Season 8 Discussion

[floridamom]

I think Kelly's mother was married in a Lutheran church by a Lutheran minister. I wonder how Gil felt not being asked to officiate.

[Sew Sumi]

And isn't she on her 3rd husband?

[65mickey]

I can not understand how a religion can be so anti-abortion but not look favorable on adoption. Seems like they would do everything in their power to promote adoption not shun it. 

[floridamom]

Yes, it was Kelly's mom's 3rd marriage. She was divorced from Kelly's father, he has since passed away. She remarried; don't know if husband #1 was already deceased or not, then she was widowed with husband #2. She now has married husband #3. I think this is how it went down.

[floridamom]

If you are so 'anti-abortion', you had better be 'pro-adoption." I would think these types of people would be lining up to adopt these children and give them a home and the 'right' upbringing. I don't see them within 5 miles of an adoption agency, do you?

[andromeda331]

So now ballroom dancing is okay because its classical? I guess couples never got turned on by ballroom dancing? 

When Kelly kept asking Michael about moving home I wondered if it was so she could make Michael raise her kids. 

I never stop laughing at Kelly's though process while wondering how any of their fans believe these people really care about their kids. So Kelly talks about her older children growing up and moving out, how she worries it'll be different for the kids that remain. So naturally she's happy to be able to shove them off on ERIN who will do a project or something with them instead of spending any time with them. She also mentions being able to shove them off on her other kids But you know its for "bonds" or something. 

Carlin's wedding planning begins. So she wants an out door wedding, but a stage with windows but no glass and a chandelier. Thanks for not disappointing Carlin. I don't know who annoyed me more Erin for just volunteering Chad or Chad looking exhausted and very much like he didn't want to built it. Maybe both of them.

[Lisa418722]

A few weeks ago when Josie's wedding dress designer mentioned Josie needing to be able to move her arms while dancing Kelly looked horrified and interrupted her with the word, "hugging."  Then this week dancing seems to be OK (at least ballroom dancing). Has she never watched "Dancing With The Stars"? I know Carlin mentioned the first dance with Evan and the "daddy/daughter dance."  She kept going on about the "daddy/daughter" dance more than dancing with Evan. 

Edited March 9, 2019 by Lisa418722

[BitterApple]

7 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

I don't know who annoyed me more Erin for just volunteering Chad or Chad looking exhausted and very much like he didn't want to built it. Maybe both of them.

Lol, right? I would NEVER commit my husband to doing anything without checking with him first. Maybe they're so used to Chad saying "yes" they just assume he's on board, but still. Hopefully one day he can locate his missing balls and demand they move back to where his family is in Oklahoma. The Bateseses are the worst kind of greedy, grifty, demanding in-laws.

[cereality]

I agree with the posters above who say that Chad seems different. I think he is over it — his wife, his grifting inlaws, his loud sisters in law, all of it. He’d never locate his balls and demand a move back to Okla because it would be too obvious that he was doing it to say — I’m over YOUR family, time for my fam now. But I wish he’d demand a move to someplace close like Nashville. He’s the sole breadwinner, what’s she gonna do if he determines that as Carlin said, there’s much more construction industry there than here?? Sure it’ll put him in range of his screaming sisters in law in Nashville, but he can draw some lines before moving (and actually hold those lines) that Erin can see her sisters and nieces/nephews as much as she wants all week long but he won’t participate in an activity with them more than 1x/month and won’t be doing projects for them.

They’ve been married for what 6-7 yrs?? Do fundie couples have to live as a polite couple on a second date for the rest of their lives? Bc 6 yrs into a marriage, most spouses (even those from arranged marriage cultures where you hardly know each other when you get married) are VERY comfortable with each other. Comfortable enough to say — ha — no way I’m building your sister a house with windows and electrical to hang a chandelier so she can get married in it, you guys need to find a contractor w free time to take on that job, I have no time and can’t take time away from paying gigs for that since you know those put food on OUR table. I feel like Zach and Whit would have zero problems having this convo and maybe John/Alyssa as well; the rest of the husbands are smiling doofuses who apparently will resentfully go along with what a wife wants rather than opening their mouths.

And btw Michael has said she’d adopt. I assume this comes from her true love of kids plus being close with at least one (or maybe both) of Kelly’s adopted sisters. We saw her at her aunts wedding and by the way they spoke you could tell they know each other well, talk off camera frequently etc. Plus IIRC that aunt is African American as is her husband. Michael - unlike the rest of these people - I think genuinely would not have a problem with a black or Asian baby; often you have to be open to that in adoption as white babies are very hard to come by in private adoption and sometimes the fees etc make that a non starter. Michael - unlike most fundies - I think genuinely believes that everyone is Gods child, deserves love etc. Brandon OTOH is likely the hold up. He’s fundie thru and thru and is likely saying no to adoption bc as we’ve seen, he’s ok without kids and he’d probably rather not have kids than (heaven forbid for fundies) have a baby of a different race.

[Absolom]

Ratings for Thursday:  259 K viewers and a .04 rating.  147th cable show of the day.

[LynneH]

On ‎3‎/‎8‎/‎2019 at 7:53 PM, floridamom said:

If you are so 'anti-abortion', you had better be 'pro-adoption." I would think these types of people would be lining up to adopt these children and give them a home and the 'right' upbringing. I don't see them within 5 miles of an adoption agency, do you?

