Tatum

Well, that seems to be his default line of reasoning- you wouldn't even have Carly if it weren't for me, so you need to just accept whatever I do and just keep reminding yourselves of that. There's just so much wrong with that reasoning and it's unfortunate that no one can make Tyler see that. This is not an ongoing transaction in which Tyler still has input and leverage. While B&T can (and should) continue to be grateful for being chosen by C&T and having their daughter, that does not mean they are obligated to run their decisions by Tyler, or seek his opinion on anything.

I usually read the comments here before watching the show in order to decide if it's worth my time to sit down and watch it- so I finally watched last night. I was expecting a certain level of douchery from Tyler based on the comments, but omg, you guys went easy on him. I could not believe his speech to his mom about how he always puts himself in B&T's shoes, and maybe they need to put themselves in his shoes. Hey Tyler- no one needs to be putting themselves in anyone's shoes with regards to Carly. B&T are not asking for your validation of the choices they've made for themselves and their daughter. You don't need to "understand" why B&T would request that you honor certain wishes- you just need to do it. It doesn't matter if you think it's dumb. Tyler seems to have this idea that B&T are providing some kind of finishing school for Carly, and that Tyler can fire them at will if he is not happy with the decisions they make- and that they are requesting feedback from him. B&T are probably too nice and mild mannered to really lay it on the table for C&T, so hopefully Dawn gets that job.

I don't know that Kim can always be counted on to give Tyler a much needed kick in the ass. While she occasionally has good advice, she seriously enables a lot of his bullshit. And in just the previous episode, Catelynn was explaining to Kim that B&T might be mad about the online postings, and Kim is like, well Tyler doesn't like being told what to do, or something to that effect. Well boo hoo, Kim, Tyler's going to probably have a lot of times where he's told what to do. And she seems to share Tyler's lack of understanding about boundaries regarding Carly and what Tyler's "rights" are. In a previous season, when Cate and Tyler invited B&T to something (was it their high school graduation?) and B&T didn't immediately accept, didn't Kim take it upon herself to call them up and pressure them into coming? I remember Dawn called C&T in for a meeting and basically said, please don't have your batshit crazy relatives calling up B&T on your behalf. Really, I blame Kim for a lot when it comes to Tyler. She seems to have this attitude that he's her precious little baby boy that can do no wrong and anyone that disagrees with him is out of line.

I don't for one second believe Maci's doctor told her she couldn't get pregnant again. He *might* have mentioned that when she's ready to try again, there might be some issues or it might take her some additional time, but that is not really the same thing and I'm sure Maci knew it. As far as how she made it nearly 7 years without getting pregnant again - I would not give either Ryan or Kyle enough credit to bet they insisted on condoms. Boning Ryan was probably sporadic enough where Maci just didn't happen to be ovulating at that time (PCOS can lead to fewer cycles, so instead of ovulating every 28 days Maci may have been more like every 7-12 weeks, significantly reducing her chances of an "unplanned" pregnancy), and I'm guessing Kyle probably grilled her about using birth control. Sure, Maci could have always "forgotten" to take her pills, but that's a little more devious than telling your boyfriend that your Dr. said you likely would have trouble getting pregnant and forgoing pills with your partner's knowledge. In Kristina's case, I don't believe for one second her birth control failed her. Sure, it's not 100%, and for some women, they will use it as directed, and still wind up pregnant. I don't believe Kristina is one of those women. I'm really shaking my head over someone being so desperate to keep Gary around that they would purposely get pregnant. To me, sleeping with Gary would be mortifying enough, but to be pregnant with his baby would have to be something I would file in my "Pretty much the worse thing that could ever happen to me, barring death of a family member" folder.

According to Radar Online, she is 32, and has been dating Gary since early/mid 2013. Her husband filed for divorce Valentines Day 2014, and then filed a restraining order against her in July 2014 that was later dropped. Things are starting to make a lot more sense now... I tried to find a picture of the ex, just to see what could possibly make Gary seem like an upgrade, but am not able to find any pictures. He has a very common name, so unless one of the fan sites kindly publishes it, I doubt I have the sleuthing skills to find one.

You might need all of it for yourself. As I see it, the problem with standing bedside is that gravity is going to make certain...key areas hard to find. Plus if he moved too quickly he might throw his back out. I just don't know. And this is a horrible conversation but I just can't stop.

