Jill, Derick, and Israel Part 12

[twinmama]

2 hours ago, missegeno said:

2lbs! That's so tiny, barely bigger than Miracle Josie (I think she was 1lb, 6oz?). Were yours also preemie?

29 weekers, but they were growth restricted and stopped gaining weight around 25 weeks. 

[patsymae]

On January 31, 2016 at 5:24 PM, nastyhobbitses said:

Co-signed. They're not doing anything useful there, and I'd much rather they sit around and be useless in Arkansas than spend their days restraining their nearly-one-year-old and harassing Catholics in broken Spanish. I do hope that Derick tries to get himself a job back in Arkansas. Maybe if he grovels enough, Wal-Mart will take him back. But I won't hold my breath.

It would be nice if the Dillards were really getting a wake-up call: oh, our church won't approve us as missionairies because we aren't qualified; oh, the CA people who deal with missionaries think we should speak Spanish and have useful skills; oh, if we take other people's money we're supposed to account for how we spend it; oh, if we actually live in CA as even pretend missionaries and despite the armed guards, we're going to have to give up some luxuries we're used to; oh, we're supposed to take care of a baby AND work?; oh, it turns out they have some really crappy germs down here and turns out white Americans aren't exempt; oh, it turns out some people think it's bad form to post pics of home pedicures when we're supposed to be missionaries in a country being ravaged by a terrible virus... Who knew?

 

Unfortunately, I don't think they are capable of waking up. They have a legit excuse to go back to living in AK just happily coinciding with the family's return to regular TV. It will be JBoob and Jchelle redux. (And I'm one of the ones who foolishly thought/hoped that Derrick was actually doing something useful in Nepal, Jill was serious about acquiring some real skills, and they would fly the coop. So not)

[CorruptionInc.]

10 hours ago, DuggarWatch said:

Derick is beginning to look like a shipwrecked survivor.

http://starcasm.net/archives/339398

He looks really ill... so does Jill.

[Denim Jumper]

It feel so wrong and icky to admit this, but I think he's kind of cute now. Not in the same realm as Brandon Keilen's brother obvi, but he's not too shabby.

[Handmaiden of Dog]

The old Derick had a certain boyish charm, crooked smile and all.  The new Derick is just scary looking to me; he looks crazed.  Jill is also looking less fresh-faced and joyful and more strained.  Maybe she was having a bad day but it is shocking how much older she looks.  Maybe they are both just having a lot of difficulty juggling all of the changes while trying to pretend to themselves that the Lord will see them through.  We've all said it but marriage, new baby, facial surgery, new job, new country-- it is all too much, too quick.  It must be a major strain trying to pretend that everything is great.

[singsingsing]

They look fine to me, and they don't look older than their age, just tired, which is really not surprising.

Anyway, where's this new blog post they promised a few days back?

[Yes, TOTALLY]

21 minutes ago, Handmaiden of Dog said:

The old Derick had a certain boyish charm, crooked smile and all.  The new Derick is just scary looking to me; he looks crazed.  Jill is also looking less fresh-faced and joyful and more strained.  Maybe she was having a bad day but it is shocking how much older she looks.  Maybe they are both just having a lot of difficulty juggling all of the changes while trying to pretend to themselves that the Lord will see them through.  We've all said it but marriage, new baby, facial surgery, new job, new country-- it is all too much, too quick.  It must be a major strain trying to pretend that everything is great.

I agree, I thought old Derick was alright, not bad looking. The new Derick looks unhealthy, and the way his front teeth are misaligned is sort of unsettling to look at. I hope that's just a temporary stage in his jaw modification. As for Jill, I think the change in her look is just tiredness and having less time to put effort into her hair and makeup. If she dressed in a bit more of a modern way she wouldn't look so much older than her age. A lot of the clothes she wears are likely designed for the older woman who prefers a bit more coverage. If she dressed more like Alyssa Bates or even Jessa she would probably look younger. I do hope she is using enough sunscreen on her face in CA though, nothing ages you like the sun. I wear SPF 50 on my face every day because I have colouring like Jill.

