Seewalds 24 - Bought the House from Grandma

[Carm_88]

What a cutie Spurgeon is! 

[CorruptionInc.]

a) Spurge is the epitome of cute

b ) You would never see Ben or Jeremy hamming it up for a "suit shot" with Derick. 

[Bajovane]

Never thought Jessa would be the mother she is.  After watching the indifferent care she gave her buddies, I really didn't think she'd care much for being a mom.  You can see her boys are happy babies.

 

What a stark difference from Jillymuffy.  Izzy never really looks happy and Jilly is just blegh.  PPD might be a thing with her, and if so, it shows.  

[beepy13]

1 hour ago, Bajovane said:

Never thought Jessa would be the mother she is.  After watching the indifferent care she gave her buddies, I really didn't think she'd care much for being a mom.  

Agreed - she's always seemed so disinterested in things. But it seems like she really loves her kids and being a mom is really suiting her well.

[bananabread]

3 hours ago, Bajovane said:

What a stark difference from Jillymuffy.  Izzy never really looks happy and Jilly is just blegh.  PPD might be a thing with her, and if so, it shows.  

I can't exactly put my finger on it, but something really changed after Israel's birth. It was like Jill and Derick always viewed him as an inconvenience/burden...? I mean all babies are kind of inconvenient, but that's their nature. Jessa, Erin Paine, Alyssa Webster, Whitney Bates, even Michelle I can vividly remember doting on their babies and being at peace with the fact that kids are super hard work and utterly helpless, but also precious and adorable. I can't really remember any times when DerJill were really doting on Israel and treating him like the child he is. They always seem to be training him, trying to break him of bad habits, etc etc. What's up with that...? Jill just doesn't enjoy motherhood like she thought she would......? I don't get it.

[eleanora3]

5 minutes ago, bananabread said:

I can't exactly put my finger on it, but something really changed after Israel's birth. It was like Jill and Derick always viewed him as an inconvenience/burden...? I mean all babies are kind of inconvenient, but that's their nature. Jessa, Erin Paine, Alyssa Webster, Whitney Bates, even Michelle I can vividly remember doting on their babies and being at peace with the fact that kids are super hard work and utterly helpless, but also precious and adorable. I can't really remember any times when DerJill were really doting on Israel and treating him like the child he is. They always seem to be training him, trying to break him of bad habits, etc etc. What's up with that...? Jill just doesn't enjoy motherhood like she thought she would......? I don't get it.

I think she was actually still really bubbly and happy immediately after Israel's birth (and Derick was still sort of a lovable dork). The change in their personalities seemed to come later on...I'm not sure whether it was the Josh scandals, Central America, the constant criticism, or something else that brought it on, but both of them seem very different from who they used to be.

[allthegoodnamesrgone]

31 minutes ago, bananabread said:

Jill just doesn't enjoy motherhood like she thought she would......? I don't get it.

PPD, I guarantee it. And she can't get treatment for it because it isn't real to them.  this is what led Andrea Yates to kill all 5 of her kids, She was forced to have child after child after child and told to pray and pray and pray and she would get better.  I'm not saying Jill will go down this path. PPD is very real and treatment is there to help you out. There are moms there who will help if only she were allowed to acknowledge what is going on.  

[sndral]

Jessa right now has the golden womb. Anna's ever increasing brood must be ignored due to Josh's banishment from the TLC money cow, Michelle's womb closed and Jill has supposedly decamped out of the country plus after 2 c-sections has no shot at reaching the magic 20 children quiver while Jessa could.

We see very brief photos/videos that Jessa posts to generate positive PR. We have no idea how much real parenting she does when the cameras are not rolling. We have hints that she takes her children over to the big house often, we know she uses Jana as a slave when it suits her, I'm sure she has additional sisters she uses to assist with her childcare. She's very clever at manipulating her image - the evidence being how many here seem to view her & her boys as their pet fundies.

Jill has been solo raising Izzy far from home thus no sister/hanger on to act as a sister mom - her experience is more like an everage person who hasn't had multiple sisters at her beck and call. Jill and Derick are disasters when it comes to PR, I suspect that what we see from them is much closer to what true Duggarthink is & they are simply not manipulative enough to hide it.

To me Jessa is like the Bates, everything negative is well hidden and glossed over.

I hope that Duggars generation 2 are not following the Pearl's methods of child rearing, but suspect they may be & are just not publicizing that they are. They were all raised that way, homeschooled, surrounded by like minded fellow fundamentalist quiverful folks & they certainly don't seek out secular sources for insight into child rearing - so I don't have much hope that they'll stray too far from what they know, especially as their broods get larger. 

A decade from now when Jessa is dealing with 10 or more kids and all of the sister moms are married with their own families & not on hand to help and Jill has only 3 or 4 because of her birthing issues and thus can actually parent her fewer children, we may well be criticizing Jessa and praising Jill.

