truebluesmoky

In response to one of her recent Instagram posts, she had a discussion with a fan who asked about finding time to connect with her husband with two small children. Jill mentioned putting Israel in a crib or playpen with a movie on to spend uninterrupted time with Derick. Presented without comment, as I try not to mom shame, but I will say that it didn't sit right with me.

If Jessa wears only skirts, gets no piercings, and leaves her hair long forever, I will still consider it broadening her horizons if her kids are truly as cherished as they seem, if she doesn’t blanket train or hit them, if she continues to let them watch normal media (there was an instagram story of Spurge watching Charlie Brown Thanksgiving), if her kids are allowed to dance and play with non-gender stereotyped toys, if she and Ben continue to make friends with people of other races, and if Ben ends up putting his money where his mouth is when it comes to helping inner city and impoverished kids.

Her Insta-followers are freaking out trying to figure out if this is a pregnancy announcement. I think it’s just a Keep Christ in Christmas type decoration, but I bet she knew it would make people wonder. Also, it has the dreaded misplaced apostrophe.

Did you see this retweet of Ben’s that Pickles has up on her Facebook? I am pro-choice, but I can at least stomach religious pro-life people who put their money where their mouthes are, in terms of supporting pregnant mothers and children once they’re born. In general, I don’t think Ben gets enough credit when he gets lumped in with Derick and Austin. Ben clearly lets Jessa run the show. He is not a “strict head of household” and she does not defer to him. He also likes Christian rap, has real non-Gothard friends, has friends of color, and seems to care about inner city kids. I’m not saying give the guy a medal, but I think Derick and Austin really do run the show in their marriages and see themselves as the lordship over their wives and children. I think Ben is super religious and super naive, but I think he cares more about his perception of the greater good of the world than D and A, who care about their egos. Also, Jessa tagged that Marketplace Grill restaurant in an Instagram post, and they offer TWO free kids meals per one adult meal ordered, so I’m sure that’s why the Duggars started going all the time in the first place. They are all about freebies.

I tend to like the Vuolos, at least as much as I can like any Duggar couple, but this post reminded me of you all and the idea of Jeremy loving Jeremy. He’s talking about Jinger, but based on the photo, the joke of him talking about himself instead is too easy not to make!

I didn't even think the dog story was supposed to be funny. I thought it was supposed to be completely over the top horrifying and another good reminder of why Eleanor ended up the way she is. I gasped and cringed when her mother told her that she would be annoyed with her if she was sad.

These kids are undeniably adorable. I’ll give her that!

Jessa came across as really insecure to me in this episode. She mentioned herself not cooking/not being a good cook multiple times and said that Joy is a much better cook, and she seemed sheepish when she said it, not proud. She also mentioned several times that Joy did more fun things and was better with the younger kids than Jessa herself had been.

Random observations: I always forget until I see it again how much I like JD’s demeanor when he’s teaching Joy to fly. I think he would actually make a great teacher. There’s definitely something about Jana and JD that makes me think they’d find success in the real world. When Jessa entered the house for the whole something borrowed gift thing, getting to interact with Spurge and especially Henry is the happiest I’ve ever seen Jenni. I do think that was a dress over capri skinny jeans on Jinger.

I thought Curtis was guilty until the EMT explained why her arms were raised. Once that issue was accounted for, I started thinking about the whole picture and came to the conclusion that he probably didn’t kill her. If he had killed her the night before, then when he left to drop the older kids off at school, he was knowingly leaving his 4 year old son home alone. Even if the child was in bed, I just don’t believe a dad of four would do that. While Curtis was gone, the child could have hurt himself, set the house on fire, messed with the mom’s body, etc. I just don’t think he would have left the child home alone, especially if he was concerned enough to take the child to his grandmother’s once he got home. I also think that the fact that it was Valentine’s Day makes it less likely that the older kids were having false or influenced memories about their mom from that morning. Because they had cards and valentine boxes and all that makes it unlikely they would have mixed the morning up with a different morning. Also, it sounds like Cory ran the house... I have a hard time believing a flustered Curtis who had killed his wife the night before and probably not slept after that could successfully make breakfast and help the kids get all their stuff ready for school on a day that wasn’t even quite the normal routine because of Valentine’s Day if it wasn’t his habit to be in charge of the morning routine. I think this is a case of the defendant not being particularly likeable but being innocent. She probably did die of something related to her liver/alcohol exacerbated by her weakened immune system. The daughter probably never got over how quickly her dad moved on and replaced her mother twice - as the oldest and a 12 year old girl at the time her mother died, it would certainly have a different effect on her than the younger boys. So when faced with police telling her that her mom was murdered, I can see her getting confused and not trusting her memory and not knowing what to think.

One of the most batshit crazy, evil female murderers we've ever seen on this show and I still manage to hate the smug, doofy, pleased with himself boyfriend more.

I may have misinterpreted, but I think he told her she could come to him if she was having problems with HER divorce. So, I do think it was kind of a "tough guy" speech... not an "I'll kill him for you" speech, but maybe a protective, macho male friend saying "If that guy tries to hurt you, I will have words with him" type of thing with regard to HER ex-husband. She misinterpreted the lengths he would go to and went to him instead regarding her new boyfriend's soon to be ex-wife.

I thought it was cute... a shared moment of the idea of both Jessa and Jeremy taking care of Jinger. Also Spurge really is Mini Jessa!

Having kids myself, I will say that being so far out of their routines and comfort zone would definitely make their behavior naughtier than they might be at home. It's a 5 or 6 hour time difference and the time appeared to be pretty packed with activities. I tend to think that Jen and Bill would be okay with having the kids' naughty behaviors being the ones shown on TV because either they themselves think or producers have told them that that's what will make an interesting episode. A trip to the park or a restaurant where everyone plays calmly or eats quietly is like watching grass grow. I'm not particularly entertained by the naughtiness and am looking more forward to next week's speech therapy stuff, but I suspect that it's being shown on purpose. I'm not saying the kids are perfectly behaved in all other footage, but I suspect the "zaniest" stuff is chosen for air.

