Counting On season 5/6/7 Part 3 - Weddings, Babies, and Denial

[CaricatureQualities]

I didn't even notice the amazing hilarity of Miss Cindy saying how much JB loved the V etc. (but the internet remedied that) because I was too busy thinking  "who the fuck cares what Jim Bob would like?" and "I knew he would be jealous of the big floral V!" when I saw the JinJer nups because joking aside the V was for Vuolo and not Duggar. 

And while I'm at it, I thought it was lame that JB and M got to pull the string on the neon BABY reveal sign. Why not one of the kids on the winning team?  Why not fuck it, lets let Jeremy's parents get the "honour" cuz it's their first grandchild.  Why do these two have to keep inserting themselves into the "story lines"  of this show? Are they that needy? It's okay that some of the offspring have been exiled from the TLC cameras but mama and daddy gotta shine! They are creeping back in. Fuck them.

 

(But for snark value...they are the best. )

[ItsMeY'all]

Who was the curly haired bridesmaid? Was that her helping one of the twins (maybe...one of the of ageish boys) get his hat and everything situated at the tea party? She seemed maybe a bit old for him but it still got my attention. Gotta keep eyes peeled for stuff like this during all of the wedding episodes!

[Ilovebrownies]

Has anyone else noticed how large Michelle’s chest looks lately?  

[Dandruff]

3 hours ago, Satan'sFortress said:

Josiah makes me feel awkward.  He seems so . . . fake? Forced?  Disingenuous?  I can't quite put my finger on it, but it was difficult to watch for me. Kind of like he was saying the things that he thought were expected of him.  Lauren seemed a bit like this, as well.  For their sakes, I hope that this was just awkwardness on camera.

It's like they're not really there - they're saying the right things but don't seem to be engaging with the environment at all.

2 hours ago, 3SecondSideHugger said:

I also thought that a little of Jeremiah ..but also was thinking wow he is cute and a little different looking from the rest of the Duggars.. and has he been in this family for the past decade and I never noticed?!

I have a hard time telling him apart from Joseph.  Jeremiah does have curlier hair though, and seems like one of the brighter Duggars.

[Kaylo]

Hmmm, twelve years of Catholic school, and we ALWAYS had 11/1 off. It was also a holy day of obligation.
Could it be regional, according to which archdiocese one lives in? 

They always kept us in school on the holy days of obligation because they wanted us to go to church and figured if they took us then we would definitely attend [emoji23]

So, all saint’s day in school here in Northern California!

[eveandadam]

Jinjer just seemed strange during this episode. LIke the couples that rub their relationship into the faces of others and make others feel weird and inferior.

[Pete Pickles]

6 hours ago, 3SecondSideHugger said:

I also thought that a little of Jeremiah ..but also was thinking wow he is cute and a little different looking from the rest of the Duggars.. and has he been in this family for the past decade and I never noticed?! I swear when they speak of the younger boys I’ve never heard those names before. There was some post the other day mentioning a Justin and I thought wtf is there a Justin? 

I’ve always found him and Joe to be the better looking boys, though admittedly I never knew his name and was still questioning it when I made my post you quoted. He was just “the cuter half of the other twin pair.” 

The lost girls are a little easier to distinguish than the howler monkeys, but as they all get older and mostly left out of the show, I’m always surprised by how grown they look when we do eventually see them. I think TLC could give us a “where are they now” episode on that whole bunch and half of America wouldn’t realize they’re actually still on TV.

[CarrotCake]

I noticed this episode that Laurens parents both kiss their daughter quite a lot.

I don't think I saw Michelle and JimBob kiss any of their children, especially when they are adults. Did I just miss that or do they really not kiss their children?

[DillyDally]

I felt a little bit bad for the cake lady, she seemed super stressed out when she could not find those cardboard cutouts to place the cake on, she even admitted that she was gonna start crying. For all that (fake?) drama surrounding getting the cake ready (duh, we've seen that so many times), it would have been nice to show Lauren and Josiah thank her and all the other helpers personally at the reception. Instead, Lauren mumbled something about gluten free before cutting the cake (I guess she was just nervous speaking in front of so many people).

Also, I know they have a huge social circle, but where do all those helpers always come from? And who does all the cleaning up afterwards? 

