truebluesmoky

Can someone clarify the baby due in January thing? It came up in Pickles’s post about the memorial service and in Jessa’s tribute to Mary. Is the speculation that it’s a pregnancy that hasn’t been announced yet? Process of elimination means it would have to be Abbie, Jill, or Jinger, but probably not Jinger based on her own statements.

It’s horrible, but I bet it’s to match “Kynzie.”

This is actually a very sweet post...

Jessa also made her entire post available just by swiping through multiple photos on that one Instagram post. You didn’t have to go to her site to read it.

Based on articles about Leah’s situation from back when the missing baby thing was initially going on, apparently her father was horribly abusive to her growing up, to the point where she had a protective order against him. He kept coming back to the house where she was living despite the protective order, and that’s actually why she ran away the final time when she supposedly gave birth. There’s speculation that she wasn’t actually pregnant, so there was no actual missing baby. The whole thing is sad.

People is reporting that Deanna found Mary. So horrible for her, but perhaps better than pregnant Amy or one of the minor Duggar kids.

Joe and Kendra...

I clicked Jeremy’s link to check out the Little Bread Company’s Instagram and was happy and amused to see that this was their second to most recent post: I wonder if the Duggars knew that before they ate there/gave the bakery publicity.

Jessa’a tribute to her grandmother: The cynic in me wants to say that hers is later and longer for optimal attention getting. But I choose to believe that she was truly heartbroken, especially with all the postpartum hormones flowing through her right now, and needed a few days to write something that she felt would truly do her grandma justice. There is some really sweet stuff in there.

Well, in their minds, they were fully people, they just passed away. “Survived by” is for people that are still alive. All the miscarriages could have been added to “predeceased by” (or whatever the wording is in obituaries).

I am sure the 20 is counting Tyler, because any miscarriages would not be counted in a “survived by” total. Based on social media and the show itself, it seems to me that one of the only things JimBob and Michelle have done right in their lives is to fully embrace Tyler as another son, make him feel fully part of their family, and make him feel secure and loved. That doesn’t make up for all the harm they’ve done to many of their other children, but I do think they’re doing right by Tyler. Si and Lauren posted this...

I just saw posts from Anna, Joy, and Jinger.

He’s a very pretty child. He has a gentle, soft cuteness, like Kendra.

More “fun” at Silver Dollar City. When I look at that picture of Josie with an ice cream cone and what appears to be a piece of funnel cake, all I can think about is how different her life is than her oldest siblings. Can you imagine Jana and company remembering fighting for a spoonful of Aldi brand spaghettios and then seeing the youngest siblings getting multiple expensive theme park treats?

I just finished this last night. I had originally gotten an episode and a half in and then wasn’t sure if I could continue. It stressed me out so much. Many of my friends urged me to see it through, so I binge watched it Wednesday and Thursday. I think the creators/writers did a great job of making everybody complicated enough that you could come out of it still rooting for Jen and Judy as the protagonists. They almost had to make everyone else pretty bad in order to make it okay to like Judy. Steve was an abusive, manipulative, criminal asshole. Ted was Charlie and Henry’s dad and a good one, certainly never deserving of death, but he was a cheater, a pill abuser, and a horrible husband in terms of how he treated Jen after her mastectomy. Jen was dealing with the trauma of losing her mom at a young age, having a preventative mastectomy, and then losing her husband, but she was also prone to angry rages and outbursts and even became physically violent with her husband. Judy hit Ted by accident and then went along with Steve’s plan to just drive away and then cover it up, but she’s shown to be in an emotionally and borderline physically abusive relationship, mourning the loss of all her pregnancies, and a kind, giving person in all other aspects of her life. None of that excuses what she did, but it allows the viewer to want her to be okay. We see both her and Jen’s imperfections and bad choices and wind up rooting for their friendship. I was impressed.

The other issue I had was with Alba saying that Jane never minded Alba taking care of Xiomara and Jane but only minded now because it was Jorge. The Villanueva women’s lives were never presented that way. Yes, Alba was the main breadwinner, but I believe Xo worked as well, and even Jane contributed once she was old enough. But more important than money, they were all responsible for housework and cooking. Even in the opening scene from the past, it’s little Jane balancing the checkbook. I think it’s rewriting history to suggest that Alba ever waited on Xo and Jane hand and foot. It seemed like they prided themselves on running their household as a team.

If Jane has confronted Jorge about things that were truly between him and Alba, like her cooking all his meals and cleaning up after him, I would understand Alba’s anger. But Jane specifically mentioned ways that Jorge could help with the Mateo situation. I didn’t think she was out of line. There was a weird disconnect in that storyline for me.

They make suits like that for toddlers, with the flotation device built into the torso.

Honestly, in the Fundie world of expectations, Jana may be on to something by not getting married and staying at the TTH. The youngest child is Josie, so now all the kids are old enough to not need constant care and attention. It has appeared for a while now that the kids scrounge for meals and clothes on their own, and Ben seems to be doing the homefooling, so I don’t think Jana has all that many household/child rearing responsibilities. Any actual cleaning has probably been delegated to Hannie, and JimBob apparently gives Jana access to cars and money. So she can spend her days on her hobbies, like gardening, decorating, and event planning. She has a load of brothers to order around when she wants a project done and all the free time in the world. But if she married, she would be expected to immediately get pregnant, cook and clean, not have access to seemingly unlimited funds for her hobbies, and defer to her husband’s wishes. I think Jana calls all her own shots at the TTH and has it about as good as it can get for a fundie woman.

The suitcase/tennis racket guy is Jonathan Burns. He tours the country, and I actually saw him live along with Mutts Gone Nuts, a dog act similar to some that have previously been on AGT. I actually hope he gets through more rounds, because the more you see of him, the funnier he is. The few minutes he got for an act tonight are not enough to really get what he’s all about. When he first came out on stage when I saw him live, I thought I was going to hate him, but I quickly became a fan. It’s a combination of his personality, his schtick of throwing confetti and seeming really pleased with himself, and the actual flexibility stuff he can do. I actually smile from ear to ear when I watch him. I’m sure he’s not for everyone, but I can’t get enough. Were the little girls lip synching to a pre-recorded track? I guess that’s what most groups do who sing and dance at the same time, but it doesn’t seem completely fair.

How would Mateo end up with the narrator’s accent?

Oh, trust me, I find the idea horrifying, but I sometimes think the way Anna endured the nasty Josh scandals was to just get hyper focused on sticking with her original plan from before shit hit the fan.

I do often wonder if Anna is clinging to a plan she made when she first got married... basically that she and Josh would be the next generation of 19 Kids and Counting. They are the ones doing a letter theme, they continue to have kid after kid like clockwork, and she tags all her posts #littleduggars. It makes me think that some part of her is still imagining her family as the stars of 19 Kids and Counting 2.0.

I feel like I’ve turned into such a Duggar apologist lately and am almost ashamed that I’m defending them in so many of my posts. Let the record show that I think their beliefs and politics are deplorable, and I think the way Boob and Michelle parented was disgusting... ...buuuuuut I think this is the best Lauren has ever looked. The dress is flattering and springy, her hair looks pretty, and she looks SO happy. A miscarriage of a wanted pregnancy can be devastating, no matter how early, and especially if your worth is defined by fertility and motherhood. After losing all she ever wanted, she is now getting all she ever wanted. If she wants to show off her much wanted bump, so be it.