I've talked with some people that appear to have some strong "anti - abortion" views.  Most of them feel that the Lord gifted you with a pregnancy and it is your responsibility to love it and raise it to adulthood accordingly.  These same people are not necessarily "anti-adoption" but are more of the opinion that a child should be loved and raised by the biological parents and therefore: adoption is acceptable if the parents have passed or are incarcerated for a decade and therefore unable to rear a child appropriately.

[lookeyloo]

11 hours ago, LynneH said:

I've talked with some people that appear to have some strong "anti - abortion" views.  Most of them feel that the Lord gifted you with a pregnancy and it is your responsibility to love it and raise it to adulthood accordingly.  These same people are not necessarily "anti-adoption" but are more of the opinion that a child should be loved and raised by the biological parents and therefore: adoption is acceptable if the parents have passed or are incarcerated for a decade and therefore unable to rear a child appropriately.

This is not directed at you because I also know people like you describe - I guess their “Lord” gives them the right to tell other people how to live and what decisions  to make regardless of the other people’s circumstances and beliefs. Ugh. Would love to put the original people in a similar circumstance and let them deal with some other “Lord’s” beliefs. They might gain some insight and empathy. Probably not. 

[65mickey]

12 hours ago, LynneH said:

I've talked with some people that appear to have some strong "anti - abortion" views.  Most of them feel that the Lord gifted you with a pregnancy and it is your responsibility to love it and raise it to adulthood accordingly.  These same people are not necessarily "anti-adoption" but are more of the opinion that a child should be loved and raised by the biological parents and therefore: adoption is acceptable if the parents have passed or are incarcerated for a decade and therefore unable to rear a child appropriately.

What if the biological parents simply don't want to raise the child? What if they are abusive or addicts. What if they just surrender the child? Other than Kelly's mom I haven't seen any of these fundies adopting children. So the Lord gifts a child to an uneducated 16 year old? Nope don't buy this argument. Me thinks mostly these women just want to be pregnant.  

[lookeyloo]

8 hours ago, 65mickey said:

What if the biological parents simply don't want to raise the child? What if they are abusive or addicts. What if they just surrender the child? Other than Kelly's mom I haven't seen any of these fundies adopting children. So the Lord gifts a child to an uneducated 16 year old? Nope don't buy this argument. Me thinks mostly these women just want to be pregnant.  

Lots of times these young girls glamorize pregnancy and motherhood and just "want someone to love me".  Until baby turns terrible two.  Then start over with new baby.  

[Pasha Kitty]

On 2/22/2019 at 11:31 AM, BitterApple said:

I think Michael would be willing to adopt, but I'm not so sure about Brandon. He strikes me as the type of guy who'd be weird about taking on a child that wasn't biologically his. I know it isn't any of my business, but I really wonder what's their issue? In a family of super-breeders  (Kelly, Erin, Alyssa) and honeymoon babies (Josie, Tori), it's interesting how Michael has struggled. Part of me wonders if the problem isn't Brandon and Michael's just being the dutiful Gothard wife and taking the "blame." Otherwise, that's a really shitty stroke of bad luck that the one daughter who truly loves children can't have one. 

Bitter Apple, another brilliant post.  I'm still laughing at your 'super-breeders'.

Well, you said it first.  It's Brandon, and she's paying the price.  Give her a wild ride on a stallion and she'll get knocked up.  It's a no brainer.  

[Patricia07]

I guess it was Brandon or no one for Michaela. I wonder if getting her wish might have cost her a family. If she had the choice again of Brandon and no family, or another fundie guy and a family, what would she choose? 

[RebeccatheWriter]

18 hours ago, Patricia07 said:

I guess it was Brandon or no one for Michaela. I wonder if getting her wish might have cost her a family. If she had the choice again of Brandon and no family, or another fundie guy and a family, what would she choose? 

Michaela was getting a little old for a fundie without many guys beating down her door. She's very attractive, but isn't as flashy attractive as her sisters. She's also not as outgoing and loud as many of her sisters. That works for a wife, but not in landing a husband.

From their stories of Brandon and Michaela, she was interested in him for some time before he ever made any sort of move. When he did approach Gil about her, Michaela was not sure that it was him asking about her. Apparently, she told Gil and Kelly that there was only one person she was interested in when they approached her with the news, not realizing it was Brandon who was doing the asking. Again, I don't know if this is true since their stories about things tend to change each season. 

[LongDenimFrumper]

Ummmmmm where the heck did Evan get the money to buy Carlin that ring? If he's been saving for it, he must have been piggy banking up since birth. Guilty pleasure but I love browsing around through engagement rings...well browsing  jewelry in general. That appears to be a very healthy full carat or more diamond in the center of that engagement ring. I finally got a good close up this episode. I'm sure Up just casually zoomed in there. At any rate, I've seen similar styles from $9K to $15K++++ Carlin must be quite pleased with herself knowing she has the biggest and flashiest "rink" (as they call them in Tennessee. lol).

I also love how all of them say "pitchers" instead of "pictures". Kelly Jo loves talking about the weddin' pitchers. 