That scene on the couch where they read one of the post-its to each other was super awkward with them wanting to kiss so badly and two little girls (her sisters?) sitting right next to them. But the first kiss wasn't so bad, in my opinion, just a LOT of steam and passion trying to be released all at once  But Lauren's father was standing really close to them and watching... that bit was a bit icky again.

I don't know why, but I imagined Abbie to have a much higher voice. She sounds very mature and I liked her no-nonsense introduction. Nothing about "praying about it" or how she liked John because he has a "heart for the Lord" yadda yadda. Let's hope their wedding reflects all that (not another mega church wedding, please).

[BlessingsVonFundiePants]

Did TLC do a fundie-lite edit on the vows for the this episode?  I could have sworn that the earlier episode they aired  had them each say “if god chooses to bless us with children, I will join with you to raise them up in fear and admonition of the lord”

[Irishy]

This was the first time we’ve had a good look at the howlers in years. But no Jackson. Makes me wonder why. I always thought he had some degree of learning difficulty and possibly behavioural. I wonder how the child training plus puberty affects a child like him. I hope he isn’t being deliberately kept off camera. Poor kid. 

[kiwi]

Nobody has mentioned the two ladies (a couple?) at the birth class...

[xenobia]

2 hours ago, BlessingsVonFundiePants said:

Did TLC do a fundie-lite edit on the vows for the this episode?  I could have sworn that the earlier episode they aired  had them each say “if god chooses to bless us with children, I will join with you to raise them up in fear and admonition of the lord”

I had to try to go back and check. I can't really hear what she's saying - it's around 13.30 into the clip. Maybe one of you who with English as a first language can transcribe? 

 

[BunnyBee]

2 hours ago, BlessingsVonFundiePants said:

Did TLC do a fundie-lite edit on the vows for the this episode?  I could have sworn that the earlier episode they aired  had them each say “if god chooses to bless us with children, I will join with you to raise them up in fear and admonition of the lord”

No you're right they are edited. In their wedding special their vows were super heavy, in fact I remember posting on here how odd they seemed for their ages. I went to my cousins teen (Groom 20, Bride 19) wedding last year and their vows included letting each other pick the movies on Netflix and not falling asleep during the other persons picked movie, which I just loved 

Also Lauren's parents must have some serious extra cash. I also had a tea party themed bridal shower this month, and my future MIL surprised me with porcelain tea cups like Lauren had, and I later found out just for 20 cups was $200......

We did find a lot of teapots and some mismatched cups used in the decor at a couple of different thrift stores though, but they all looked like one matching set including saucers. 

[VineHeart137]

2 hours ago, kiwi said:

Nobody has mentioned the two ladies (a couple?) at the birth class...

I wasn't paying close attention (I literally fell asleep during the episode) so I didn't really notice them, but it isn't all that unusual for women to bring a female friend or family member to a birthing class as support if the father is unavailable. So they may not necessarily have been a couple.

[SilverBeach]

16 hours ago, Pete Pickles said:

I did say OVERLY sensitive, not those who are reasonably sensitive as in the case of a health issue. I’m sure we would have been told 19 times and counting if Austin was one of those.

Why are you so sure? I'm not. Look, immunosupressed people aren't the majority, but even relatively healthy elderly people have reduced immunity. As such, it is good to be aware of the possible risks to others that could result from lax cleanliness. That's all I'm saying.

[TZmom]

3 hours ago, kiwi said:

Nobody has mentioned the two ladies (a couple?) at the birth class...

They looked like a mother-daughter pair to me. But the daughter looked quite young. Maybe she was a scandalous unwed teen Mom. ?

[Jana814]

11 minutes ago, TZmom said:

They looked like a mother-daughter pair to me. But the daughter looked quite young. Maybe she was a scandalous unwed teen Mom. ?

I think they were a mother-daughter pair and I thought an unwed teen mother too. 

[Pete Pickles]

2 hours ago, SilverBeach said:

Why are you so sure? I'm not. Look, immunosupressed people aren't the majority, but even relatively healthy elderly people have reduced immunity. As such, it is good to be aware of the possible risks to others that could result from lax cleanliness. That's all I'm saying.

