Seewalds 23: Visiting Waco Again

[SapphireSlytherin]

I swear the Duggars keep styrofoam manufacturers in business. All by themselves. I guess they probably don't own real glassware/plates at all? 

[Lurky]

Jessa and Ben's kids are just SO smiley!  Makes me very hopeful that they're not blanket-training them.

Got to admit, Jessa is my least-worst Duggarling.  I hope they get to 3 or 4 kids, realise they can't give them all the same amount of attention, and stop.  Plus, since I'm hoping, I hope that Ben continues to grow and develop, and gets a job in a church somewhere far away (Laredo!) and they move out from the family wing.  I hope they're staying in the small house to save all the money they can, and in 10 years time, their kids are in school, doing tons of extra-curricular activities, and  Jessa is rocking it as a Conservative Christian pastor's wife, and being queen of the PTA, and in my ideal world, as her youngest kid hits middle school, gets a part-time job that she loves.

Yeah, yeah, I know.  But I can hope, right?

[The Wanderer]

2 hours ago, Lurky said:

 I hope they get to 3 or 4 kids, realise they can't give them all the same amount of attention, and stop.

I could see Ben and Jessa stopping after the show finally dies, or if it becomes clear that Jinjer are limiting their family size, as the Seewalds would be the most likely ones influenced.

I'm pretty sure Jessa will announce number 3 soon enough, quite likely by the end of the year. I'm just hoping we'll see a bit more of a gap between Henry and their next child.

[Lurky]

8 hours ago, The Wanderer said:

I could see Ben and Jessa stopping after the show finally dies, or if it becomes clear that Jinjer are limiting their family size, as the Seewalds would be the most likely ones influenced.

I do worry she is the kind of person who'll keep going until she'll get a daughter - that's my real worry with Jessa.

[MadeItOut]

12 hours ago, sparklymagie said:

It doesn't have a yellow border but could it be The Family Kitchen Cookbook? 

You're a genius. It wasn't that one, but it inspired me to find it. It was this one: https://www.amazon.com/Annabel-Karmels-Toddler-Cookbook-Easy/dp/009182558X/ref=la_B001H6OCLY_1_50?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1497698030&sr=1-50&refinements=p_82%3AB001H6OCLY

 

Looks as though there may be updated ones, including a US edition through the US version of her website.

[allthegoodnamesrgone]

I think Jessa and Ben will have 5 or 6 kids but stop after that.  Jinger & Jeremy will only have 2 or 3, Depending on how Samuel's birth goes, if she has another c/section, I can see her having to cut down on the number of kids but if she is able to Vbac I can see her and Derwreck getting double digits.  As for Jostin and JoKen who knows need to see them as married couples 1st. 

[Flossie]

2 hours ago, allthegoodnamesrgone said:

 Jinger & Jeremy will only have 2 or 3, Depending on how Samuel's birth goes, if she has another c/section, I can see her having to cut down on the number of kids but if she is able to Vbac I can see her and Derwreck getting double digits. 

I think you mean Jill and Derick.  And I'm hoping that they take a break after this next child.  I have a feeling that they're having problems and adding yet another baby won't help things.

[The Wanderer]

9 hours ago, Lurky said:

I do worry she is the kind of person who'll keep going until she'll get a daughter - that's my real worry with Jessa.

No! I would hate for anyone to become just like the Arndts!

[Carm_88]

Henry looks so confused and Spurgeon is just as adorable when sleeping! Not shocking  

[Jane M.]

Look at Henry's beautiful eyes.

Those kids are so cute. 

[Carm_88]

Is anyone shocked that Jessa is a boss Momma?

[Flossie]

1 hour ago, Carm_88 said:

Is anyone shocked that Jessa is a boss Momma?

No.  I'm more shocked that these idiots still have fans.

[SapphireSlytherin]

What's a Boss Mama? I'm imagining a mother who isn't into the "don't say no to a child" thing. If that's the case, I'm in total admiration. She's clearly not raising brats. 

[VineHeart137]

Pasting Jessa's Father's Day message to Ben under the spoiler.