[BitterApple]

The jeweler was featured on the show, so I wonder if he gave Evan a big discount in exchange for the free publicity. The mark-up on diamonds is so ridiculous, he could've slashed the price significantly and still made a profit. 

Josie's ring is pretty big (well, by Fundie standards) as well. 

[iluvobx]

5 hours ago, LongDenimFrumper said:

Ummmmmm where the heck did Evan get the money to buy Carlin that ring? If he's been saving for it, he must have been piggy banking up since birth. Guilty pleasure but I love browsing around through engagement rings...well browsing  jewelry in general. That appears to be a very healthy full carat or more diamond in the center of that engagement ring. I finally got a good close up this episode. I'm sure Up just casually zoomed in there. At any rate, I've seen similar styles from $9K to $15K++++ Carlin must be quite pleased with herself knowing she has the biggest and flashiest "rink" (as they call them in Tennessee. lol).

I also love how all of them say "pitchers" instead of "pictures". Kelly Jo loves talking about the weddin' pitchers. 

4 hours ago, BitterApple said:

The jeweler was featured on the show, so I wonder if he gave Evan a big discount in exchange for the free publicity. The mark-up on diamonds is so ridiculous, he could've slashed the price significantly and still made a profit. 

Josie's ring is pretty big (well, by Fundie standards) as well. 

Remember that both of them work in non fundie jobs.    People who work in trade jobs really do make a lot of money.  Also, production might have help with the cost. 

Another secret, the cost is very different if you are buying retail or wholesale or a different type of store.  I know this for a fact.

[LongDenimFrumper]

Where is Carlin working? I thought she was the one that was finishing up school as a music major at Clown college. Did she get a job?!  Is Evan going to be an electrician? I knew Josie was a hair stylist and Kelton was a plumber but not totally sure about CarVan's current employment. 

Unrelated topic but I also saw where Gil let the cat out of the bag on Carlin's venue. Castleton Farms... not a cheap venue either $9K base for just the venue. UP must surely be paying for that because there is no way Gil would fork over that kind of cash. They must be getting some freebies somewhere along the way. Carlin is getting the bourgiest wedding yet. I feel bad for the little girls. No way the show will be around long enough to pay for their weddings. 

Edited March 14, 2019 by LongDenimFrumper

[BitterApple]

2 hours ago, LongDenimFrumper said:

 Carlin is getting the bourgiest wedding yet. 

Should we place bets on how long it will be before Erin demands a re-do like Whitney did? It has to be killing her that she had the typical crap Fundie wedding while her younger sisters are getting upgraded dresses, venues, honeymoons and rings. 

[BitterApple]

Kelly: "Chad needs to open a furniture store." Kinda hard to do that when he spends all his time crafting freebies for the family.

Tori's apartment is so boring and bland. What does she do all day? She doesn't work, doesn't cook and apparently couldn't be bothered to put a room together for her son. I'd love to know what she does with her time.

[sATL]

On 3/4/2019 at 9:35 AM, RebeccatheWriter said:

While I know they get dressed up for the cameras, I wonder if any of them are comfortable enough to put on a pair of sweats, an oversized t-shirt, ditch the bra, and watch movies or read a book on the couch with their husbands. It must be exhausting to always be on point and perfect for your man.   

And I wonder if the reverse is true for the guys...are they always on point for their women ..

 I just had an image of  "Al Bundy" - sitting on the couch with his hand in his pants..

Edited March 15, 2019 by sATL

[sATL]

8 hours ago, LongDenimFrumper said:

Where is Carlin working? I thought she was the one that was finishing up school as a music major at Clown college. Did she get a job?!  Is Evan going to be an electrician? I knew Josie was a hair stylist and Kelton was a plumber but not totally sure about CarVan's current employment. 

Unrelated topic but I also saw where Gil let the cat out of the bag on Carlin's venue. Castleton Farms... not a cheap venue either $9K base for just the venue. UP must surely be paying for that because there is no way Gil would fork over that kind of cash. They must be getting some freebies somewhere along the way. Carlin is getting the bourgiest wedding yet. I feel bad for the little girls. No way the show will be around long enough to pay for their weddings. 

One hour specials on any network... wasn't Alyssa's wedding featured by ABC night-line or something like that ?

And Josie Duggar wedding ? Major and cable network coverage... Esp. the Today show... special edition...

Edited March 15, 2019 by sATL

[riverblue22]

1 hour ago, BitterApple said:

Tori's apartment is so boring and bland. What does she do all day? She doesn't work, doesn't cook and apparently couldn't be bothered to put a room together for her son. I'd love to know what she does with her time.

I'm sure she spends her days praying and reading her King James Bible, like a good fundie girl!

[sATL]

5 minutes ago, riverblue22 said:

I'm sure she spends her days praying and reading her King James Bible, like a good fundie girl!

 repeating the same post when the topic/question/concern came up on a recent  Counting On episode ...

" And they spend their nights having sex , after evening prayers...."

Not much time left for going to Hobby Lobby looking to make the place homey.

[tabloidlover]

3 hours ago, BitterApple said:

Kelly: "Chad needs to open a furniture store." Kinda hard to do that when he spends all his time crafting freebies for the family.

Tori's apartment is so boring and bland. What does she do all day? She doesn't work, doesn't cook and apparently couldn't be bothered to put a room together for her son. I'd love to know what she does with her time.