All you have to do is google "Brandon and Teresa Last Name" and it pops up. Someone on TWOP, even prior to Teen Mom really taking off, said some fan site had posted Brandon's Linked in page.

I am way too invested in this, but I just don't see what Kristina could possibly be thinking. I just want to understand! She seems like someone who has her head on straight, and even if, in a moment of weakness and loneliness, she saw some sort of appeal in Gary, why is she begging this sloth to marry her? I wouldn't want to be a single mom, but there are some cases where that is the lesser of the evils and I think this is one of them. Yet she not only wants to sign on for a lifetime with Gary (his lifetime, not hers, because I suspect one of these is going to much shorter than the other), but also willingly got involved in Amber's trainwreck. Even if Gary had Ryan's looks, Corey's fathering qualities, and the intelligence and personality of... someone other than a Teen Mom dad, that would not be enough to entice me to marry a guy who would forever be tied to Amber. Please, Kristina, explain. ETA I strongly suspect that was Tyler's plan all along. That he would ignore B&T's rules, and, if faced with any consequences, unleash his legion of "fans" to show B&T the error of their ways, and overturn any consequences. In Tyler's warped mind, he really believes his DNA contribution (and subsequent manipulation of his girlfriend to agree to adoption) entitles him to not only a lifetime of gratitude from B&T but also complete autonomy over their parenting decisions.

I can't believe I am even going to speculate about this but I'm that bored at work. For sure she must be on top, and I imagine she must have done most of the cardio. Wow, even more amazing that he's able to perform is that there's a girl willing to hop on. That one is a definite head scratcher. From what I can tell, the girlfriend seems to be totally normal and even if Gary is getting a decent chunk of Teen Mom money and is recognized at the local Buffalo Wild Wings, there has got to be a better option.

When I mentioned water retention, I was more referring to the 3 pound weight gain within one week vs the 20 pounds she already had, which I actually think is likely, even taking into account Catelynn's horrible eating habits and sedentary lifestyle. As you pointed out, using Myfitnesspal math, Cate would have to have eaten around 1500 additional calories every day for a week to put on three pounds of fat- that's like TWO big macs on top of the three meals and various snacks and coffees she would have tossed back if she was not pregnant. That said, I agree Cate is not eating healthily and should make some adjustments. I just think if Tyler is really concerned (whether it's about Cate or baby's health, or just his dread in hearing Cate bitch about her weight down the road) he should go about it in a better way. If Cate already eats her feelings, having Tyler make her feel bad about herself will likely backfire and cause her to eat more. I do think there's a difference between Cate and Gary. For all seasons of the show, Cate has been kind of a yo-yo dieter. She'll blow up, then she'll lose some weight, then she'll gain it again. While it's obvious she needs to find a long term plan that works for her, at least she seems aware of her size and has made some attempts to change it. Gary seems happy to sit in his recliner and eat and appears to just be getting bigger. ETA: Sadly enough, Tyler pressuring her may carry more weight than the doctor's lectures. Cate seems to live and breathe to please this guy.

In all fairness, sometimes a significant weight gain in a short period of time is related to water retention, especially in pregnancies. But yeah, in Cate's case, I would bet she's eating even worse than usual which is not ideal. A pregnant woman shouldn't be starving herself in order to stay thin, but she should be focused on making sure she's getting plenty of protein, iron, calcium, vitamins, etc, and staying hydrated. And I agree it is troubling that Cate thinks of happiness in terms of what she's allowed to eat. That said, I doubt Tyler's lecturing is going to be helpful to her.

Yeah, if I recall, Catelynn has never been a healthy eater and has had problems with her weight for most of the duration of the show (by problems, I mean clearly some insecurity issues and body image problems) but even prior to pregnancy, had a poor diet and was not very active. Maybe instead of lecturing her, Tyler could start stocking the house with healthier choices and invite her to go on walks with him or other activities. Pregnant women do need to be careful about how they eat and a little moderate exercise never hurt anyone. But Tyler is so that guy who loves to lecture about how everyone else is doing it wrong while doing nothing productive to improve the situation.

