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S02.E01: At Home & Away


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I thought Jill seemed depressed.

 

Absolutely!  She has never lived such an isolated life with maybe only Derick speaking English?  She has been surrounded by people all of her life, this is a huge change.   

Edited by Foghorn Leghorn
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The reason why the Duggars don't encourage their daughters to make mashed potatoes from scratch: They're peeling at least 20 potatoes. I'm fairly positive that scrubbing the skins, slicing and cooking as-is is not something those kids have ever seen. The box is simple and ready in 20 minutes or so. Plus, wouldn't want the J-slaves in training to cut themselves on kitchen knives!

 

I'll join the "I can't believe that nobody bothered to teach Jessa Blessa to cook before the wedding" jamboree. It isn't brain surgery to come up with a few dishes and work on the more challenging for company or holiday celebrations. Then again, I grew up with a mom that could stretch a dollar at mealtimes and taught me how to do it as well.

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I haven't watched (HUGE blessings to all those with a servant's heart who took one for the team), but it seems to me that the whole 'preparing to be a helpmeet' crap is just more fundie schtick that the Duggars pontificate endlessly about but don't actually adhere to. On the one hand, it's encouraging because it hopefully means that Jana and the Unmarrieds aren't facing the same kind of soul-crushing pressure that a lot of Quiverfull girls have to deal with. On the other hand, screw you, Michelle, for not only ensuring your daughters remain totally uneducated and unprepared to operate independently in this world, but not even bothering with the ONE SKILL--homemaking--that is supposed to give them purpose in life. To be confounded by rice and non-potato-flakes mashed potatoes is pathetic. I could make mashed potatoes by the time I was ten years old--all while going to public school and ballet and gymnastics. Maybe I should call up my mom and yell at her for trying to prepare me to be a helpmeet--she sure put more effort into it than Michelle ever did. Just stop lecturing people on ridiculous, nonsensical standards that you can't even be bothered to uphold. Jesus.

 

An absolutely-excellent rant, aja. LOVED the part about being confounded by potato flakes - that says it all, IMO - LOL. Thank you!

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I don't understand it myself but some people think prepared and processed food is just fine. If none of the Duggars have health problems, they probably tell themselves fresh food is overrated. My DIL is like this, and she is the SAH mom/main housekeeper while my son works long hours. She just does not cook and my son doesn't eat out of boxes, as he puts it. This is an ongoing deal for them - major difference in lifestyle.

At least Jessa made a case for real potatoes! And Joy was allowed to go online and look for instructions. She seemed pretty glued to her phone, too. Praise Jesus! Maybe they are rejecting some of the more stupid parental restrictions!

 

My guess is that a vast majority of the people who consider processed foods as Just Fine are ones who grew up with it themselves. It's certainly true in the Duggars' case. They honestly don't know any better because they've been fed over-sugared, over-salted, over-processed foods since they could eat solid food. 

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He looked like he wanted to be anywhere but there during the birthing process.  (I watched the episode leading up to the special beforehand).  And Jessa sounded like she was drugged.

Supposedly the fake midwife (Teresa), who delivered Spurge, and her hubby both love narcotic pain meds. Maybe she slipped Jessa a few.

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I noticed several of the Duggar kids choking out Spurgeon's name when referring to him. They almost sounded like they were half-laughing as they said it.  (For instance, one said to a little M-kid, "Come and meet your new cousin, Spurgeon!", but he sure sounded like he coudn't get the name out, though the name was lame, or was trying not to laugh as he said it.)  I wonder what the backstory there is.  Maybe JimBob doesn't like Charles Spurgeon, and this was a way for Ben to stick  it to him. 

Edited by OhioMom
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So the cupboard is usually bare at Casa Seewald? If this is true, then Me-chelle certainly did a bang-up job in instructing her daughters in the womanly arts, didn't she? Good grief, she neglected their secular educations to a criminal degree, and now she's also failed in training them to be the one thing they were born for - being wives and mothers? I honestly don't think I've ever encountered such a colossally-lazy mother. She either ignores her parental responsibilities - or pawns them off on others. Constantly - and for years now.

But she's Mother Of The Year, yo!

So, would the fresh produce section of the supermarket be considered Nike?

And Naked juice?? :-0

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I really, really, really hate to say this, but there was no faking the look the baby gave Jessa. You never saw a baby look at Michelle that way, hell, I never saw a picture of me smiling up at my detached mother.

 

Also have never seen any indication of Isreal looking at Jill that way.

 

I think Jessa genuinely loves and interacts with her kid. 

 

None I am done saying anything positive about these loons.