I vote for sitting on her ass on the couch, browsing sm on her phone

[andromeda331]

2 hours ago, BitterApple said:

Kelly: "Chad needs to open a furniture store." Kinda hard to do that when he spends all his time crafting freebies for the family.

Tori's apartment is so boring and bland. What does she do all day? She doesn't work, doesn't cook and apparently couldn't be bothered to put a room together for her son. I'd love to know what she does with her time.

That's what I was wondering too. She doesn't seem to do anything. Did she even help in anyway to the work putting together the nursery? Maybe I missed a scene but I didn't see her spray painting, painting or doing anything. Then when Bobby got home she said she hadn't seen anything going on in the nursery. I have the same question for Kelly. I didn't see her doing anything either unless I missed it. She held a baby and another scene she was in the kitchen area when others were working on stuff. Lawson was annoying me. Okay, we get it you don't see what the vision for the wall is. Let it go or go home. I was annoyed by them all at the thrift store they kept going back and forth to the clothes and decorations. How hard is it get the stuff for the nursery first and move onto clothes? 

Chad still looks tired. Bobby still seems annoyed by Tori. 

I actually liked some of Erin's ideas which surprised me I liked the idea for the little chairs and I liked the wall.  

[65mickey]

7 hours ago, sATL said:

One hour specials on any network... wasn't Alyssa's wedding featured by ABC night-line or something like that ?

And Josie Duggar wedding ? Major and cable network coverage... Esp. the Today show... special edition...

Josie Duggar is 9 years old. Not sure if you mean Josie Bates. Did NBC, CBS or ABC cover this? Special edition of the today show?  That sounds like the royal wedding last year. I thought it was just filmed for UP network. Last night's show was boring.  Courting, engagement, wedding, baby REPEAT. Next season lineup will be Carlin's wedding, Josie's baby and I'm guessing Katie will be the next one to marry. Lawson was super annoying to me for some reason. Hanging about and bossing everyone. 

[sATL]

39 minutes ago, 65mickey said:

Josie Duggar is 9 years old. Not sure if you mean Josie Bates. Did NBC, CBS or ABC cover this? Special edition of the today show?  That sounds like the royal wedding last year. I thought it was just filmed for UP network. Last night's show was boring.  Courting, engagement, wedding, baby REPEAT. Next season lineup will be Carlin's wedding, Josie's baby and I'm guessing Katie will be the next one to marry. Lawson was super annoying to me for some reason. Hanging about and bossing everyone. 

I meant Duggar... in the context of seeing either/both of the last set of the unmarried Bates & Duggar girls being on the air  "long enough to pay for their weddings".

And if they are NOT on UP/TLC on a weekly basis some other network will cover the wedding story . Both families have been on the air (ie in the news) too long just being part of 19 children.

Josie birth was the birth of the year (b/c she has 18 siblings) , so I wouldn't be surprised if her wedding was also an major news event. Yes, she (Josie Duggar) is 9 now - so that really only means about 10 yrs out.

As far as the last Bates girls, Kelli has gone overboard with the current set of weddings, so I would think she will do everything possible to make sure the current littles (  Addie, Ellie and Callie) have their " big event". 

Cute little Jeb/Judson - now when they take a bride... tear jerker...

Edited March 15, 2019 by sATL

[65mickey]

Okay I see what you are saying that by the time Josie Duggar gets married there will be major network coverage. Can't say that I agree with you on this. These people are just not that important. They are oddities in my opinion that some of us watch on a TV show. I dare say most people in this county have never heard of the Bates family. 

[RebeccatheWriter]

13 hours ago, sATL said:

One hour specials on any network... wasn't Alyssa's wedding featured by ABC night-line or something like that ?

1

Her wedding was shown in clips as part of a 17 minute story on Night Line's magazine show. Most of the footage from the family was from previous stories in the days when TLC was pimping them out to ABC for news prior to United Bates of America. There were essentially two stories prior to this that included Juju Chang (including her shopping for a bathing suit modest enough for them with Lawson judging) and I'm not sure if they got the extra story with the wedding included as a follow up to that or if ABC reached out to them for something for a now defunct show - Nightline exists but their  magazine format show doesn't any longer. It's still available on the ABC News website in two parts. 

The story was about the whole family and showed Alyssa's wedding and said that she was the first of the children to move out of state. I believe there was a small clip of family coming to visit in Florida and her saying she didn't want that many kids.

I can assure you that none of the Bates or Duggar kids are getting a primetime television special on a network. With how magazine shows are now almost exclusively dedicated to true crime, they probably would only garner one if they killed someone. Josie Duggar won't get much of a mention at all. NBC, ABC, and CBS are all still holding grudges that the Duggars went to Fox News to discuss the child sexual abuse reveal (in a highly controlled and featuresque setting) with Megyn Kelly. Note that they don't do the feature stories on Today any longer with family news. The media folks don't like it when they get lied to and certainly not by someone like Jim Bob. The Bates family got some good PR out of their TLC relationship, but UP doesn't have those connections. Given who does PR and media relations for the Bates, I would say they'd be lucky to get a local story in the Anderson County newspaper once the show is over. 

