CarVan 14: The Abeka Boxes Have Started to Arrive

[gobucks]

This week's video Q + A~ 

They are actually going with the inground pool with a "tanning ledge/splash area for the kids". They love their house for now but don't necessarily consider it a forever home. Evan jokes that it is a forever home now that they are putting in the pool. Evan still pays his dues to his electrician union but he is more passionate about media. No decisions have been made to change his job back (now that she is driving). They said that they have "another investment business on the side" that is doing really well. Evan has been asked to do wedding videography, etc. Regarding Baby #3, they are really enjoying the kids' ages, in a good routine, finally settled, the doctors said it was okay if they wanted, etc. She said that growing up in a huge family, people assume you will have a lot of kids, you assume you will have a lot of kids, but when you walk through something like that (medical stuff), you reevaluate. Evan said it's her body, he is here for whatever she wants. She sorta says, yes, she would love 1 more baby but not soon, but I can't tell if she is saying it that theoretically or not. (My opinion is that they are happy where they are now and enjoying the time with the kids and their extracurriculars and getting into the groove with Layla's school so they aren't too eager to switch things up. They have had a ROUGH 2 years and honestly, they deserve a break before trying for another baby!). Someone asks if there is every drama in her family and she says yes, of course, more people, more drama, especially when you add in new family member (ie spouses). When Kate moves,  her, Josie, and Carlin will all be within 5-10 minutes of each other. Zade's speech.. Carlin did ask the pediatrician because they "hate to compare kids" but they do Layla was more advanced talking at his age. Pedi said it could be because he's a boy, second child having older sib talk for them, that they can work at home getting him to answer more for himself. Of course, down the road, they can do things if he doesn't progress, keeping eye on it. They are taking a 3 day trip for Carlin's birthday, just the 2 of them. 

[QuiverFullofBooks]

On 3/16/2024 at 4:51 PM, gobucks said:

Evan still pays his dues to his electrician union but he is more passionate about media.

“More passionate about media” means “YouTube beats working,” right?

[JermajestyDuggar]

14 minutes ago, QuiverFullofBooks said:

“More passionate about media” means “YouTube beats working,” right?

I legitimately don’t care if people work as an electrician or YouTuber. But he exploits his children through his YouTube career. So overall, I think it would be healthier for their family for him to work as an electrician. 

[SassyPants]

On 3/16/2024 at 1:51 PM, gobucks said:

This week's video Q + A~ 

They are actually going with the inground pool with a "tanning ledge/splash area for the kids". They love their house for now but don't necessarily consider it a forever home. Evan jokes that it is a forever home now that they are putting in the pool. Evan still pays his dues to his electrician union but he is more passionate about media. No decisions have been made to change his job back (now that she is driving). They said that they have "another investment business on the side" that is doing really well. Evan has been asked to do wedding videography, etc. Regarding Baby #3, they are really enjoying the kids' ages, in a good routine, finally settled, the doctors said it was okay if they wanted, etc. She said that growing up in a huge family, people assume you will have a lot of kids, you assume you will have a lot of kids, but when you walk through something like that (medical stuff), you reevaluate. Evan said it's her body, he is here for whatever she wants. She sorta says, yes, she would love 1 more baby but not soon, but I can't tell if she is saying it that theoretically or not. (My opinion is that they are happy where they are now and enjoying the time with the kids and their extracurriculars and getting into the groove with Layla's school so they aren't too eager to switch things up. They have had a ROUGH 2 years and honestly, they deserve a break before trying for another baby!). Someone asks if there is every drama in her family and she says yes, of course, more people, more drama, especially when you add in new family member (ie spouses). When Kate moves,  her, Josie, and Carlin will all be within 5-10 minutes of each other. Zade's speech.. Carlin did ask the pediatrician because they "hate to compare kids" but they do Layla was more advanced talking at his age. Pedi said it could be because he's a boy, second child having older sib talk for them, that they can work at home getting him to answer more for himself. Of course, down the road, they can do things if he doesn't progress, keeping eye on it. They are taking a 3 day trip for Carlin's birthday, just the 2 of them. 

They all give that canned answer of enjoying the kids they already have, and then end up announcing a pregnancy shortly thereafter. Carlin loves attention and the only way to get a few seconds of that attention in this family is to have a baby. She might get 2 more seconds of attention if she could be the first to have multiplies. Side business must be SM influencer, right??? I hope they do focus on their already born kids, especially if Z’s speech is a concern.

Also, LOL at the comment about it being Carlin’s body…that’s a first step that these folks should apply to ALL women.

[dawn9476]

On 3/17/2024 at 6:54 PM, QuiverFullofBooks said:

“More passionate about media” means “YouTube beats working,” right?

Apparently, he is doing more media stuff with his church. And I guess he is starting to do media for other businesses besides the boutique.

