Evankovich Family Blog

Our New House!

Lisa — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 22:33:14 +0000

This past September we moved into a new house! I can’t say that is why we have been out of commission for so long but it definitely has helped. WE decided to move in July when the mold in our rented house went out of control. We were all sick and miserable and the mold had made its way up to Carl’s room! It was also in the vents. That was my last straw. Luckily we were able to get out of our lease easily. So the hunt for a house started. I had already started a bunch of work looking into school districts and housing prices around Pittsburgh. I pretty much new what I wanted and where I wanted to go before we even started the search. Carl was very supportive and agreed with all the work I had already done. SO we just had to look at houses.

With the computer age where it is we were very lucky to narrow down houses online before we even went to look at any. We saw 5 houses in total with the house we picked being our 4 house that we looked at. WE just loved the house. It has so much potential. The colors were way dark for me but that is easily fixed with a coat of paint. We were happy with the location and were able to keep our TSS and Preschool! Both make our lives much easier.

Our move in went very well. We had decided to use movers to actually move our stuff but that we would do all of the packing. It worked our great! We moved in about 6 weeks ago and we are settling in very nicely. As always, moving with small children is always hard. Carl has been acting out as he gets used to his new house. Katrina is just loving the new house. It has a bathroom on the first floor and she is now POTTY TRAINED!!! I have never been so very happy! It is so much Cheaper!!! Now we just have to get Carl there too. Katrina loves being a big girl wearing Tinkerbell panties! It is just so cute. She even wears just underwear at night. I feel so lucky that Katrina was so easy to potty train. Thank goodness for small favors!

Katrina has also started preschool 2 days a week. She is in the 2 year old classroom because she wasn’t potty trained right away. However now the 2 year old teachers don’t want to give her up! I don’t blame them she is pretty great She loves going to school and playing with her friends. I am told that when the kids see each other on the playground that they run and hug each other and scream like they haven’t seen each other in years and years! They are too funny.

Carl has graduated from outpatient OT! We are very excited about this. He is making such amazing strides in his development. It is so much fun to see him play with other little kids his age. Recently we had our new IEP meeting to set Carl’s goals for the year in school. It freaks me out to think that he will be going to kindergarten next year. He will take a bus and everything. I can’t believe that my baby is so BIG! Where has the time gone.

Carl and I are doing well. We have been so busy getting our house together and settling into the new house. We have definitely enjoyed the increase in space. The children have a play room in the basement where the large majority of their toys are. Which leaves my first floor mostly toy free. I thought the day would never come!!! I will get pictures up as soon as I can.

Alex 2008 Soccer Photos

Christine — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 15:35:14 +0000

Here are some alex soccer photos. looks intense, huh? it was quite hot that day, and she was one of the only team members running all over the field. Check out the photo album. I had errors on the page at work when I tried to add in the tag and don’t have the time to play with it..

Sick Day

Lisa — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 18:38:11 +0000

Today we are having a slow day. We have taken the rest of the day off because we are having a sick day. Carl Jacob has strep throat! Fun stuff! He is enjoying his juice and pink medicine. He has really been a trooper with his sickness. He only complained alittle bit about his throat and was just alittle sleepier than normal. Poor little guy.

Katrina is doing well and shows no sign of strep. Thank goodness. I hope the rest of us won’t get it but I have a feeling that won’t happen. Katrina has been my busy little girl. With spring finally here, we have been having so much fun outside. In fact we have been outside almost all the time. Katrina loves to ride her bike. She has the trike and bigwheel down. I am thinking of looking into a 2 wheeler with training wheels for her. She might just be ready for that. She is also an amazing climber. She mastered the rock climbing wall at the park yesterday. I couldn’t believe it. If she falls she screams at the toy because she is frustrated. It is incredible to watch.

Carl is doing a great job of keeping up with Katrina. I swear those two are great for each other. Carl climbs the rock wall too. However he does it with out the rope. He also enjoys riding on the swings which I thought would never happen. It is so exciting to see him progress. He also really enjoys playing with our neighbors. The other day he actually initiated play with the other kids himself. I realize this doesn’t sound that great for a 4 year old but for a kids on the spectrum it is HUGE!!

Carl John and I are doing well. Carl was just on the CBS nightly news yesterday. It was pretty cool. It was in a segment about the primary that is being held today. Carl has been doing a lot with work lately and will be taking a trip to Austin next month. Luckily I get to go with him! I am very excited!

I have been doing pretty good too. My Zumba class has started again which is great because it helps me stay in shape. I have lost all of the weight that I need to since my miscarriage last year. I can’t believe it but it was harder to lose after a miscarriage than a pregnancy. I also have started reading more. So far this year I have read Pride and Predjudice, The Grapes of Wrath, The Lonely Bones, Fahrenheit 451, The Great Gatsby, Dracula and I am almost finished with Jane Eyre. I have really been enjoying this.

Carl’s 4th Birthday and Easter

Lisa — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 18:19:46 +0000

This year is flying by so fast it really is incredible! This year Carl’s birthday fell on the day before Easter. To say the very least this came very fast to me. Usually I have his birthday and then a few weeks until easter. This year it was a whirlwind. First off Carl has been traveling alot this quarter. So as soon as Carl Jacob gets used to having him gone Daddy is home and we have all of our backlash. Anyway, This year I decided that we were going to have alot of fun with Carl’s birthday (not that we don’t every other year). We planned a joint family party on Easter sunday to celebrate Easter and Carl’s Birthday with both sides of the family. It was very nice. We had so much fun.