Edited March 15, 2019 by RebeccatheWriter

[Kathy]

Why did they even invite Lawson?  He didn't act like he wanted to be there and I just wanted to reach out and smack him upside the head.  Erin has ONE decorating style, her style and everyone thinks she is designer of the year?  I loved when, I think it was Zack, said it looked like a bunch of tape stuck to the wall.  Lol!  Chad seems so over doing all the grunt work for every freaking family member.  Erin needs to stop volunteering his services all the time without asking him first.  Kelly's high pitched excited voice annoys me.

[Tikichick]

I thought Lawson was there because he is crashing there since they live in Nashville and he is in Nashville trying to get his music career off the ground.  I thought that was also the primary reason the nursery was being set up with another bed in it -- including yet another spare mattress on the floor underneath that bed from what I could see.  

[BitterApple]

I didn't like the taped decals on the wall, but I thought the room came out cute otherwise. I don't know why Lawson was being such a snot. He's crashing at Tori's (presumably) rent-free, so it wouldn't kill him to spend a few hours helping her out. 

One thing I forgot to mention during last week's episode is how absurd it is to have light gray carpeting in the new church. That stuff will be filthy and trashed within a month. Assuming it sees a lot of foot traffic, that is.

[RebeccatheWriter]

The decals weren't that appealing to me. Having used decals on my walls in an apartment, this could be a safety issue with the baby. The humidity was high in our apartment and those decals came off randomly about 2-3 weeks after I put them up. I wouldn't want them to fall in a crib where a baby could try to ingest them. 

While Lawson should have been helping out if he is staying there during his "musical" pursuits, it would have driven me nuts to have all those kids underfoot. It would have made for a good (for this show) secondary story to show Gil watching his grandchildren while the others went to help do the nursery. Yes, we know that Katie and Carlin (if not at school or wedding planning) and the other kids would have done most of the work. 

Kelly Jo seems to be drinking the same thing as Michelle. Has she met Tori before? She seemed so clueless about the pregnancy and how far along Tori was toward her due date. If they wanted to be expository about the due date and all that, they could have left in the moment Tori says she's four weeks out from her due date or the one where Kelly Jo asks. We didn't need both within seconds of each other. 

22 hours ago, LongDenimFrumper said:

Unrelated topic but I also saw where Gil let the cat out of the bag on Carlin's venue. Castleton Farms... not a cheap venue either $9K base for just the venue. UP must surely be paying for that because there is no way Gil would fork over that kind of cash. They must be getting some freebies somewhere along the way. Carlin is getting the bourgiest wedding yet. I feel bad for the little girls. No way the show will be around long enough to pay for their weddings. 

2

I would bet they got a discount, but no way is Castleton Farms forgoing any money for the minuscule amount of money UP publicity would provide. I said it on another board, but the Bates haven't been very good to other stores and designers, etc. After the way they filmed Miss Renee basically calling out the designer of Josie's dress for not including a seam allowance and essentially accusing the consultant of lying about it, I would bet there will be fewer vendors willing to deal with them. 

Castleton Farms is not hurting for business, especially in April, May, or June. I just can't see them comping the whole thing. Maybe a 20%-30% discount or forgoing some of the normally mandatory charges regarding using non-sanctioned catering (no way are they actually using a legit caterer) or florists (Aunt probably isn't on the list either). 

[sATL]

On 2/22/2019 at 11:31 AM, BitterApple said:

I think Michael would be willing to adopt, but I'm not so sure about Brandon. He strikes me as the type of guy who'd be weird about taking on a child that wasn't biologically his. I know it isn't any of my business, but I really wonder what's their issue? In a family of super-breeders  (Kelly, Erin, Alyssa) and honeymoon babies (Josie, Tori), it's interesting how Michael has struggled. Part of me wonders if the problem isn't Brandon and Michael's just being the dutiful Gothard wife and taking the "blame." Otherwise, that's a really shitty stroke of bad luck that the one daughter who truly loves children can't have one. 

As far as last night's epi, total waste of time. I watched ten minutes before my eyes got sore from all the rolling and I turned to something else. 

On 3/12/2019 at 10:04 PM, Pasha Kitty said:

Bitter Apple, another brilliant post.  I'm still laughing at your 'super-breeders'.

Well, you said it first.  It's Brandon, and she's paying the price.  Give her a wild ride on a stallion and she'll get knocked up.  It's a no brainer.  

hmmm.. interesting theory...

I agree -. Its a very private matter but to not say anything and to almost hide them from the camera is also 'not nice'.  We the audience aren't heartless. We're concerned. The last time I saw Brandon he was chasing sand? for some wedding and Michela just grabs the 1st baby she can find and walks away.

If Micheala was having a medical issue  - (IE Erin) I guess we would have heard of it by now . esp if there was a medical procedure to help. Being in Chicago (mega hosp. and specialists all over) and with the help of ole Dr. Vick - surely some MD-OBGYN would have an educational opinion of the situation.

How long was Alyssa married before she was pregnant with the 1st ?

Isn't there a medical solution to assist a man with low sperm count to raise it? One of the mega baby shows - I thought the couple did something and subsequently hit the jackpot (5 babies) . I think it was TLC- Quinits Surprise. Is there a such thing as an infertile young man (he's shooting blanks) who never had a vasectomy ?

[65mickey]

25 minutes ago, sATL said:

hmmm.. interesting theory...