[LawsonBatesEgo]

6 hours ago, bananabread said:

I can't exactly put my finger on it, but something really changed after Israel's birth. It was like Jill and Derick always viewed him as an inconvenience/burden...? I mean all babies are kind of inconvenient, but that's their nature. Jessa, Erin Paine, Alyssa Webster, Whitney Bates, even Michelle I can vividly remember doting on their babies and being at peace with the fact that kids are super hard work and utterly helpless, but also precious and adorable. I can't really remember any times when DerJill were really doting on Israel and treating him like the child he is. They always seem to be training him, trying to break him of bad habits, etc etc. What's up with that...? Jill just doesn't enjoy motherhood like she thought she would......? I don't get it.

It has to be very confusing for Jill as well if she isn't enjoying motherhood. She was always the one who doted on her buddies (which is obviously different) so she probably assumed she'd love being a mom. And it is what she was raised to do. So for her to actually not enjoy her "purpose" in life (and she thinks motherhood is) must be really confusing/conflicting, and she can't get the help for it that most people do. 

I do think the contrast between Jessa/Alyssa and Jill really proves that you just never know who will make a good/happy mother.

I NEVER would have predicted Jessa to enjoy motherhood, yet she seems to really enjoy Quincey and Henry. Alyssa is one I thought would find her kid/s a bit of of a "burden" and an inconvenience to her newfound freedom and love of fashion/makeup, but she too seems to enjoy her girls.

Jill is the one I thought would LOVE being a mom, and she honestly seems the unhappiest of them all at this point. 

[Timetraveler]

6 hours ago, sndral said:

Jessa right now has the golden womb. Anna's ever increasing brood must be ignored due to Josh's banishment from the TLC money cow, Michelle's womb closed and Jill has supposedly decamped out of the country plus after 2 c-sections has no shot at reaching the magic 20 children quiver while Jessa could.

We see very brief photos/videos that Jessa posts to generate positive PR. We have no idea how much real parenting she does when the cameras are not rolling. We have hints that she takes her children over to the big house often, we know she uses Jana as a slave when it suits her, I'm sure she has additional sisters she uses to assist with her childcare. She's very clever at manipulating her image - the evidence being how many here seem to view her & her boys as their pet fundies.

Jill has been solo raising Izzy far from home thus no sister/hanger on to act as a sister mom - her experience is more like an everage person who hasn't had multiple sisters at her beck and call. Jill and Derick are disasters when it comes to PR, I suspect that what we see from them is much closer to what true Duggarthink is & they are simply not manipulative enough to hide it.

To me Jessa is like the Bates, everything negative is well hidden and glossed over.

I hope that Duggars generation 2 are not following the Pearl's methods of child rearing, but suspect they may be & are just not publicizing that they are. They were all raised that way, homeschooled, surrounded by like minded fellow fundamentalist quiverful folks & they certainly don't seek out secular sources for insight into child rearing - so I don't have much hope that they'll stray too far from what they know, especially as their broods get larger. 

A decade from now when Jessa is dealing with 10 or more kids and all of the sister moms are married with their own families & not on hand to help and Jill has only 3 or 4 because of her birthing issues and thus can actually parent her fewer children, we may well be criticizing Jessa and praising Jill.

This. And, as horrible as it sounds, Ben and Jessa are a more goodlooking couple, with a house of their own with cute decorations, they dress more fashionably, their children are better looking to most of the people out there, Spurgeon is a more 'smiley' baby/toddler than Izzy, even though they are both brainwashed Jessa comes across as a lot brighter than Jill, she is better at 'selling' this picture perfect image of her family. A lot of superficial factors, but I am pretty sure they somehow contribute to a more 'likeable' image, and to the image of Jessa being a better mom than Jill.

[CharlieInCharge]

Henry is six months old and they've posted an album with some new and old pics. 

http://www.theseewaldfamily.com/index.cfm?p=henry-s-six-month-old-photos

Alright, when do we start the betting for baby number 3? 

[nst]

30 minutes ago, CharlieInCharge said:

Henry is six months old and they've posted an album with some new and old pics. 

http://www.theseewaldfamily.com/index.cfm?p=henry-s-six-month-old-photos

Alright, when do we start the betting for baby number 3? 

perhaps she is already 4 weeks along with the way she goes 

I expect an announcement in 2 months 

[Daisy0322]

42 minutes ago, CharlieInCharge said:

 

Alright, when do we start the betting for baby number 3? 

IIRC, spurgeon started sleeping through the night at 16 months... im guessing an announcement when he's about 21-23 months. This may be a horrible guess though because I have not a clue how old he is right now lol.

[nst]

10 minutes ago, Daisy0322 said:

IIRC, spurgeon started sleeping through the night at 16 months... im guessing an announcement when he's about 21-23 months. This may be a horrible guess though because I have not a clue how old he is right now lol.

wasn't she already pregnant with henry when Spurgeon was 6 months ?