My WTF moment was the witness who supposedly saw Laci at the park walking the dog when she was on her smoke break at the hospital. Did you see how far away she would have been? And not only did she claim to be able to ID a pregnant woman in a certain outfit with a certain breed of dog, she also apparently claimed to be able to identify "white markings" on the dog's coat consistent with Laci's dog's coat. From that distance?! My other "Are you kidding me?" is Scott claiming his hair, eyebrows, and goatee were lightened by swimming a lot in a neighbor's pool. That doesn't happen... I mean, it could turn a blond haired person's hair a little greenish in a certain light if they were swimming constantly, but it doesn't consistently dye all of your hair uniformly a completely different color!

Please be Erika Christensen. Please be Erika Christensen!

Someone upthread posted that her wedding was May 26th and the photo was taken September 8th. That's 15 weeks between potential conception and that bump... add two weeks between period and ovulation/sex and you get the possibility the bump at the wedding is a 17 week bump. 02/16 could be considered late February, or even if it's later in February, I'd guess 16 weeks. I don't think she's unreasonably big for 16 or 17 weeks, especially if she started eating a lot when she found out she was "eating for two" and not starving herself for her wedding anymore AND if she's doing the Duggar belly push out.

Due dates are counted from your last period, not the date you conceived. Assuming it's a honeymoon/wedding night baby, her period was likely about 2 weeks prior. So that would make her what's considered 17 weeks pregnant.

I just watched the first half of the ABC special, and it mentioned that Scott told detectives he was concerned when he couldn't reach Laci on the home phone or her cell during the day, and when he got home, he found both the dog in the backyard with the leash on and the back door unlocked, neither of which was anything Laci would have done if she'd somehow caught a ride to her parents' house early. Between not being able to reach her all day and being worried about it, the dog being left outside still on its leash, and the back door being unlocked, it doesn't add up that Scott just assumed she was at her parents' house. Even if Scott did think there were excuses for those oddities and she was PROBABLY at her parents' house, by his own admission all three of those things were concerning, so does it really add up that he would eat, do laundry, and shower before checking to make sure she'd gone to her parents' house?

I did some additional reading about the Peterson family last night because the sibling stuff threw me off as well. Scott was the only child that was the son of both his mother and his father. His father had 3 children from a prior marriage, and his mother had 1 child from a prior marriage. However, in addition to Scott and that one other child, Jackie Peterson had given two children up for adoption. Those children found each other (as adults) then met Jackie and Scott and the rest of the family. Anne is one of those siblings - she became very close with Scott and especially Laci. She is the one who let Scott stay with her after Laci's disappearance and subsequently became convinced of his guilt. She did interviews about it and wrote a book.

I actually have some positive things to say about this one! Jessa and Ben seem like normal parents parenting their normal children normally. I actually like them these days. I liked Jessa talking about Spurgeon's happy dance. I think she's embracing regular old 2017 parenting with a normal dose of Jesus, as opposed to her own terrifying upbringing. Jinger and Jeremy seem like they're loving married life and are in no hurry to start a family. Jinger even said she can't imagine having two kids so close in age, so it sounds like whatever they may be doing to not be pregnant yet may be done AGAIN after their first baby to space their children out more than the average Duggar. I think Kendra is adorable. I liked that she was described mainly as bubbly and outgoing and entertaining as opposed to just sweet sweet sweet sweet sweet. I liked Joe in this episode too. I do think their courtship rules are embarrassingly specific and holier-than-thou. Other than Israel being really cute, I still have nothing positive to say about the Dillards. It was actually awkward watching their scenes. I don't think Jill said a single sentence that didn't imply that she hated every single aspect and moment of their time in Danger America. Joy and Austin are so boring that I almost forgot to include them in my post. I am now including them but realizing that I really have nothing to say!

Joy really does seem like the first Duggar girl to have no interests and an even worse education than some of the older kids . Maybe it's where she fell in the family? It seems like maybe the first batch of kids got slightly better homefooling, via Michelle before she passed it on to the older kids and via tutors they had coming to the house. The older kids are better musicians as well. I think the first four girls stuck together and became teenagers before the show became a huge hit. Jana seems to genuinely enjoy gardening and decorating and even caring for the kids. Jill was really into the midwifery. Jessa was more of a traditional girly girl, interested in hair and make-up and Pinteresty house projects. Jinger loved photography and was more genuinely interested in their travel. Joy was not part of that group. She's really the female howler. When she suddenly had to become a traditional Duggar woman, she had less education, no close siblings, no talents or interests, and no plan for her life whatsoever. The other married Duggar girls seemed like they were eager to get married but still kept in mind their other life goals - Jill with missions and midwifery, Jessa jumping into the mom thing but also sort of being the mastermind of their "brand," and Jinger jumping into a life of adventure. Joy really just seems like a lump of clay that had no interests and no options other than turning into her mom. I think she's actually the likeliest candidate to have 37572874 kids and nothing more. Time will tell about the four littlest girls.

Even though Philip's suicide and Liz's trauma over her childhood and loss of her brother was the bigger tragedy of this episode, I can't help but also be bothered by the idea that when Liz's mom sells that gorgeous land, she will probably fork over a ton of the money she gets from the sale to the CO$.

Holy crap, she JUST had that baby. She's one month postpartum! I can't stand Jill, but can we give her a break on her one month postpartum/post c-section body?

Everyone filters everything on Instagram always. This is for sure a non-issue.