[dawn9476]

From Carlin's IG stories, it seems like they are flying down to FL for the weekend to see Alyssa and her family. Carlin didn't mention Alyssa, but she said she was excited to see her sister, her BIL, and their "kiddos." so it has to be her.

Edited March 20 by dawn9476

[gobucks]

On 3/19/2024 at 10:43 AM, SassyPants said:

 Side business must be SM influencer, right???

They said financial side business. I wonder if he is involved in one of those pyramid style insurance/financial companies... just my guess. 

[AussieKrissy]

7 hours ago, dawn9476 said:

From Carlin's IG stories, it seems like they are flying down to FL for the weekend to see Alyssa and her family. Carlin didn't mention Alyssa, but she said she was excited to see her sister, her BIL, and their "kiddos." so it has to be her.

Won’t we all die of shock if it’s Erin? 

[FluffySnowball]

4 hours ago, AussieKrissy said:

Won’t we all die of shock if it’s Erin? 

True! First, I thought it's possible to be Erin OR Alyssa, but then I remembered 😂

[dawn9476]

It's definitely Alyssa and her party for the girls. Because in her IG stories, she says that her kids have a party with their cousins this weekend. She asks two of her daughter if their outfits they have on are for the "princess party."

Edited March 21 by dawn9476

[AussieKrissy]

So Erin went to the princess party. I found it interesting that her girls were just in fancy dresses rather than (Disney) princess dresses like the others. I shouldn’t say interesting I should say expected. Each to their own but I love dress ups and I love Disney. But I suppose the girls would have still felt lovely and she did make an effort so I guess I can’t bag it out. 

[LillyP]

On 3/15/2024 at 4:45 PM, JermajestyDuggar said:

I can easily understand not wanting to put in an in ground pool in TN. A pool in Florida or Arizona would be different. But a lot of months of the year in Tennessee are too cold for swimming. Basically October through April. So I wouldn’t want to spend big bucks on an in ground pool if we aren’t using it more than half the year. Plus an above ground pool can be gotten rid of pretty easily. Which I like. My cousin just had an in ground pool filled in and it was way more work and money than taking down an above ground pool. 

Tons of people have pools who only get to use them a few months out of the year. I'm in NC, and our weather is similar to TN. We basically get June-September using our pool....sometimes May if it warms up early, and sometimes into October if we have consistently warm days. Our summers are HOTTT, so that right there makes it worth it for us. Our pool is saltwater and is surprisingly very low maintenance. 

[rebeccawriter01]

34 minutes ago, AussieKrissy said:

So Erin went to the princess party. I found it interesting that her girls were just in fancy dresses rather than (Disney) princess dresses like the others. I shouldn’t say interesting I should say expected. Each to their own but I love dress ups and I love Disney. But I suppose the girls would have still felt lovely and she did make an effort so I guess I can’t bag it out. 

I found it interesting that she and Chad dragged the whole family to it. Not to play into the gender stereotype thing, but it seems that it would have been a good event for Erin and her daughters to attend while Chad did something special with Carson and the new baby (William?). 

Other than incredibly archaic and harmful beliefs, I have to say the lack of individuality for their children bothers me to no end. Just because you have 5-6 children doesn't mean you have to have them together 24/7. Split them up and let them do things alone or in pairs. They'd be surprised at how much conversation and interaction their children would have upon being together at home because they would be sharing what they did with each other. 

[gobucks]

This week's video.. Evan sold the Explorer and got a black Jeep Wrangler. Carlin is driving the Tesla. Warden builds shelves to help organize the garage. Carlin wants to do birthday morning balloons and cake and blah blah like Whitney does for Zade's 2nd birthday. She is emotional thinking about making his birthday special. She wanted to do a golf theme but it was hard to find so she went with Spiderman. They do a Build a Bear for Zade. Warden comes with them to the mall. While setting up the birthday stuff, Evan mentions that Layla thinks every party is for her so they are hoping they can make it more about Zade and a lesson for her that it some things can be for someone else.  They set up after the kids go to bed. Random clip setting up includes Travis helping blow up balloons. Birthday morning celebration just the four of them. Spiderman cake. We pause for an outfit change for the birthday boy because of "leakage". They don't need to mention that in the video! Lordy! Or you could have just changed your kid's diaper before filming or stopping filming when you see he needed a change before it gets to the leakage stage. He gets a Spiderman toy, Spiderman car, Spiderman walkie talkies, and golf clubs (little age appropriate plastic ones). Carlin says birthdays were always a big deal in her family growing up and you got 1 on 1 time with mom and dad for it. They are taking Zade out on a "date" on his day, just him with the parents. They take him to Top Golf for his special date with mom and dad. Zade says~ yes, ball, more all in the video. Warden has been hanging out every day helping (and playing PS5). They mentioned the kids got a little 24 hour bug during the week... umm, thanks Hailey! LOL LOL! Warden, Evan, and Travis go golfing. 