Off topic, I know, but I just wanted to quickly add that my mother never cared enough to even have her pic taken with me when I was a baby.
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I'm a glutton for punishment so I'm watching.

1. Why did Jinger put that baby in a glorified bath poof with Christmas lights?

2. We get it, Jessa, your kid = your responsibility. That's how it's supposed to work. At least for the first six weeks and that's when your brood mare of a mother passed you off to sister mom.

3. Poor, neglected Jordyn. That child looks more like she's being raised by wolves.

4. I could figure out how to make mashed potatoes (from potatoes) in the fourth grade. These are some dim witted SAHD.

5. Josh is a coward (I know, duh.) He ran off to bible prison rather than stand up and deal with his mess. Josh didn't have to help with the kids and a newborn while Anna had to shoulder all of the responsibilities that were dumped in her life. He is vile for so many reasons that have been ruminated a million times over. If he ever shows his mug on television, I will sit down, put pen to paper, and mail in my disgust at this molester and cheater being propped up by "family values." I'm a heathen and I value my family so much more than this scum bag.

6. Holy heart attack, look at all that butter. You females can't cook for shit, so what exactly do you do all day? Has Jessa Never made bean soup without the use of a can? Frozen biscuits? Give me a damn break. Butter isn't bad for you. Okay Dr. Jessa. *eyeroll*

7. Israel is sleeping in a pack and play? Well that has shades of Bathroom Boy. That's a terrible long term solution for a kid.

8. I'm really on board with something is medically wrong with Derick. I'm not one to make light of someones looks but he looks sick.

9. Spurgeon really is the worst name in the history of names.

10. Jinger, stop playing with Joy's hair around the food. Gross. Joy's green bean casserole slop makes me want to vomit.

11. I'd be shocked if Bin didn't already have a side piece.

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I'm the younger of Irish twins. My mother adored my brother. I spent my first 2 years in another state with my grandparents.My grandpa was a shutterbug. My mother was all for pictures of my brother, my grandpa would force me into them. He was not onboard with her belief that my brother deserved time to be the baby.

My sister came along two years after me.That was when it was insisted that I had to be incorporated and sent to live with my parents.

I never bonded with my mother, but my siblings to this day mourn her. She died in 1976! I felt so guilty at the time for not grieving enough. It took me years to be okay with that.

She never did forgive me for being born 11 months after my brother.

Michelle sort of does this in reverse: detached from one kid so she can move on to the next.

I am so sorry you never had a real mother type either.

Off topic, I know, but I just wanted to quickly add that my mother never cared enough to even have her pic taken with me when I was a baby.

Edited by dorcastrilling
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She has been surrounded by people all of her life, this is a huge change.

 

Exactly. And she has been surrounded all her life by people who look, talk, think and act exactly like her. She was isolated and protected from anybody who was even a tiny bit "different" and was taught that those "different" people were to be feared and avoided. And now she's been removed completely from her comfort zone. She was a needy, clingy bride back in Arkansas and now she's alone with nobody but her husband to hang onto. It's no wonder Derick looks like hell, he must be suffocating under the constant, crushing burden of keeping Jill happy. 

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dorcastrilling, so sorry to read that. If it's any consolation, my cousin is also an Irish twin, and the only girl. She was also shipped off to grandparents. Years later, my mom told me that my cousin's mom was suffering from severe post partum depression and that their dad had possibly forced himself on my aunt when one of them was conceived. Your grandpa sounds wonderful and I'm happy he documented your young years. I hardly have any baby pictures of myself.

If Ben is doing Christian rap, then at least Jessa is stepping out a little from her strict upbringing. She wasn't allowed to listen to anything with a "beat" before so I guess this is progress. Maybe by this time next year, she'll be jazzercizing to Amy Grant.

Edited by charmed1
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Wasn't Jana the one who helped Jill with the Nepali meal last season? I don't know what that meal entailed, but I wouldn't be surprised if she's limited on what she's allowed to "prepare" because certain people are too damn picky and cheap to buy fresh, quality, unprocessed ingredients.

That mashed potatoes conversation was telling. I think they had to tell Joy to look online to figure out how to make mashed potatoes from scratch.

The Minute Rice that Jana couldn't cook was part of that Nepali meal. Hasn't she ever made rice before? Even in a rice cooker? Or is rice too exotic for these freaks?

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I hate peeling potatoes so when I make mashed, I cook them with skins, then put them through a ricer. I doubt it saves any time but I like the texture. The Duggars could invest in several ricers and assign Hanny and all the other girls who LOVE to not be outside playing.

Or serve them steamed, with peels. Or roast them, the easiest thing they could ever make.

