

By Wandilu on Monday, March 28, 2005 - 11:55 pm:

Congratulations.By the way,Candis,what part of Tn. do you live in? I live in Tn,too.About 30 miles north of Nashville,and about 40 miles east of Clarksville.

Edited by Moderator4. It's generally not a good idea to post your exact location on the Net. It's recommended to e-mail each other and discuss this info off board.

By My2cuties on Tuesday, March 29, 2005 - 12:09 am:

East of Nashville a couple counties.

Edited by Moderator4. Generally it's not a good idea to post your exact location on the Net. It's recommended to e-mail each other and discuss this info off board.

By Trina~moderator on Tuesday, March 29, 2005 - 06:38 am:

Candis, which infant seat did you end up getting? Only Britax seats can be tethered rear facing and they don't use the forward facing tether anchors.

Your seat belts have switchable retractors, which means you won't need a locking clip for a forward facing car seat.

I don't have time now but will explain more later if you want.

By My2cuties on Tuesday, March 29, 2005 - 08:31 am:

Thanks Moderator, I was actually wondering about that...ooops!

Trina, We are going with the Britax Companion. I tried to talk DH out of it but no... the bar that other infant carseats don't have sold him as soon as he seen it. oh well. Maybe we can give someone who needs it, a good carseat when she outgrows it..lol

By Vicki on Tuesday, March 29, 2005 - 08:51 am:

Congrats. Nothing like the feeling of a new car!!

By Kateg on Tuesday, March 29, 2005 - 09:24 am:

Congrats! Enjoy it!

By Kernkate on Tuesday, March 29, 2005 - 09:27 am:

Best of luck with your new van!!

By Trina~moderator on Tuesday, March 29, 2005 - 09:36 am:

Cool! I'm looking forward to your review on the Companion. Britax actually has another infant seat now, however it is very expensive. YIKES! Baby Safe

Just checked the Companion User manual and it doesn't have a tether. However, Britax convertibles can be tethered rear facing. You CAN install the Companion using LATCH, which is what I think you were referring to in the captains chair above. Your new van has 2 LATCH positions in the center row captains chairs. No LATCH in the 3rd row.

By My2cuties on Tuesday, March 29, 2005 - 05:08 pm:

Pictures are posted!!

By Eve on Tuesday, March 29, 2005 - 07:29 pm:

Congratulations!

A side note: I tried to get my DH to look at mini vans last weekend and he wouldn't even look inside! LOL!

Holy smokes, Trina. That's quite expensive for an infant seat! It looks really funky!

By Wandilu on Tuesday, March 29, 2005 - 07:45 pm:

OOOPS ...sorry.

By My2cuties on Tuesday, March 29, 2005 - 07:54 pm:

It is almost double what the companion is and not as attractive, IMO. Trina, can you tell me why it is soooo expensive? seems kind of odd and it doesn't say anything about having TSIP..or does it?

By Trina~moderator on Tuesday, March 29, 2005 - 08:02 pm:

To tell the truth, I just learned about the Baby Safe myself and haven't yet gotten the scoop from my CPS Tech pals. I'm sure there will be buzz about it soon. I'll keep you posted.

By Trina~moderator on Tuesday, March 29, 2005 - 08:22 pm:

Candis, please check your post on the Photo board.

By My2cuties on Tuesday, March 29, 2005 - 09:00 pm:

I thought I had responded to it...I did read it earlier. It kind of freaked me out. I have the harness in the top slots, but I just did that earlier today. I feel so horrible, I must have not read where it said that they are supposed to be there. I just assumed it was supposed to be at or below her shoulders. Thank goodness we have not been in a wreck. Thanks for posting it though. That's kind of scary.

By My2cuties on Tuesday, March 29, 2005 - 09:05 pm:

I took a picture last night of the carseats (the one on the photo board) and then this morning I changed the harness and did the LATCH instead of the seatbelt.

By Trina~moderator on Tuesday, March 29, 2005 - 09:32 pm:

Oh good, I'm glad the harness is now in the top slots. Don't freak out about it. That's actually a very common mistake. All better now!

Rear Facing: Harness straps at or below the shoulders

Forward Facing: Harness straps at or above the shoulders. **However, most convertible car seats require the top harness slots when forward facing because the lower slots aren't reinforced.** There are exceptions but not many.