Spoiler

I know it's Father's Day and not "Husband's Day"... but since our kids are young and can't say much, I want to give a shoutout to my best friend! I love the love that you have for our boys. They adore you. I think it's the sweetest thing on earth to see you take them up in your arms, hug them, and kiss them as you whisper "Daddy loves you."Henry thinks you're the best (as do I), and his little face lights up when you talk to him. Spurgeon looks forward to you coming home from work, and when he hears you pulling in the driveway he gets excited and does his little happy dance! You're never too tired after a hard days work to take on Spurgeon in a wrestling match. He laughs and thinks it's just the greatest thing when you let him tackle you! You get down on the kids' level to build block towers and read books. And I think Spurgeon would agree, you're way better than me at making all the different voices of the characters you read about during story-time. 

You've changed countless diapers, and let's be real-- I heard you holler from the changing table that "Mr. Pebblesmith needs to lay off the Goldfish and eat some prunes." He did. And it worked. Ha! You've dealt with diarrhea and diaper rash cream like a champ. But still can't believe you were a Dad for 17 months before earning the official badge of Fatherhood: getting peed on (and yes, of course, it would strike on a Sunday morning, during church). 

You lay down with tired babies and sing to them as they're falling asleep. When our one-year-old was in a routine of waking up crying at least once or twice in the night, you would pick him up, snuggle with him until he went back to sleep, then lay him gently back in his bed. When he finally started sleeping through the night at 16 months, I think it was one of those bittersweet moments... because a solid night's sleep is amazing, but as your baby outgrows each phase it makes you realize just how quickly they're growing up. 

You've dealt with ear infections, illnesses, and trips to the doc. You've set multiple alarms on your phone in order to get up in the night and check on a sick baby, and you've dosed out meds when needed.

You've gone on a million bottle and pacifier hunts, searching under literally every piece of furniture until the missing treasure was found. "Babe, you'll never guess. It was in the washing machine!" Your slippers have gone missing and have eventually been found in the laundry hamper-- along with a pile of books and toys. And speaking of laundry, you know you're a mature father when you discover late at night that a kid just peed or spit up on your side of the bed, and changing the sheets doesn't even cross your mind. I'll just throw a bath towel on it for tonight and call it good. (P.S. Wouldn't you agree that our washable mattress cover is on our list of Most Valuable Investments? The mattress has been spared 1000x.)

You've run to the store for diapers more than I have, and you know by heart that Spurgeon wears size 5 Huggies Little Movers and Henry wears size 3 Pampers Baby Dry. And even when forget to bring a grocery bag, you can pile those 4oz 78¢ Aldi's organic fruit and veggie purée food pouches a foot high, because you know they're nearly twice the price anywhere else. After Spurgeon found that he could turn upside down and shake water out of his sippy cup, you saved our hardwood floors by  shopping around for a quality spill-proof replacement. With the busyness of life with littles, we don't always make it to the gym. But on days when we miss out, you'll often turn the living room floor into our workout pad, and Spurgeon loves it 'cause you let him be involved! He thinks it's great to climb on your chest and ride along when you're trying to do sit-ups, and he gets down on the ground beside you and wants to mimic when you're doing push-ups. Of course his favorite is when you put him up on your shoulders and just give him a ride around the house! He feels like he's on top of the world.In our cozy little house, you don't have an office or a study, but you've learned to work efficiently, even in the midst of a noisy environment. You grab a glass of cold brew and your stack of theology books and take over the glider rocker in the baby's room, using the ottoman as your desk. You've had to fidget with prying those almost-adult-proof baby-proof outlet covers out when all you want to do is charge your laptop! But even in the midst of college studies, you welcome interactions with the kiddos-- to ooh and ahh over Spurgeon's Crayola artwork or to talk to babbling baby Henry. I'm grateful that my sons have you as to look up to a role model and a hero. You'd be the first to say that you're not perfect. Often as we lay in bed at night, you'll take my hand in yours and pray for our sons. You pray that God will give us wisdom to be good parents, to be patient and loving. But most of all, you plead with the Lord that He would do a work in Spurgeon and Henry's hearts-- that we might faithfully teach them the gospel, and that they would come to know Jesus Christ from a young age. You're such a tender-hearted daddy, and I feel so blessed to have you as my husband and the father of our children. Words cannot even begin to express the appreciation we have for you. We love you so much.

Happy Father's Day! 

-Jes (for the boys)

 

[2manyKidzzz]

Well, another comment about Bin coming home from "work". Too long for me to read. Would love to know more about the "work". 