I agree -. Its a very private matter but to not say anything and to almost hide them from the camera is also 'not nice'.  We the audience aren't heartless. We're concerned. The last time I saw Brandon he was chasing sand? for some wedding and Michela just grabs the 1st baby she can find and walks away.

If Micheala was having a medical issue  - (IE Erin) I guess we would have heard of it by now . esp if there was a medical procedure to help. Being in Chicago (mega hosp. and specialists all over) and with the help of ole Dr. Vick - surely some MD-OBGYN would have an educational opinion of the situation.

How long was Alyssa married before she was pregnant with the 1st ?

Isn't there a medical solution to assist a man with low sperm count to raise it? One of the mega baby shows - I thought the couple did something and subsequently hit the jackpot (5 babies) . I think it was TLC- Quinits Surprise. Is there a such thing as an infertile young man (he's shooting blanks) who never had a vasectomy ?

I think it was said on Quints By Surprise they used a sperm donor.  Brandon and Michael might be hesitant to discuss their fertility issues with the public. Don't blame them. In fact I admire them for not revealing such personal information. 

[Bessiesue]

3 hours ago, RebeccatheWriter said:

The decals weren't that appealing to me. Having used decals on my walls in an apartment, this could be a safety issue with the baby. The humidity was high in our apartment and those decals came off randomly about 2-3 weeks after I put them up. I wouldn't want them to fall in a crib where a baby could try to ingest them. 

Add that to the fact they used spray paint, instead of using black contact paper.  Tori did say she was cooking which is why she did not see/help in the room.  Agree with the fact that Bobby is so over Tori, and shoots darts towards her.

[BitterApple]

54 minutes ago, sATL said:

How long was Alyssa married before she was pregnant with the 1st ?

She announced around six months into the marriage, so she was pregnant pretty early on, just like her sisters.

Michael's in an awkward position. She likely has no desire to give full disclosure on the inner workings of her lady parts, but not saying anything just feeds the elephant in the room. If you look at her Instagram, it's flooded with comments like "I can't wait for you to announce a pregnancy" and "I pray you and Brandon are blessed with a child soon!." I know people mean well, but they're probably making it worse for her, as if she isn't under enough pressure as it is. 

Regarding Carlin, I Googled Castleton Farms, and wow, that place is so far out of the Bates' league it isn't even funny. Are Evan's parents chipping in? 

[65mickey]

1 hour ago, Bessiesue said:

Add that to the fact they used spray paint, instead of using black contact paper.  Tori did say she was cooking which is why she did not see/help in the room.  Agree with the fact that Bobby is so over Tori, and shoots darts towards her.

I thought the same thing about the spray paint on the squares on the wall. Hopefully they won't fall into the crib and they take them down when the baby is old enough to stand up and pull one off. 

[Squirrely]

Oh yeah, Chad is exhausted and so very over it all. Anyone else catch Erin saying a couple of times to be careful unloading the tools because Chad didn't want anything to get broken? Those were some pretty expensive tools so I don't blame him. He probably didn't want her to take them, knowing the way her family behaves, and she probably smiled sweetly and loaded them in the van anyway.

That dude is going to snap one day if he doesn't learn to stand up for himself some. Even the sweetest, most patient people have their limits. 

[cereality]

I realize that Erin thinks that she and Chad will be the next Chip and Joanna Gaines from HGTV, but I don’t think her style is all that – it just looks hodge podge.  Spray painted black squares on a wall of a baby’s room?? Why?? Why would you use black anything for a baby, and why squares – just so they can compliment the square sign of Kade’s name? And it’s a rental apartment, they likely won’t live in it forever; hope those things peel off without damage, or else Chad will have to haul ass to Nashville to paint for them or they’re going to get charged a few hundred on the move-out.  And then putting in child sized chairs for an infant, who isn’t going to walk or sit in chairs for quite a long time? And then bicycle book ends with law books/fake encyclopedias in them? Is she birthing a 50 year old man?

And these people are newlyweds with minimal money and they need a guest bedroom but bc they don’t have an extra room for that, that must be in their kid’s room? If it was just Lawson, whatever, but there was clearly a bed and then another pull out mattress under the bed.  I mean of course, when Kelly pawns off the little girls or Jeb and Jud or whoever for the week in the name of sisterly bonding, they’re going to need some place to sleep.  Hope Bobby meant it when he said that others (namely his parents – bc they’ve said it) think having so many inlaws would be overwhelming, but he loves it.

Though you know – the vibe I got from Bobby is that he isn’t head over heels for Tori (though I’m not getting that he hates her either, just that he’s more annoyed by her now than during the sweet courting phase), but that he’s VERY excited for Kade and does seem to like his brothers/sisters in law.  When he walked in the door, we saw him look pretty happy to see everyone – he greeted Lawson in a very comfortable/friend/bro way (he’s probably gotten to know him well since he’s living with them PT) and then was talking to Callie/calling her sweetie.  I think he was a fundie man who married ASAP because he REALLY desired a family ASAP.  I think a lot of the ministry types are like that.  They obviously marry young to have sex (check) but also they feel that in order to be an effective minster, counsel people on how to raise their families in faith, they too MUST have families to be taken seriously.  Easy intro since Kelton could introduce her to one of Josie’s 50 sisters, Tori liked him, he was ok with her, she wanted to marry asap like him – BAM – done deal.