Agree so much with this. I was infuriated when Amber was bitching to the producer about how Gary was saying she was a bad mom, when she was in fact, an "amazing" mom. First off, Gary never said she was a bad mom. He might have implied that Amber was unprepared to take Leah overnight and get her to school with everything she needed, but that is not the same as being a "bad" mom. Second, in no circumstances should anyone declare herself (or himself) an amazing parent. I know a lot of amazing moms (and dads) and none of them would have referred to themselves that way. It just irks me. Second, what makes you so "amazing", Amber? The fact that Leah loves to see you? Well, as pointed out above, you pick her up (when it's convenient for you, so you're never tired, stressed, sick, busy trying to work from home/study/make dinner/clean house on Leah's time), you buy her ice cream, you take her to the park, buy her toys, have no real set of rules- of course she loves being with you. You do about 5% of the total parenting, and it's the fun 5%. We would all be awesome parents if we only had to do it a couple hours a few times a week and had no other commitments to juggle.

True enough. And plenty of people will hit up their parents for gas money even if they are gainfully employed and have cash in their wallets. Even if Ryan had thousands of dollars just sitting in a checking account somewhere, he seems like the type to still try and squeeze money out of mom.

Eh, I'd rather they just completely table any kind of romance for Lip and Fiona in all of season 6. Even if Lip gets his heart broken, that won't be worth it for me. I liked Karen and Lip in S1 and early S2. I have no idea why they completed assasinated Karen's character in the second half of S2. They took a complex, interesting character, and turned her into a complete one note bitch. Anyways, when Karen broke Lip's heart it seemed like he just took it out on the next girl, so I think he should just be without a love interest for awhile.

That is just maddening. I've seen it in my personal life as well- a girl watches her main squeeze belittle and disrespect his ex (frequently a long time partner and mother of his child/ren) and it seems like all she takes from it is "Tee-hee, he doesn't like her at all. He's all mine!" It's even worse in a case where the girlfriend knows he's not paying child support and doesn't consider this a character flaw. Well, it'll be Shelby's turn soon enough. By the end of his relationship with Dalis, he was as dismissive of her as is towards Maci. I forgot another really annoying thing about the latest episode- when Amber did a voiceover talking about how "annoying" it was that she had to clear it with Gary if she wanted to see Leah. You mean, the guy that is raising your child full time while you were/are in and out of jail and rehab and book tours? And you have to consider Leah's regular schedule and her basic needs (including a good night's sleep) instead of just blowing in and out of her life whenever it fits your schedule? Yeah, how inconvenient. Amber may care about Leah, but she never seems to make Leah's well-being her first priority.

Yeah, that's what I was getting at- he acts like he hates her now. But when he wants something from her (like, when he's between relationships, or in the Being Maci when he was dating Dalis but she was getting clingy and needy and Ryan started looking to get out of it) he's pretty nice to her. And of course later Maci was sitting on her throne with her flunkies, dissecting his every word and smugly denying her friend's assertion that there was her "proof" that Ryan was still in love with her. I am obviously not in the Maci/Ryan inner circle, but I'd lay good odds on the two of them having had drunken hookups numerous times throughout the last 5 years- particularly when they aren't filming. I finally watched the epsiode last night, and either Ryan is a way bigger asshole that I originally thought, or the editing team is working overtime to make him seem that way. Even before the drop off incident was baffling. Maci calls Ryan and asks where he'd like her to bring Bentley. Ryan says the gas station. Maci says okay. Ryan asks what time, and Maci gives a time. Ryan says okay. Then Ryan turns to Shelby and says, why is she so difficult? WTF? Um, she called to ask you what would be the most convienent way to hand off Bentley. Ryan tells her what he prefers, Maci says okay and tells him what time to meet her. I can't think of anything Maci could have said that would have made her more agreeable than she was on the phone. Also, I am really not liking Ryan's girlfriend smirking every time Ryan goes off on Maci. Hey Shelby, your boyfriend treating his ex and the mother of his child with such disrespect is not a good thing, but you'll figure it out when you're on the receiving end, which you eventually will be.

That is hilarious that Farrah nixed a school based on the fact they had construction going on. God, these girls are idiots. I wish there could be a Teen Mom remix, where they pick girls from various seasons of 16 and pregnant and just film them for one year, and then go back and profile another four girls. There are a few (very few) girls who, on the update specials, appear to have somewhat gotten their lives together and are responsible, contributing members of society. Why can't we see them (assuming they'd sign on for this show)?