[Carm_88]

Just now, nst said:

wasn't she already pregnant with henry when Spurgeon was 6 months ?

Yes, I believe she found out she was pregnant with Henry when Spurgeon was 6 months old. 

[Bad Wolf]

I hope she gets Spurgie out of diapers before #3 comes along. I can't imagine 3 kids in diapers, but maybe it wouldn't bother them.

[Bajovane]

It's true that Jessa probably does farm her kids out to Jana and the younger sisters while she kicks back and enjoys the freedom.  This makes me angry if so because Jana is such a slave.  She may appear to love the job, but dammit - I want to her start screaming  F U!  Raise your own damn brats!

[frugalitymom]

16 hours ago, Bajovane said:

Never thought Jessa would be the mother she is.  After watching the indifferent care she gave her buddies, I really didn't think she'd care much for being a mom.  You can see her boys are happy babies..  

I wonder if she resented having to be a sister mom and that's why she was so cold to her siblings.  

Parenting your siblings against your will and parenting your own kids is totally different.  It wasn't a situation where it was necessary to care for her siblings due to no parents it was forced upon her by a mother who horded babies.

[Greendoor]

15 hours ago, beepy13 said:

Agreed - she's always seemed so disinterested in things. But it seems like she really loves her kids and being a mom is really suiting her well.

Agree with everything frugalitymom said.  I think Jessa is very secretive, holds her real self and opinions in.  She maybe had a brief period when she was a rambunctious kid.  But she seems very "wise" and aware.  I think of all of them she is the best at having a "Show persona" that is seperate from her real self/life.

 

 

[Daisy0322]

1 hour ago, nst said:

wasn't she already pregnant with henry when Spurgeon was 6 months ?

Yes but I'd think waking up with two little ones would get in the way way more than waking up with one.

[Fluffy14]

In my dream world Jessa and Ben have been getting together and being real about why and how there is no baby forthcoming in the Vuolo Camp.  Jeremy's view spill over and Ben starts to scrunch his brow and says you know Jeremy I think your right.  

Jessa and Ben slow down on the birthing process and take a cue from the Vuolos and decide to dedicate a few years to marriage and not birthing. 

During this time the Seewald realize  a football team is not suitable on a pastors salary and they keep their family to a minimum size.   

Meanwhile Michelle does the what? Where? How? Why? Bobble head bulge meme. And throws everybody in to a Flux.  Jimbob sits in his closet office brooding trying to come up with how to be relevant.  Then I wake up.

It's a nice dream. But in reality I do wish Jeremy does rub off on Ben....

[SapphireSlytherin]

13 hours ago, allthegoodnamesrgone said:

PPD, I guarantee it.

How can you diagnose Jill with PPD? Do you know her personally? Maybe she just doesn't WANT to share on social media. There's no law that says she has to...

[VineHeart137]

I guess I'm in the minority but I think some of the speculation on here is getting a bit over-the-top. We don't know how often Jessa has Jana or any of her other sisters over to help watch the kids. Most people in real life do ask family to help out every once in a while, myself included. I'm not seeing the evidence that says Jessa throws her kids at her sisters every chance she gets like several people seem to think.

As for Jill, just because she doesn't gush about Israel all over social media doesn't mean she dislikes motherhood or that she sees her son as an inconvenience. I agree that she seems less sparky than she used to be, but that could be for a number of reasons (personally, my money is on "I just realized my husband is a douchecanoe and I can't do anything about it"). I'm also curious as to how anyone can "guarantee" that Jill has PPD based on the very little we see of them. Is it possible, sure, but to state it as fact? Maybe speculation like this is why Jill has laid off the Instagram posts as of late.

[Pukingpearl]

I have to say I find a bit of the speculation about who is a better mother and whose children are happiest to be a little disturbing. I have two toddlers. They're both somewhat shy toward strangers and notoriously difficult to photograph, but they're also two happy and well-adjusted little kids. Meanwhile I know some kids who if you met once might seem like the best kids ever...a second look and you'll see something much different. 

And some kids just have different temperaments and personalities. I don't know if Izzy is difficult kid or if Spurgeon is easy. I also don't know if the two minutes a day captured on Duggar social media portray any sort of reality. 

Im not trying to bash anyone or support anyone else, it just seems very wrong to me to make these sweeping statements about these kids and their mothers.

[doubleT]

On ‎8‎/‎7‎/‎2017 at 10:31 AM, HereticHick said:

Commenters on this picture Jeremy just posted say that the book Jessa is reading is Richard Baxter's The Godly Home. Baxter was a 17th Century Puritan, I think: https://www.amazon.com/Godly-Home-Richard-Baxter/dp/1433513447:

 

 

Baby Seeweed #3 could be named Baxter.