And I’ve said it before – Chad and Erin’s marriage is like a lifelong second date, where you don’t know each other well so one party can’t read the other party at all and the other party wants to be polite and not saying what they’re thinking.  Erin must be (willfully) blind not to see how much her 31 yr old husband had aged and is an OLD 31.  I mean how does she not notice that Zach, John, and Brandon are about Chad’s age – all have jobs, and NONE of them look that old or stressed ever, let alone ALL THE TIME.

But honestly does Chad have no balls or no voice? He honestly can’t say to his wife – no, I’m not making your sister a headboard, I don’t have the time or energy? Have one blowout fight about it – it will show her her headship means business; tell her sorry – she’s the one who has to go back to her sister and say no but she should know better to stop volunteering him ALL THE TIME.  Or better yet – tell her you’ve been trying to launch a furniture business for years but between your daily business + helping taking care of the kids (which fundie men are NOT expected to do but Kelly raised such winners that they whine even though they are home 40 hrs a week so Chad comes home and takes care of kids, does laundry, feeds the damn goats; not saying a dad shouldn’t do these things but in fundie culture that is 100% the woman’s job and if she can’t take of just 3 kids and do some laundry daily, WTH kind of fundie wife is she), you have no time.  Then tell her you are HAPPY to SELL her sister a headboard for $200 or $500 or whatever those kinds of handcrafted headboards go for.  Then he actually gets something out of doing all this work and it’s side income.

And citing more evidence that Kelly has done an AWESOME job raising housewives – Tori let it slip that ERIN cooked dinner while decorating.  It was a (taco?) casserole so I’m guessing Erin put it together early in the day and then told Tori when to pop it in the oven, and it looks like Tori was in the kitchen setting out bowls of cheese, lettuce etc. so I guess she helped.  But honestly Kelly if your daughters’ purpose is to serve their man and their family – teach them to cook 5 meals before moving out.

[cereality]

1 minute ago, Squirrely said:

Oh yeah, Chad is exhausted and so very over it all. Anyone else catch Erin saying a couple of times to be careful unloading the tools because Chad didn't want anything to get broken? Those were some pretty expensive tools so I don't blame him. He probably didn't want her to take them, knowing the way her family behaves, and she probably smiled sweetly and loaded them in the van anyway.

That dude is going to snap one day if he doesn't learn to stand up for himself some. Even the sweetest, most patient people have their limits. 

Chad says - don't break it. Cue Law handing heavy tools to Callie and Bradley or Carson, and Carson picks up some huge drill and slams it back down on the asphalt parking lot bc it's too heavy and Callie struggles holding on to her tool and puts it down a million times and barely gets it up the stairs. Uh yeah -- I don't think this is what Chad meant Erin. You couldn't unload them yourself or tell Law to do it himself and not give them to the little kids to slam around??

[sATL]

6 hours ago, BitterApple said:

She announced around six months into the marriage, so she was pregnant pretty early on, just like her sisters.

Michael's in an awkward position. She likely has no desire to give full disclosure on the inner workings of her lady parts, but not saying anything just feeds the elephant in the room. If you look at her Instagram, it's flooded with comments like "I can't wait for you to announce a pregnancy" and "I pray you and Brandon are blessed with a child soon!." I know people mean well, but they're probably making it worse for her, as if she isn't under enough pressure as it is. 

Regarding Carlin, I Googled Castleton Farms, and wow, that place is so far out of the Bates' league it isn't even funny. Are Evan's parents chipping in? 

I was just getting used to the Bates getting married outside of a traditional brick and mortar church. they seemed to have made " church venue shopping" as a thing that their brides must do. 

" Our Castleton Experiences start at $9,500, and include the following: ... " ( link )

Looks like Castelton Farms is a place where you have to use their caterers.. so Carlin is having a sit down formal dinner , or from a specific list of passed  hors d'oeuvres ? I guess Kelli's sister can bring in her  homemade cake (s) - but it looks like a place that would charge a fee to cut and serve it.

Not sure if Gil's fatherly pride would allow the groom's family to chip in on the wedding... rehearsal dinner - yeah, the intended couple - yeah, UP Network Inc - yeah,.  this is the same father that seems very boastful that he & Kelli have "saved" a certain amount for each daughter's wedding.  I sure would like to know what savings instrument they used

[RebeccatheWriter]

9 hours ago, sATL said:

I was just getting used to the Bates getting married outside of a traditional brick and mortar church. they seemed to have made " church venue shopping" as a thing that their brides must do. 

" Our Castleton Experiences start at $9,500, and include the following: ... " ( link )

Looks like Castelton Farms is a place where you have to use their caterers.. so Carlin is having a sit down formal dinner , or from a specific list of passed  hors d'oeuvres ? I guess Kelli's sister can bring in her  homemade cake (s) - but it looks like a place that would charge a fee to cut and serve it.