Yes, Catelynn and Tyler are lazy people. Like, extremely lazy. I've been watching early Teen Mom reruns, and two stand out for me- when Tyler said he couldn't figure out which classes he needed to get his "social work" degree so he decided to just sit the semester out. Um, take basic generals then? Most degrees have a core requirement that does not relate directly to the intended major. Colleges do that intentionally to ensure a well rounded education Tyler. And most colleges will work with you if you want to transfer credits, particularly generals. The second incident was when Cate was applying for a job and they told her to bring in a resume. Yeah, I never completed a resume for a cashier job, but anyone with a computer and internet access could google "sample resumes" and copy the format, and I would have done that had someone asked me to in order to get the job. Cate just saunters in and tells the manager, yeah, I was told to bring in a resume, but I don't have one, so...yeah... I do like Catelynn, but between her dependence on Tyler and her complete lack of work ethic, I don't see her ever making much of herself. Hopefully she is saving all her appearance fees and Teen Mom money so she can at least provide for Nova when the checks stop coming.

Yeah, I would be interested to know what was discussed between Tyler/Catelynn and Brandon/Teresa. If Dawn made a bunch of promises to the kids on behalf of Brandon and Teresa, I would definitely agree that Dawn was like, criminally wrong. From the reviews this organization gets, I can believe this is possibly true. A lot of birth mothers say they were lied to regarding their rights after the adoption was final. But, if Brandon and Teresa directly made promises to T/C, I would say they have moral obligations to fulfill them, even if they aren't legally obligated to do so. (Obviously, we aren't privy to all conversations between the foursome and both Tyler and Cate also have obligations to not disregard any restrictions B/T impose, such as publishing pictures of Carly online). I feel so dirty, I am one of the one of the ones who finds him really attractive. Some days he looks better than others. He could possibly be the guy that loses his hair in his late 20s/early 30s though- that will probably kill any attraction I'd have because I don't think he could pull off the balding look well. But, different strokes for different folks. Farrah's ex was pretty good looking but most of the dads from 16 and pregnant are seriously fug. Ryan definitely stands out to me.

I agree with all of this. I have always found Ryan extremely attractive, even if that's pretty much all you can say about him that is nice. I am sure whatever girl he is dating probably is on hormonal birth control- it wouldn't surprise me if Ryan insisted on watching while she took it. He definitely does not seem like he wants any more kids any time soon. Ryan has a had a few nice moments with Bentley sprinkled throughout the years, but I've never seen him do anything particularly sweet within a romantic relationship. He did jump on Maci that one season for upsetting Dalis (when Maci wrote on twitter that it's much easier to co-parent when you're still with your partner, or something to that effect) but I took it more as, when Dalis gets upset, she bitches to me about it, and I don't want to listen to it, vs an honest concern for Dalis's feelings. Ryan seems like he just wants to do whatever he wants to do, and doesn't want to hear any kind of criticism, even if it's meant to help. I'm going to hell for this, but I did wonder how 16 year old Maci landed Ryan in the first place (I mean, I'd say lookswise, he's pretty far out of her league). Sure, he's an ass, but we say that watching a 25 year old man who lives at home , is marginally employed, is terrible to his ex, and stomps off in a huff whenever he's called out for bad behavior. A teenage girl seeing Ryan when he was 18-20 isn't going to have that benefit of hindsight.

Several years ago, Catelynn posted a picture of her homework to instagram or facebook or something akin to that, and it was pretty surprising. It wasn't exactly like "match the picture to the word"- but it was some kind of seat work that looked more appropriate for the 6th grade. I wish I could remember what it was. Anyways, at most colleges, you have to take placement tests, and if you don't score high enough to get into the introductory classes, you have to take these prep courses that cost the same as the "real" classes and take the same amount of time, but don't actually count towards your credits. I'm wondering if maybe Catelynn tested pretty low and had to take so many prep courses before getting to basic generals that she got overwhelmed and quit. I do think Catelynn is lazy but maybe schoolwork is also more challenging to her than most .

If I recall, it was discussed on TWOP that Bethany Christian (the adoption agency Catelynn used) has frequently come under fire in other cases where they were less than honest/forthcoming with the bio parents about the rules of open adoption, and also making sure the bio moms (and dads) understand their rights. Maybe I dreamt that though.

From the excerpt on the previous page: How did this chick get her associates degree? Regardless of what field you study, doesn't every degree require at least one basic English/composition class?

Nothing gets facebook likes more than posting pictures of a cute kid. For a guy that counts his "likes" posting a picture of a kid to get FB attention probably does raise his spirits. ETA: I was mostly kidding. But even if there is some truth to this statement- if you were to list all the reasons Tyler needs therapy, my theory wouldn't even make the top 10. Maybe not even the top 20.