[JermajestyDuggar]

13 minutes ago, gobucks said:

This week's video.. Evan sold the Explorer and got a black Jeep Wrangler. Carlin is driving the Tesla. Warden builds shelves to help organize the garage. Carlin wants to do birthday morning balloons and cake and blah blah like Whitney does for Zade's 2nd birthday. She is emotional thinking about making his birthday special. She wanted to do a golf theme but it was hard to find so she went with Spiderman. They do a Build a Bear for Zade. Warden comes with them to the mall. While setting up the birthday stuff, Evan mentions that Layla thinks every party is for her so they are hoping they can make it more about Zade and a lesson for her that it some things can be for someone else.  They set up after the kids go to bed. Random clip setting up includes Travis helping blow up balloons. Birthday morning celebration just the four of them. Spiderman cake. We pause for an outfit change for the birthday boy because of "leakage". They don't need to mention that in the video! Lordy! Or you could have just changed your kid's diaper before filming or stopping filming when you see he needed a change before it gets to the leakage stage. He gets a Spiderman toy, Spiderman car, Spiderman walkie talkies, and golf clubs (little age appropriate plastic ones). Carlin says birthdays were always a big deal in her family growing up and you got 1 on 1 time with mom and dad for it. They are taking Zade out on a "date" on his day, just him with the parents. They take him to Top Golf for his special date with mom and dad. Zade says~ yes, ball, more all in the video. Warden has been hanging out every day helping (and playing PS5). They mentioned the kids got a little 24 hour bug during the week... umm, thanks Hailey! LOL LOL! Warden, Evan, and Travis go golfing. 

I bet that was one of the very few times the middle kids got any one on one time with Gil and Kelly. Sucks for the 4 bates kids who share birthdays in February. 

[postscript]

Zade doesn’t want them to cut the cake at first. He’s protective of it and says no. Only after Carlin pulls out the Spderman decoration and hands it to him does he allow them to cut pieces out of it. Later, when they give him the golf clubs, he asks if there’s a ball. Very focused on details, this kid. He is very cute throughout this video. 

Zade also obviously enjoyed the golf outing. Evan is turning into all the golf-obsessed dads I know who want their kids to enjoy this game as much as they do.

[JDuggs]

I’m not going to watch the video, and I’ll assume that Zade enjoyed himself at Top Golf, but it seems like mini-golf would have been a more appropriate activity. Maybe the outdoor mini-golf places aren’t open yet for the season, or Evan wanted to do something fun for himself.

[rebeccawriter01]

14 minutes ago, JDuggs said:

I’m not going to watch the video, and I’ll assume that Zade enjoyed himself at Top Golf, but it seems like mini-golf would have been a more appropriate activity. Maybe the outdoor mini-golf places aren’t open yet for the season, or Evan wanted to do something fun for himself.

There is one (maybe 2) not far from them that is open. It's a bit hit or miss though at his age. At Top Golf there are private putting areas that allow them to do stuff and not have to worry about people behind them wanting to play through or whatever. You also get to sit at Top Golf versus an occasional bench for mini golf. Carlin said she was having trouble walking because of stepping on a loose screw. So I'm guessing that was helpful for her to be able to sit and watch.

That being said, they were doing the typical Top Golf putting games area. There are some that are kid friendly (not sure about the Knoxville location since not all). 

[CaptainFunderpants]

On 3/30/2024 at 7:05 PM, postscript said:

Zade also obviously enjoyed the golf outing. Evan is turning into all the golf-obsessed dads I know who want their kids to enjoy this game as much as they do.

There are a lot worse father/son activities in this day and age. Kinetic + outdoors + away from screens... I get that TopGolf isn't exactly that, but it's still a lot more movement than many people participate in.

[HereticHick]

I'd honestly like to know what the Bates Sisters Boutique guidelines for "modest fashion" is now.  No booty shorts? No exposed midriffs?

[Kiki03910]

12 hours ago, HereticHick said:

I'd honestly like to know what the Bates Sisters Boutique guidelines for "modest fashion" is now.  No booty shorts? No exposed midriffs?

No crotchless panties.

[GreenBeans]

On 3/31/2024 at 3:01 AM, gobucks said:

Carlin says birthdays were always a big deal in her family growing up and you got 1 on 1 time with mom and dad for it.

This is incredibly sad. I can’t imagine one on one time with your parents being a once-a-year birthday treat.

[AussieKrissy]

I always thought Layla favoured Evan more …. Nope

[gobucks]

The one picture literally looked like Layla and Hazel but it was Carlin and Josie! 

[AussieKrissy]

On 4/13/2024 at 3:02 PM, gobucks said:

The one picture literally looked like Layla and Hazel but it was Carlin and Josie! 

Spoiler

I didn’t see it first time round but doubled back and oh yeah I can definitely see it.