[Guest]

Jill looks fine to me.  Derrick looks like he just won Survivor, in the sense that he looks like he's spent 40 days trapped on an island with very little food and no razors.  He's very thin and gaunt looking, and the beard isn't helping.

[Manda]

I like Jill with her hair up a lot better than hanging all over the place.  Derick does look like he's been through a major life changing event.  I wonder if he's unhappy with how his face is looking after the surgery and is hiding behind the beard. Maybe he and Jill are trying to eat super healthy and have overdone it.

[lascuba]

Eh, Derrick's default is "unfortunate looking." He's lost a lot of weight which makes it worse, and those haircuts Jill give him shoots him straight into ugly, but I don't think it's anything more significant than that. 

Jill doesn't look older, she just stopped fixing her hair and wearing make-up as soon as she got married.* Very few people don't look worse in pictures without make-up. 

*Relax. That's not a criticism, just an observation.

[Bad Wolf]

That's an older picture. I remember looking at it and trying to figure out what on earth Jill was wearing. I think it was her modest swimwear. That is the ugliest thing I can imagine for swimming, and I can't think it's very practical.

[Apricot]

I wonder what they're eating over there.  I know the Duggar diet was pretty rubbish anyway and I don't think Jill is the most accomplished cook (remember she needed Jana to help her prepare a meal following a recipe for Derrick?).  I don't think any of them look particularly healthy including Izzy, he doesn't seem to have any colour to his cheeks like I'd expect.  Most children seem to have glowing skin, Izzy just seems really pale.

Please note: Im not snarking on the baby, simply making an observation.

 

[SassyPants]

Eventually, I hope that whatever was wrong with Derick's jaw heals and he goes back to looking like himself. In those before and after photos, the after is far less attractive, IMO.

Did he have dimples before and are they now missing?

Also, I wonder if they get outside much in their day to day lives?

Does Jill take Izzy on walks while Derick is away at class?

Do they have any outdoor living where they reside?

[nastyhobbitses]

15 hours ago, Handmaiden of Dog said:

The old Derick had a certain boyish charm, crooked smile and all.  The new Derick is just scary looking to me; he looks crazed.  Jill is also looking less fresh-faced and joyful and more strained.  Maybe she was having a bad day but it is shocking how much older she looks.  Maybe they are both just having a lot of difficulty juggling all of the changes while trying to pretend to themselves that the Lord will see them through.  We've all said it but marriage, new baby, facial surgery, new job, new country-- it is all too much, too quick.  It must be a major strain trying to pretend that everything is great.

Yeah, I thought Derick was really cute pre-Central America. Not Brad Pitt, but he was cute. As for Jill, the second picture reminds me of what I looked like after a year in very rural China in a very stressful job with not-great hygiene. TMI, but I was shitting my guts out on at least a weekly basis, had limited access to water for washing, was dealing with 6 classes of unruly 7th graders, was very isolated (even though my language ability was OK), wasn't bothering with makeup most days, and was using hair and skin products with different formulations from what I was used to (which tended to make my hair a bit greasy and dull looking). I'd hope that I didn't look like a hideous beast, and I don't think Jill does, but I see that same "There's a lot of things here that I find joy in, but I'd like to have a solid shit and well-behaved children and a 20 minute long steamy shower right now" look in her eyes.

[jcanglin991]

I don't think Jill is finding joy in anything right now. She is tone deaf in regard to how others see her. A lot of the recent pictures, i.e. Izzy swaddled and screaming, the controversy over the video where they tried to get him to be still, got pretty harsh blowback. She is not in Arkansas  or on the road with the family where the feedback was usually fawning. In Central America she and Derrick are really nothing special and they don't have any special skill set that the people there need. And I  know we are only seeing snippets of their lives, but I don't see the same glow with regard to being a  new mother that I normally expect to see based on my own experience. Derrick seems much more bonded with the baby. With Jill, he is the next expected step in life, just as she and her sibling were to her parents. She didn't have parents that were thrilled each time a new baby was born, or who were excited to see how each child interacted  with the world, so how would she know what is missing. Also, the huge expectations of marriage in this stunted world of their, with girls being told if they stay pure they will have all this romance after marriage, can't possibly be  fulfilled.