[Lurky]

Wow, that's SUCH an un-Duggar message - from the really light God-touch, to Ben obviously doing a ton of "women's work" (i.e. fathering his children as all fathers should), full of jokes and appreciation.  Such the opposite of what I expect from Duggar media!  Obviously it's weird that she's posting it publicly, but she's grown up thinking that's normal - I really like that message.

[SapphireSlytherin]

Color me impressed. She understands and correctly uses plural possessives. Yay!

[socalrules]

So am I the only one who wondered who actually wrote that? It's miles ahead of anything I have ever seen a Duggar write. I am sorry but I just don't believe she wrote that unless someone else cleaned it up. I will say it's a beautiful post and I believe it's likely true.  From what I have seen of Ben, I could believe that is the type of father he would be. 

[WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo?]

Did anyone else notice this line? (my bold)

Quote

You grab a glass of cold brew and your stack of theology books and take over the glider rocker in the baby's room, using the ottoman as your desk.

Interesting...

????

[Trynn]

Did anyone else notice this line? (my bold)

You grab a glass of cold brew and your stack of theology books and take over the glider rocker in the baby's room, using the ottoman as your desk.

 

Interesting...

????

 

 

 

No. Cold brew is a type of coffee.

[WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo?]

Just now, Trynn said:

No. Cold brew is a type of coffee.

Oh, yeah. I forgot about that.  Well, I had hope for a few minutes, at least. 

[veron1que]

1 hour ago, socalrules said:

So am I the only one who wondered who actually wrote that? It's miles ahead of anything I have ever seen a Duggar write. I am sorry but I just don't believe she wrote that unless someone else cleaned it up. I will say it's a beautiful post and I believe it's likely true.  From what I have seen of Ben, I could believe that is the type of father he would be. 

No. It did seem rather well written for a Duggar.

Who knows though. Perhaps Jess's has been doing a lot of reading and her style has improved. It's so specific and personal that it's hard to believe some one would ghost write it for her. 

[neurogirl]

In contrast to Jessa's message to Ben, here is her message to Boob:

Spoiler

To My Dad: 101 Things I Am Most Thankful For:

I realize that God is the ultimate giver of every good gift (James 1:17), but for these things specifically, you have been God's channel of blessing to me! It’s not in any certain order, and this is in no way a conclusive list of everything I love about you… but I just started writing…and kept writing, and writing… and by the time I finished and decided to count. It literally just so happened to come out to 101! So here it is!

 

Happy Father’s Day, and “Thank you…”

 

-for praying for all of us kids by name;

-for praying with us;

-for teaching us the scriptures from a young age, leading us in family worship and faithfully reading the Bible to us;

-for the Bible stories growing up that had us on the edge of our seats, and the times when we thought we'd die of suspense because you'd say "Do you know what happened next? Well, I guess we'll just have to wait till tomorrow night to find out!" And we'd all exclaim "Daddyyyyy!!! You HAVE to tell us!!!!";

-for all the life stories and practical analogies growing up that brought big concepts down to my age level;

-for being real, and in humility asking forgiveness for wrong attitudes, mistakes and failures;

-for trusting in God's Sovereignty, that He is in control and that even in the hard times He is working every situation for our ultimate Good;

-for your example of praising God in all things, even when the road is rocky;

-for choosing Sunday worship in a family-integrated church;

-for being patient and teaching me consistently to do what's right;

-for relating with us in every stage of life-- remembering the challenges of the tween/teen/young adult life and giving stories from your own life that we can identify with and learn from;

-for unconditional love;

-for telling me time and again that the Bible is the "Owners Manual for Life," and that it contains all the answers to life's problems, and encouraging/helping me to search them out;

-for teaching me that God's ways of doing things are often just the opposite of our natural inclinations;

-for recounting to us the stories of answered prayers in your life, from childhood and on;

-for teaching us that although people will let us down, God is a faithful friend;

-for teaching us by example that meekness isn't weakness, but rather great strength under control;

-for family vacations and road trips of the past, and for continuing to invite your married kids to join in when they can;

-for prioritizing our favorite family camp that we still look forward to every year, and all the spiritual growth and commitments I have made to God during those special times;

-for purposing to speak with soft words even when you're upset, and asking forgiveness if you spoke with harshness;

-for special birthday lunches at the restaurant of our choice;

-for family bike rides;

-for encouraging us to pursue the areas in which we are individually gifted;

-for letting us use your tools to be creative and build things;

-for giving us chores and working along side us to show us how to do them right;

-for wanting us to do our best, but not being a perfectionist;