Perhaps I am too food-obsessed but jeesh. I am also a huge starch lover but their feast made me sad. Nothing green except a sad canned bean. I am a poet.

 

Me too, Tabby. I read something decades ago about most of the vitamins - and fiber - being in the potato's skin and since then have never peeled them. Although I often buy new or "baby" potatoes - they have such tender skins. All they need is a quick wash and you're ready to go. Mashed or roasted potatoes with skins are dee-lish-iss. Try adding half a dozen medium-sized chunked-up shallots before you steam, boil or nuke the taters too - the resulting mild onion flavor is awesome in the potato mix.

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Me too, Tabby. I read something decades ago about most of the vitamins - and fiber - being in the potato's skin and since then have never peeled them. Although I often buy new or "baby" potatoes - they have such tender skins. All they need is a quick wash and you're ready to go. Mashed or roasted potatoes with skins are dee-lish-iss. Try adding half a dozen medium-sized chunked-up shallots before you steam, boil or nuke the taters too - the resulting mild onion flavor is awesome in the potato mix.

Sounds delicious, and so easy, right? These are the kinds of baby steps that Jessa or Jill could easily adopt. And yay for nutrients, especially with kids in the mix.

No TV, dirty house, no cooking skills, average music skills, less than average education, no friends.

WHAT DO THEY DO ALL DAY?!?!!

"Projects." Lengthy projects that are sometimes interrupted by diaper changes, etc I confess, I am dying to know what the projects are. They have GOT to be more exciting than the embarrassing revelations about not knowing even the most basic life skills.

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Sounds delicious, and so easy, right? These are the kinds of baby steps that Jessa or Jill could easily adopt. And yay for nutrients, especially with kids in the mix.

 

Absolutely. Nothing could be easier to prepare than fresh potatoes, even for a first-timer. And good grief, have you ever met anyone who doesn't like them? I honestly don't think I've ever met a potato recipe I didn't want to try. Especially the ones where you do your prep and then park them in the oven for an hour and go on your merry way. Perfect for the Duggar girls.

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Did jessa have braces? I forgot. I remember Jill did. Jessa has a nice smile now. She is certainly showing it off with all her fake smiles and laughter.

Yes!! Someone posted upthread that Michelle didn't even train her girls to do "wife things" like cook. Or Jim Bob. He doesn't have a 9 to 5 job. He is home and around a lot...why can't he get some cooking instruction. Get a cooking "tutor" or something if Michelle really can't cook or is unable to teach the girls.

I agree, Ben looked really off his game last night.

I didn't get the vibe that Jessa is unhappy. She is clueless as to why Ben might be unhappy. She has no idea that a young man his age might not want to play house all day and be up with diapers at night...cleaning toilets for his (obnoxious) FIL. To be fair, getting married young might even be OK but I really think Ben wants a REAL job and a career. He might be getting frustrated at the age of 20. uh-oh. Not good, Jessa!

Ben is gonna be the one who makes a break for it. His sisters are more secular and Ben is already chatting with some rappers etc. Attempting to go to college. This Duggar smothering cult thing might be getting to him.

Ben is going to grab Jessa, Spurgeon and try to move...get away from the circus. Jessa doesn't know another life but Ben has a clue that he doesn't want to clean toilets for Jim Bob his whole life.

If that fails, Ben might run alone.

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Spurgey is a cute one. Why didn't Jessa put socks or booties on him during the pictures? I hate to see babies sockless when the rest of them are dressed nicely.

 

I hate to say I agree with Jessa on anything, but I think babies should always have bare feet in pictures.  To me, they are so much cuter than some socks or worse yet, giant shoes that take over the whole picture.

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I too have never been arsed to peel my to-be-mashed potatoes, and I generally just smush the hell out of 'em with the (clean) bottom of a Bell jar.

 

Thanks to everyone who pre-screened for me.  now I know roughly where to look for baby time and when to ff, lol.

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I'd love me a $300 Kitchen Aid and stainless appliances (this goes for both girls) in my apartment here in a major urban city in the US. Those girls have NO CLUE how good they have it. Did "love offerings" buy Jilly Muffin all the large appliances? One wonders. 

 

I will admit that when I got married one of the first things I bought with our wedding money was a Kitchen Aid stand mixer. 24 years later it's still going strong and I use it all the time. I definitely don't regret it. But I do have to wonder how much theirs gets used.