[nst]

28 minutes ago, SassyPants said:

Eventually, I hope that whatever was wrong with Derick's jaw heals and he goes back to looking like himself. In those before and after photos, the after is far less attractive, IMO.

Did he have dimples before and are they now missing?

Also, I wonder if they get outside much in their day to day lives?

Does Jill take Izzy on walks while Derick is away at class?

Do they have any outdoor living where they reside?

i seriously doubt Jill takes Izzy anywhere alone 

I doubt she is comfortable in any environment that doesn't include Derick 

 

[SassyPants]

12 minutes ago, nst said:

i seriously doubt Jill takes Izzy anywhere alone 

I doubt she is comfortable in any environment that doesn't include Derick 

 

I've been wondering why they both weren't taking classes provided by the in home instructor?

Either that, or get a sitter to care for Izzy while they both attended in school classes?

I think it might be better for their language development if they were learning by the same methods.

 

[DuggarWatch]

1 minute ago, SassyPants said:

I've been wondering why they both weren't taking classes provided by the in home instructor?

Either that, or get a sitter to care for Izzy while they both attended in school classes?

I think it might be better for their language development if they were learning by the same methods.

 

Jill can't learn unless she's home schooled.  

[nst]

19 minutes ago, SassyPants said:

I've been wondering why they both weren't taking classes provided by the in home instructor?

Either that, or get a sitter to care for Izzy while they both attended in school classes?

I think it might be better for their language development if they were learning by the same methods.

 

Because the headship Derick is allowed out - while his misses ie Jill can't or won't leave because a) can't be by herself, doesn't know how, c) is scared because of the machine guns

I doubt they would learn at the same time because don't forget Derick GRADUATED FROM UNIVERSITY whereas Jill what - got her basic GED.  I think it would be embarrassing for both for different reasons - plus it would bring things up which I am sure neither ever discuss. 

IE What did you do in school - why were you homeschooled, who taught her to write blah blah 

 

[lascuba]

My guess is the home instructor was a TLC thing. Jill had dropped out of language school with no intention of continuing, but TLC came back to so they had to show Jill do something other than handing out tracts.

[Coconut Flan]

The language classes there are structured as individual instruction.  They are not large group or lecture type classes. 

[OyToTheVey]

I'm not surprised that Jill hasn't picked up Spanish. This is the girl that can barely express herself in English. All she knows is 'walk through life', 'purpose to', 'totally' and 'umm'.

[karen77]

Maybe Jill asked the verb for "to purpose" and they looked at her like she was crazy!

[OyToTheVey]

15 minutes ago, karen77 said:

Maybe Jill asked the verb for "to purpose" and they looked at her like she was crazy!

[EmmieJ]

1 hour ago, SassyPants said:

I've been wondering why they both weren't taking classes provided by the in home instructor?

Either that, or get a sitter to care for Izzy while they both attended in school classes?

I think it might be better for their language development if they were learning by the same methods.

 

I would think that they would be able to find someone among the local population to babysit Izzy for a couple of hours at a time.  Jill could still have a Spanish instructor come to where they are living, and she and the instructor could be in one room, while Izzy and the babysitter are in another - if she's not comfortable leaving Izzy with someone other than Derick.  They don't share much about the other missionaries in their area - do they spend time together; have meals together; do other social things?  Are there any other wives that Jill could get to know and spend time with?  She must feel quite isolated.  If I were in her position, I would at least try to learn some rudimentary local language, and try to get on a friendly, "good morning" basis with the local merchants and neighbors.