-for all the injuries you sustained at night by stepping barefoot on a stray Lego or a Hot wheels car left upside-down on your floor;

-for all the times you let us "help" you with projects, even when it took 2x as long and sometimes made more of a mess than if you'd done it by yourself;

-for being our taxi service before we could drive;

-for giving me the keys on my 14th birthday and enduring with much long suffering the sudden "rocket-launching" accelerations and "brick-wall" braking of the learner's permit days... (Now 13x over!);

-for caring about my opinions and for taking them into consideration when making decisions;

-for all the fun day-trips to Silver Dollar City;

-for family meetings;

-for teaching me that God always answers prayers, but doesn't always say "yes"..sometimes He says "no", sometimes He says "wait";

-for reminding me that God is "painting the canvas" of my life and He sees the bigger picture, and He does all things well. We don't always understand this in the moment, but God is working all things together for good of his children.

-for always looking for the good that God can bring out of a tough situation;

-for recounting to us the miracles God has done for you;

-for the example of being open about your Faith in Jesus Christ and sharing the good news with others;

-for realizing that when it comes to parenting, more is caught than taught;

-for forgoing hobbies that could consume your free time and pull you away, and choosing instead to do things together as a family;

-for being ministry-minded, even when we were all young, and thinking of creative ways for us to catch a vision for serving others (raking leaves/stacking firewood for the elderly, singing in nursing homes);

-for teaching us about political activism from a young age, by letting us be involved in your runs for political office, passing out flyers door-to-door, campaign rallies, taking us to the polls to see the voting process, hanging out at election night watch-parties, and taking us to the capital during your time as a State Representative;

-for taking us with you to Lincoln Day dinners;

-for prioritizing sticking together as a family, even when that meant uprooting life in our hometown and moving halfway across the state of Arkansas to live in a rental home during your times of serving in the state legislature, and then doing it all over again during Josie's 6-month stay in Children's Hospital;

-for homeschool field trips and hands-on learning experience;

-for reminding us that life is the greatest classroom of all;

-for reminding us siblings in the midst of squabbles that we are each others best friends, and to "treat others how you'd like to be treated";

-for praising character you see in us to us personally, and sharing those positive things with family and friends;

-for bringing words of correction to us in private with an attitude of restoration, but avoiding open criticism which demeans;

-for not arguing as a couple in front of us kids, but choosing to work out and discuss conflicts in private;

-for being an example of a godly marriage-- we have always been confident of your love for one another, and it is evidenced to us daily by the words you speak and your endearing affections;

-for taking a date night each week, and prioritizing your marriage;

-for forgoing the common holiday focal points and making Christ's birth the center of our Christmas, and His life, death and resurrection the summation of our "Easter" celebration;

-for your thriftiness and teaching us to bargain hunt (pawn shops, auctions, clearance racks), and modeling to us wise use of the resources God has given you;

-for teaching us the value of hard work;

-for years and years of food, room and board!

-for the cell phone you got me on my 16th birthday, and for paying the accompanying phone bills!

-for the hours and hours of late-night talks, gaining wisdom for life;

-for teaching us to lay tile, frame a wall, paint, wire an electrical outlet, change the oil, change a tire, and so much more!

-for pre-marriage counseling;

-for financially covering so many of my wedding expenses;

-for time and effort put into helping us remodel our home;

-for making 7 trips from the car to the house carrying in "sleeping" children after a long road trip (even though you knew half of us were probably just pretending, so we didn't have to get up and walk in on our own two feet!);

-for 100s of family basketball & kickball tournaments;

-for the years and years of Thursday & Friday nights that you spent playing broomball with us, and then the trip to Braums for ice cream afterwards!

-for paying the bills for dental cleanings (and for the threat of making us pay you back if the dentist found any cavities!);

-for the special exception to the "no climbing on the dining room table" rule, because you always let the birthday kid sit in that very prominent place when it was time to open gifts;

-for dealing with stomach bugs and flus, even in the middle of the night, and hugging and kissing the sick ones knowing that increased your chance of coming down with it yourself;

-for comforting me during a thunderstorm, telling me not to be afraid, and explaining to me that this magnificent sight was "God's firework show";

-for hotdogs, s'mores & tent camping with us in the backyard, even when half of us didn't stick it out all night and went back inside to our beds;

-for 100s of games of hide and seek (We never did find your special hiding spot, btw! Often, you'd still be hidden out long after we got tired of searching and gave up!);

-for teaching me how to roll my socks into a donut and fire them at my brothers and sisters (lol! Then Mom would have us all come to the laundry room for a sock unwading party before she could throw them in the wash!);

-for changing hundreds of diapers;

-for eventually buying a toilet auger and DIY so you didn't have to keep calling the plumber, and you could extract the apple, toothbrush, matchbox car and poopy undies (flushed by an embarrassed potty-trainer trying to hide evidence), all by yourself!