Before I get to ahead of myself. We did have alittle party for him on his actual birthday. We started the day by getting up and haveing coffee cake which was Gluten and Casein free. We got it at a wonderful bakery called Gluuteny in Squirrel Hill. IT was fabulous and the kids ate it along with their decaf tea like champs! After breakfast I ran down to Gluuteny again to pick up Carl’s birthday cake, some cupcakes, brownies, and cut out cookies! This place is just amazing. All of these foods are Gluten and Casien free and the taste FABULOUS! I was so excited that Carl got to have a birthday cake where everyone ate the same one.

We had Carl Jacob and Katrina open their presents at our house on his birthday. Yes, Katrina did get presents too. She is only 2 1/2 and I just didn’t have the heart to not give her presents too. We gave Carl and Katrina cupcakes with candles. They loved it and sang happy birthday for days afterwards. During nap time Carl decided that he didn’t need to nap so instead he sang happy birthday to himself in his crib. It was pretty funny until we had decided that he had been up in his crib long enough. When Carl opened the door to Carl Jacobs room he found a little boy standing there buck naked! He had lovingly peed in the corner of the crib for us. To say the least Daddy wasn’t happy so I cleaned up the mess. After Katrina woke up Grandma and Grandpa with Mitzi came over with their presents. By this time the children had mastered this whole unwrapping presents thing. Carl would open the gift just far enough to see what it was before he threw it aside and grabbed the next one. It was SO cute. In the pictures you will see Carl Jacob opening his presents in his big boy underware. I decided if he was old enough to get naked and pee in his crib then he could wear his undies for a bit.

In the morning I woke up and hid the eggs that grandpa with mitzi so wonderfully brought over for us (we didn’t have time to dye them with the kids). When Carl came down stairs the first thing he saw was the eggs. They had all of them collected and in their basket in about 3 minutes flat! It was so funny. When we were eating breakfast I explained to them that the Easter bunny knew that we didn’t have enough time to dye eggs this year so he went to grandma with mitzi’s house and hide her eggs here.

Katrina looked at me with the funniest expression and said “That isn’t wierd!” She had abvously meant that is weird by her body language. It was so funny that my 2.5 year old caught me in my lie!

We went to church for Easter Sunday. IT was not nearly as bad as I thought that it would be. Normally going to church is one of the places that I fear the most to take Carl. Getting in and out is very tough on him. There are so many people milling around and talking. It usually ends up being a near death experience. This is why I still do not take the children to church regularly. This Easter I really prepared myself. I got Katrina a puppy dag backpack with a leash (this thing is fabulous)! They both love it and I actually used the leash on Carl. I started off my day by doing yoga. It calmed me so much. This way I started off in a better place. By the end of the experience I was so glad I had done my yoga. When I got in the church I had found my Dad. He helped me take both children to their classes. Carl went in with no problems. The teachers were so great about listening to all of the directions for him. KAtrina did not go as easily. When I came back I found out that she had cried for the entire service. Carl had been a dream. At least one child had been good. I will take that any day!

We went over to grandma and grandpa’s house with Goldie for dinner and the big party. We all had a blast. The kids love having both sets of parents together in one place. They think it is the best. We had a big dinner with lots of food. The children ate so much it was adorable. After dinner we had their wonderful cake. It was amazing. Gluuteny really out did themselves. The cake tasted fantastic you couldn’t tell that it was at all different! I had only told them to write happy birthday Carl and that he was a 4 year old boy. They decorated it beautifully. I must say that watching my two babies “eat it all up” was a heart warming experience. So little in our life is normal and that cake gave me such a sence of narmalcy. It is so hard to explain to someone who isn’t living this but the experience made me cry.

They children opened their presents from the Evankovich family members and they got a wonderful haul! We definitely have enough toys for their growing abilities. By the end of the night we were all tired. The next morning Katrina woke up and promptly asked for some candy. It gave me a warm feeling inside that my babies finally got to experience a holiday and birthday and were able to understand it. I love watching them. They are so wonderful.

The New Year!

Lisa — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 15:27:37 +0000

This year is moving so fast! I can’t believe we are already half way through January. We have had alot of developments during the last few months. Carl is going fabulously in his new preschool. He has a bunch of little girlfriends that he just loves to kiss! Who new 3 was the age that you had to start watching your son with girls!! Katrina desperately wants to go to preschool. I am not ready for that yet. However next year she will definitely go 2 days a week. Also Carl has moved from 2 days a week of OT and Speech to just one day a week of each. Even though it is only an hour a week that we are cutting back it makes a huge difference. Carl is coming along so nicely!

Katrina is doing a fabulous job too. She can recognize a K in a group of other letters and circle it. She also loves to play dress up, paint her nails and paint. She is also convinced that she is a princess. She loves to tell me that she can’t do stuff because she is a princess. We are trying very hard to stop that one!

Carl John and I are doing pretty good. We are both tired and trying to keep up with the kids. I have a new goal this year to try to read more books. So far I have read 4. CArl John has been busy with work. He got a promotion last year and has been doing so much stuff there. We also have instituted a movie night on Monday nights after the children go to sleep. Yay no movies with talking animals!!