Not sure if Gil's fatherly pride would allow the groom's family to chip in on the wedding... rehearsal dinner - yeah, the intended couple - yeah, UP Network Inc - yeah,.  this is the same father that seems very boastful that he & Kelli have "saved" a certain amount for each daughter's wedding.  I sure would like to know what savings instrument they used

I used to do a bit of event planning (not weddings) and can tell you that places like that are selling packages. They make their money off that and not the rentals, as  everything has a cost that is much more than you would spend if you could find the vendors yourself. They have a list of vendors who are endorsed or sanctioned by the facility. This includes photographers, caterers, florists, bakers, caterers, wedding planners, equipment rentals, etc. Even the chalkboards, fabric drapings, signs, etc. will come from a catalog. 

I'm guessing the required vendors situation will be one of those things that Castleton Farms will look the other way on in order to make a deal with the family and UP. It'll get glossed over so as not give the wrong impression, but they will "save money" by not having to conform to some of the details. And somewhere an event coordinator at Castleton Farms will have a coronary watching these people drive homemade stuff in on pick up trucks through a well manicured lawn and seeing Kelly Jo throw around chicken salad while acting stressed. 

[tabloidlover]

Anyone else think Bobby was caught by surprise at how little (aka - nothing) Tori was able to do?  

[cereality]

47 minutes ago, tabloidlover said:

Anyone else think Bobby was caught by surprise at how little (aka - nothing) Tori was able to do?  

Yes though I think it was on full display for him when he moved to Tenn to live in the trailer pre engagement. He didn't see it bc he didn't want to see it. He's moving to the trailer and she decides she needs to decorate but doesn't know HOW to make posters so she calls Erin to draw them and Erin's kids color them (and while he hadn't seen that that's what happened, as soon as he walked in and commented on the posters she was like -- oh yeah I can't do that, Erin drew them?!). She couldn't make his bed in the trailer, so Zach came to make the bed? If you brother -- a fundie male who is supposed to be incapable of home related tasks -- can make a bed, why can't you Ms. Housewife in Training? And then on the honeymoon, the night Bobby is cooking for her, she demonstrates that she has NO idea how to do anything in the kitchen? He grilled steaks and made green beans. If she can't grill -- that's fine, in a traditional home with Gil and 100 big brothers, I doubt any of the girls were every expected or encouraged to deal with cooking on a fire. Yet the girl couldn't handle GREEN BEANS?? He's prepped them, put them in the pan, is going out to check the steaks and asks her to watch/stir them and turn the flame down if they look done and she's all WAH IDK WHAT TO DO, HOW WILL I KNOW WHEN THEY"RE DONE???? He deals with it with minimal eyerolling (the newness of sex was pushing him thru) but she's like -- I've never seen green beans cooked that way; uh -- you don't know that vegetables are sautéed?

And it still looks like she does little to NO cooking -- as Erin had to make dinner when she came to decorate. And clearly she doesn't do much in terms of keeping house. Not everyone has to be a decorator (not that Erin is either), but honestly they needed THAT much help putting Kade's room together? She couldn't make the crib bed and hang the pics with Kade's name on the wall? Even if she's never done it before -- she has 40 hrs/wk when Bobby's not home to figure it out.

His parents OTOH saw that she was useless PLUS whiny and dependent on him and they have seem less than thrilled this whole time. They seemed MISERABLE when they moved him into the trailer; I assume they thought their son who they raised in a gated community and put thru college would get a first job and an apartment, not a trailer in rural Tenn. as he chased a country hick. With the engagement, when Tori did her constant "where are we going, OMG where we going, are we there, are you going to propose now, or now, or now, where's the ring, where's the ring, give me the ring" FOR HOURS, his dad seemed PISSED. At one point he goes "Tori do you understand what it means to be on a need to know basis" and of course she thought he was speaking some high falutin' Wall Street lingo and ignored him and continued begging Bobby for the ring. After the engagement, the dad again makes the comment of -- well not everyone marries into a situation where they get a few dozen inlaws -- acting like he looked down on the Bates' low class breeding methods. And even at the wedding, they didn't seem overjoyed like most parents would be. They -- esp his mom -- were NOT amused when Tori burst into giggles at the altar for a good 5 min (WTH?) and even afterwards his dad says something like -- well they're hitched.

[sugarplum]

7 hours ago, cereality said:

And then on the honeymoon, the night Bobby is cooking for her, she demonstrates that she has NO idea how to do anything in the kitchen? He grilled steaks and made green beans. If she can't grill -- that's fine, in a traditional home with Gil and 100 big brothers, I doubt any of the girls were every expected or encouraged to deal with cooking on a fire. Yet the girl couldn't handle GREEN BEANS?? He's prepped them, put them in the pan, is going out to check the steaks and asks her to watch/stir them and turn the flame down if they look done and she's all WAH IDK WHAT TO DO, HOW WILL I KNOW WHEN THEY"RE DONE???? He deals with it with minimal eyerolling (the newness of sex was pushing him thru) but she's like -- I've never seen green beans cooked that way; uh -- you don't know that vegetables are sautéed?

And it still looks like she does little to NO cooking -- as Erin had to make dinner when she came to decorate. .

I hate defending this, but Tori is from rural Tennessee. Southerns cook different. We throw the beans in a sauce pan with a hunk of fat back or streak of lean and cook them down. I had been married for several years before I ever had a sautéed green bean...and I hated them. Haha

i may have misunderstood Tori regarding the dinner (I was definitely multitasking while watching and don’t really care to watch it again), but I thought Tori said it was Erin’s recipe, not that Erin made it.