-for the special times when we went out to eat (yes, we most definitely took advantage of kids-eat-free, the modern day policies of "2 children per paying adult" probably happened because of us ??)

-for the CASES of Children's Ibuprofen you had to buy when we’d get the stomach bug… and the disbelief on the cashiers face when you’d say"I've got a dozen sick kids at home."

-for inventing your Gourmet Barbecued Tuna recipe, and feeding us cold butterbeans with ketchup while Mom was away at a women's conference (first was a big hit, but just the thought of the latter still makes me gag);

-for trying to no avail to scrub mine and Jinger's Sharpie art off our white kitchen cabinets (that happened under your watch while mom was out grocery shopping)!

-for hours at the park playing freeze tag, riding scooters, and even getting on the see-saw with us!

-for teaching us how to build "Eskimo" forts (by packing snow into 5-gallon buckets), building super-sized snowmen with us, and driving us around the town to find the best hill for sledding;

-for buying a fixer upper house with a ton of fruit trees in the back yard! Hours of summer fun!

-for horse trough "swimming pools," and sprinklers to run through;

-for learners'-permit tests in a 15-passenger van!

-for limiting time spent playing video games and watching movies;

-for helping me get my first car;

-for the experience of remodeling houses with you;

-for believing in us and encouraging us to give 100% for God;

-for the example of how you've reached out and invested into the lives of others, from the beginning of your marriage and still continuing till this day (opening your home to homeless, church bus ministry, personally bringing people to church, leading bible studies, hospitality, love, giving financially, spiritual encouragement);

-for being cautious of the influences you allowed into our young, tender lives (movies, music, friends);

-for walking the walk you desired for us walk;

-for not making light of sacred and holy things;

-for not allowing put-downs in your relationship as a couple, or amongst us as siblings;

-for explaining the "still, small voice" of God which, though not audible, speaks to the heart;

-for loving to eat straight from a can! (cream corn, peas, pineapple, olives, & "ABC soup");

-for financially investing into family pets and teaching us responsibility in caring for them;

-for 13 years of music lessons, buying me a violin and a mandolin;

BUT MOST OF ALL, THANK YOU…

-for showing me Jesus Christ;

-for teaching me often that reaching Heaven cannot happen as a result of my good deeds outweighing my bad deeds;

-for teaching me that the free gift of God's Grace is Eternal Life through faith in Jesus Christ (the only perfect person who ever lived and walked this earth);

-for showing me that Jesus could forgive me for everything I've ever done wrong, and give me a clean slate to start over again;

-for leading me to the Cross where the innocent God-Man Jesus was put to death, not for sins of His own, but to pay the debt for all of mankind, and offer forgiveness to all who repent of their sins and trust in Him for their soul's salvation.

 

I love you so much!

I am so blessed to call you my Daddy!

The God-speak is EVERYWHERE, Jessa clearly believes in her father's theology, and I was honestly surprised by how positively she speaks of him/how much he seems to have parented.

Jill, in contrast, did not post anything about Boob on insta, and her message to DirtyJesus was "Happy Father's Day. You're the best papa! Israel doesn't even know how blessed he is! Love you babe!"

For someone who is thought of on FJ as Daddy's favorite, she doesn't seem as gushy about Daddy, or as happy with her husband. Of course, she might just not be a "gushy" kind of person!

[sparklymagie]

 I'm going to give Jessa props.  That was a really sweet, thoughtful tribute to her husband. Ben sounds like he's doing a good job. 

I raised my eyebrows at cold brew too. Sad it means coffee.

Also I need to shop at Aldis. $.78 fruit and veggie  pouches??  

[Carm_88]

Jessa's message to Ben seems so well thought out, I think that they are very happy. Ben seems to be a very hands on father who doesn't truly believe that it's a woman's job to take care of children. I was hoping that cold brew was a beer too, I think that he deserves a beer.