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I have been peeling potatoes since i was around nine or ten i think and i am a freaking PRO! I use a paring knife and peeling ten pounds doesn't faze me in the least. I even get myself set up in front of the tv with a bowl and a bag and peel without barely looking! I'm anal about it still cus my Dad used to joke we could feed a family of ten on what i left behind on the peeled skin, so it became a contest. .me against myself. Best time. .best presentation..I know. .lame. haha

Edited by MarysWetBar
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I'd love to know what these mysterious "Projects" are that keep Jessa so busy. Not cooking, they made that clear. Is she writing rap lyrics for Ben? Making more of those diamond shaped dangle earrings all the girls wear?

I have hope for J&J because their husbands seem modernized and laid back. Maybe they'll have some options in life outside of having 20 kids. And they speak like normal people, not in the syrupy little girl voice that Michelle favors, although Anna does seem to be following in Michelle's footsteps. Poor thing, Jim Bob is no prize but he's certainly not the troubled, cruel mess that Josh is.

Anna's oldest daughter resembles Tori spellings oldest daughter.

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I will admit that when I got married one of the first things I bought with our wedding money was a Kitchen Aid stand mixer. 24 years later it's still going strong and I use it all the time. I definitely don't regret it. But I do have to wonder how much theirs gets used.

Apparently, not much if her own quote (that I posted supra) is to be believed. It's all for show! 

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Watching the girls, especially Jessa, all pretend to be super best friends, jokey and totally comfortable etc, it's just freaky. We know about the semi-drudgery.

Anna's story is just sad.

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So was Jessa saying that she never lets Spurgie cry, an FU to all the flack that Jill & Derick received for the cruel crying-burrito-baby picture of Izzy?

 

She so reminds me of Josh & JB in that her every action seems calculated to the TV cameras. This chick is going to crash and burn when she is know longer living for her little piece of kibble for ever sentence she utters.

Edited by GeeGolly
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Remember when Jinger was explaining in a TH how embarrassed she and Jana get when Jessa talks about bodily functions? They showed it after Jessa was talking about Spurgeon filling his diaper, but her level of embarrassment and talking about her and Jana turning red and feeling awkward just didn't line up with what was being said. They don't really think it's embarrassing to talk about an infant pooping, do they? Something about the way she was talking made it sound like maybe Jessa defrauds them with other... ahem... intimate details about her and Bin. Thoughts? Maybe I'm just reaching way too hard here, but it just seemed really strange to me.

Edited by becca3891
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Who the hell needs a recipe for mashed potatoes? Those are the easiest thing in the world to make.

You are forgetting that this is a family who thinks potato chips are vegetables.

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The "young wife prepares her first Thanksgiving dinner for ALL the Duggars" was a boring story-line when Anna did it, why are we seeing it again?

 

 

 

Because this is the only story line they have? Seriously.

 

And yet 1.9 million people watched it. So there's that.

Okay, how many episodes of Duggar dinners/parties have we seen, and they still make a big deal of cooking for a large number of people? \

 

To be fair, I remember reading about one change-of-pace episode in which Jill made a big deal about cooking for a small number of people.

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She says they go to her family's house "because they have food." Well, that's debatable. 

 

It shows you what her standards for food are, though.

 

Just as we've always noted that their educational standards will only go downhill generation by generation as each group is educated by a less educated person, apparently their food standards will do the same. Amazing, as almost everybody else in the universe raises their standards as the generations go on.

Edited by Churchhoney
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None surprised that Jessa ended up sitting on the couch with baby while sisters did the cooking.  Cooking is expected of her as a married woman (in their world) so the 11 months before she delivered Surgeon why didn't she learn to cook more than cousus (or whatever it was)?!

 

And I'd put big money on a bet that what she "learned to cook" was the add-water-and-oil-to-the-mix, bring it to a boil, then simmer box of Near East couscous.

 

Not that that isn't good and a pretty real food for them to serve. But Jessa making it without the premixed package? Or adding meat, vegetables, nuts, etc., to it to make it a full meal, experimenting with things to add to keep it interesting and maybe turn that box into several good meals you can whip up easily? Naaaa.

While the girls were at the store Joy said if they eat all that food they were going to be as big as a Heffalump,  so I guess that means they get to read Winnie the Pooh.... 

 

Or watch the Disney movie. Somehow I'd bet that the actual Milne would be too much for them, in a literary way. I really can't see them actually reading something that British and poetic. I don't think they'd get it or be able to follow it, even, given how literal they seem to be.

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The reason why the Duggars don't encourage their daughters to make mashed potatoes from scratch: They're peeling at least 20 potatoes. I'm fairly positive that scrubbing the skins, slicing and cooking as-is is not something those kids have ever seen. The box is simple and ready in 20 minutes or so. Plus, wouldn't want the J-slaves in training to cut themselves on kitchen knives!

 

The reason why the Duggars don't encourage their daughters to make mashed potatoes from scratch: They're peeling at least 20 potatoes.