I’m pretty sure because that’s how production of this show works. My “lax cleanliness” is more or less in my own eating habits at my own home. I will eat after my husband or children if they’ve double dipped and I don’t care. I also have sex with him and wipe their butts, so their double dipping is nothing to me. If Austin has major issues with his immunity (and I’m certain he doesn’t), he should maybe avoid fondue anyway and other things that are highly likely to be cross-contaminated, like food cooked by other people not supervised by him. I’m sure lots of veggie touching went into the salad. Some people on this board just want to call other people out. I’m not alienating Austin. He was being obnoxious. This is a place for Duggar snark and I’m doing it. It also came across to me that he was taking the opportunity to shame his wife for not being a germaphobe. Seems that’s why he explained his silly rules so thoroughly to her personally and then again to everyone else while she was there. Maybe it’s just a pet peeve of his and he was trying to let her know, but he was also dramatic enough about it that production was able to turn it into a whole conversation with TH discussion. They had ample opportunity at that point to tell us if he has a health concern. Of course that would be his personal business to share, but we’ve seen enough personal business on this show that it would not be riveting. We’ve known Lauren for 6 or 7 episodes and heard she’s gluten free at least 3 times. It was stupid on his part and I’m snarking.

[SassyPants]

9 hours ago, Kaylo said:

 

They always kept us in school on the holy days of obligation because they wanted us to go to church and figured if they took us then we would definitely attend

So, all saint’s day in school here in Northern California!

 

When I was in Catholic grammar school in the 60s (NO CAL), each school was given their school's "saint" day off. I went to ALL SAINTS school, so we were the lucky ones to get 11/1 as a school holiday.  

[SilverBeach]

16 minutes ago, Pete Pickles said:

I’m pretty sure because that’s how production of this show works. My “lax cleanliness” is more or less in my own eating habits at my own home. I will eat after my husband or children if they’ve double dipped and I don’t care. I also have sex with him and wipe their butts, so their double dipping is nothing to me.

That is quite normal with immediate family. I have sex with my husband too and have no problem swapping spit with him! Was only immediate family present in the episode? Honestly, I depend on the recaps here because I can't stand looking at them and haven't watched since the frumper years. But no, they don't tell us everything about the Duggars, which is why there is so much speculation about Jana. Besides, I never stated that he was immunosuppressed, my comment was general.

I don't want to veer into dead parrot territory, so suffice it to say that everybody should be as relaxed as they want to be in their home with their family. I never meant to imply anything otherwise. As a person with chronic health conditions that render me more vulnerable to infection, I was just offering a PSA for awareness purposes.

[clueliss]

Was anyone else amused at the camera shots of JB & M that had Derrick's brother and Mom sitting behind them (while of course Derrick and Jill are relegated to a less prominent place to keep them out of shots)?  

[SilverBeach]

18 minutes ago, Pete Pickles said:

It was stupid on his part and I’m snarking.

That's fine, FJ is a snark board after all, albeit an informative one. Stupid is in the eye of the beholder. And I never said that what's his name was immunosupressed, I made a general comment.  I still don't agree that they tell us every detail about everything, the true condition of Jill and her second baby was never actually revealed after the birth.

[Carm_88]

4 minutes ago, clueliss said:

Was anyone else amused at the camera shots of JB & M that had Derrick's brother and Mom sitting behind them (while of course Derrick and Jill are relegated to a less prominent place to keep them out of shots)?  

It must kill Derick. Which makes me happy! I mean he wants the show to move to UP! so that he can get back on it.

[Mama Mia]

5 hours ago, kiwi said:

Nobody has mentioned the two ladies (a couple?) at the birth class...

Not 100% sure, but that looked like a mother- daughter pair. 

Other random thoughts on the episode :

* Extremely messed up to do the cut-aways to Jana and possible single guys while speculating about the new romance. Uggggggg

* Josie’s hair looked really cute in that style. 

* I like how matter of fact Lauren is about everything, she thinks ahead and plans what she wants. For example the getting ready with just her mom because it would be quiet.

* Josiah seemed more relaxed than before. Interesting that when they described what they wanted in a spouse they both said “ someone just like mom/dad”I think it is great that they describe each other as best friends - because I’m still pretty darn sure that’s going to be the type of love they have for each other - the passion part still seems fake AF. And his wording, reactions etc are all very much - “whelp, this is my role in life. At least I got a good friend and mom to plow through it with. She’ll keep me on script” 

* I loved the 52 weeks love note idea.

* Abbie and John David are beyond adorable. Loved the introduction. I’m sure they’ll talk more about religion next season, but loved they didn’t go into it yet, also really loved that they didn’t announce to his family in a big scripted scene with a camera crew ! This also makes me REALLY want this for my hard working outdoorsy son who reminds me a lot of John David.