 

 

With all those kids, though, you'd think they would have figured out that you don't necessarily have to peel them. My family just "boiled them in the jackets," as my grandmother used to say, and then chopped and mashed them up, adding a little milk, butter, yogurt, chives or whatever you have, as needed, for softening and added flavor. Then you get the added benefit of the nutrients in and under the skin. Hard to see why anybody can't figure out how to mash a potato. The apes figure out how to mash fruits and vegetables to eat them.

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 Maybe JimBob doesn't like Charles Spurgeon, and this was a way for Ben to stick  it to him. 

 

I wish I thought Jim Bob were smart enough to know who the guy is, let alone have an opinion on his ideas! Cause I'd kind of love Bin taking some kind of revenge.

 

Maybe JB suggested naming the kid after Gothard. Not Bill, just "Gothard" .... or "Gothard Spurgeon." And then Bin said, "Oh, no, that's a ridiculous name!"

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"Projects." Lengthy projects that are sometimes interrupted by diaper changes, etc I confess, I am dying to know what the projects are. They have GOT to be more exciting than the embarrassing revelations about not knowing even the most basic life skills.

 

I want to think that. But then I remember that these are the Duggars.

 

And I think about those birthday messages and birthday signs. And I remember that they picked up their cooking skills and standards from their parents. So they probably picked up their project skills there, too.

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Of course, we never saw MEchelle hold or even look at one of the grand babies esp Spurgey. They showed Grandma holding him. You know Kelly Bates would have been all over those grands from the time she stepped out of the car.

I'm wondering about the timeline with the dinner, too. Jessa said they went shopping one day to have the feast the next day. If they bought frozen turkeys, how did they thaw in that short of time? Maybe she did the cold bath thing but I doubt it cuz we probably would have seen it (like when Anna did it.) Maybe they did buy fresh, but Jessa mentioned something about hoping the turkeys were thawed enough when she was getting them buttered up. She easily pulled out the innards which I always seem to have trouble getting out no matter how thawed my turkey is. Also, where was the stuffing, sweet potatoes, cranberries? I'm surprised they had gravy. It was probably out of a jar even tho we saw them pour the juice/drippings out of the pan. Homemade gravy would have been over the top in their cooking skills. They go for the least they can which they admitted to. In my family, we have certain family recipes that are made each year- a corn casserole, a wilted lettuce salad or a broccoli salad. "I can't wait to have Grandma Duggar's fruit salad this year" kind of thing. You never see this with the Duggars. Well, they now have Hannie's green bean casserole.

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Anna's oldest daughter resembles Tori spellings oldest daughter.

That Dean McDermott gets around, doesn't he?! ;) Such a horndog.

I did not watch, but am reading the comments here. :) I thought Jessa and Ben said they would be calling Spurgey by their nickname -- Quincy? That's not happening?

Too much energy being wasted on the Duggars' lack of cooking or nutritional skills! That stuff has never been important to these people. Do they still adore chick-fil-A's grease and hate? Good! Let them clog their arteries to their hearts' content!

Edited by sleekandchic
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Remember when Jinger was explaining in a TH how embarrassed she and Jana get when Jessa talks about bodily functions? They showed it after Jessa was talking about Spurgeon filling his diaper, but her level of embarrassment and talking about her and Jana turning red and feeling awkward just didn't line up with what was being said. They don't really think it's embarrassing to talk about an infant pooping, do they? Something about the way she was talking made it sound like maybe Jessa defrauds them with other... ahem... intimate details about her and Bin. Thoughts? Maybe I'm just reaching way too hard here, but it just seemed really strange to me.

I agree it's odd for two women who've been raising babies their entire lives to get embarrassed over an infant crapping his diaper. I remember back when Anna was pregnant and touring on the Stink Bus. Fake Midwife Jill was showing the camera a suitcase full of supplies they had on hand in case Anna went into labor early. There was a box of maxi pads and when Jill realized they were in the shot, she rushed to cover them up with her hand. Maybe normal bodily functions are in the Shameful Category, along with fun, dancing, education and Catholics.

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Ratings are in and sadly high enough to continue: 1.913 M viewers and a .61 rating.

 They got better total numbers than the RHOBH, but less 18-49.

Anna's oldest daughter resembles Tori spellings oldest daughter.

That is just beyond the pale.
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This show is so boring and really is trash tv. Of course the babies are cute. Their parents should think they are the cutest babies in the world. If anyone in that family ever gardens or really leans to cook I will eat my hat. The men could learn to cook also. They eat. The adult children are playing the hand they were dealt but it's an awful show, terrible food, such fake dialogue and crappy acting.

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