Maxwell 58: What Will Anna Do? Plus Anna Marie Gives Birth

[JermajestyDuggar]

White pants must be eye traps as well! 

[Formerlyjeansonly17]

12 hours ago, usmcmom said:

I was surprised to see Madeline is forward facing in her carseat.  She is pretty small and is she even two yet?  Also, I think her carseat clip needs to be raised. Yes, we have been given rigorously carseat instructions for driving with our grandson and that is just fine with  me  

 

Agreed.  I noticed both things immediately.  But it's Chelsy and I doubt they worry about car seat safety as they should.  More worried about saving a fetus. 

[Melissa1977]

On 9/11/2023 at 7:13 PM, JermajestyDuggar said:

I know Steve and Jim Bob are friends

I don't think so. They visited each other, but it was more than a decade ago. Duggars are not invited to Maxweddings. 

[JermajestyDuggar]

2 minutes ago, Melissa1977 said:

I don't think so. They visited each other, but it was more than a decade ago. Duggars are not invited to Maxweddings. 

No, they were at Chelsy and John’s wedding. 

[HereticHick]

46 minutes ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

No, they were at Chelsy and John’s wedding. 

Did they also attend the Bontrager-Bowers double wedding?

[JermajestyDuggar]

16 minutes ago, HereticHick said:

Did they also attend the Bontrager-Bowers double wedding?

Yeah. The Duggars seem to know everyone in fundieland. They know the Maxwells, Bontragers, Bowers, Wissmanns, everyone. I shouldn’t say that. They don’t seem to be friends with the Helferiches. But we know the Maxwells and Duggars have known each other for a long time. The Duggars were at John’s wedding plus the Maxwells and Duggars were at the double Bontrager/Boner wedding a few months before Chelsy’s wedding. 

[Maggie Mae]

15 hours ago, usmcmom said:

Chelsey said she thinks Walmart clothes are poor quality.

Everything she bought is poor quality. It's all fast fashion, disposable, bad for the environment. Not that I can judge, most clothes today are fast fashion. And Chelsey picks out cute stuff. I just don't think the Amazon stuff and Old Navy are good for more than 1-2 wears. Especially Old Navy, which is my personal hell on earth. It always seems like a good idea and then you've spent way too much and everything falls apart after one wash. And that's without the disaster of going to the store, which is tucked back in the mall, crowded, and plays weird games with their sizes. 

"Uncle Kory" is pretty hot. Way to go Sarah! I wish she would start blogging again, but for real this time. Let it all out. Give us the details. 

 

[theologygeek]

6 hours ago, Maggie Mae said:

Everything she bought is poor quality. It's all fast fashion, disposable, bad for the environment. Not that I can judge, most clothes today are fast fashion. And Chelsey picks out cute stuff. I just don't think the Amazon stuff and Old Navy are good for more than 1-2 wears. Especially Old Navy, which is my personal hell on earth. It always seems like a good idea and then you've spent way too much and everything falls apart after one wash. And that's without the disaster of going to the store, which is tucked back in the mall, crowded, and plays weird games with their sizes. 

"Uncle Kory" is pretty hot. Way to go Sarah! I wish she would start blogging again, but for real this time. Let it all out. Give us the details. 

 

I don't know what it is with me and clothes from Amazon, but I don't have luck buying clothes on there.  I stopped and don't do it any more.  Everything falls apart.  The dress I bought my daughter fell apart too.  And I'm not buying cheap stuff either.  It's like I have an Amazon black cloud hanging over my head.  And it's not just clothes.  Two different kinds of pillows were terrible.  The Mucinex I got when I had covid was ready to expire.  The flood light broke after a week.  The greenhouse was missing parts.  They said they are cracking down on so many returns, but their stuff seems to be junk lately. 

[Maggie Mae]

37 minutes ago, theologygeek said:

It's like I have an Amazon black cloud hanging over my head.

We've pretty much stopped buying from Amazon, other than a select few items that can't be bought directly from the company/manufacturer. Mostly for ethical reasons but also because of the lack of quality control. Dresses that fell apart, sizes that were way too small, completely wrong products, its just a not great company. But it is one of the few places that don't try to charge me international shipping or claim they can't ship here because they don't ship internationally. I'm in the US, BTW. 

And now they are building multiple facilities basically in our backyard, which is not going to help our economic crisis. Not all jobs are equal and this move is just going to bring down wages in my area. 

 

[anjulibai]

Sarah has gained weight and I am here for it. After all the years she was forced to adhere to her father's food issues, I am glad it looks like she can eat better now.

Edited September 27, 2023 by anjulibai

[OyHiOh]

I've always had strong opinions about the Maxwells, and Steve in particular, but it's taken literal years of therapy to work out why.

My dad is weirdly, strikingly similar to ole Steve.  My dad, like Steve, is rigid, incurious, intolerant of creativity, depressed, anxious, and has a range of food restrictions he inflicts on anyone else eating with him, and has become dramatically moreso with age and having less control of his adult offspring.  My mom, raised to be a proper white boomer WASP wife/mother, tolerates and cajoles, and on occassion acts as peacemaker, but mostly just lets his anxious depressed self act as unhinged as Steve has shown in recent letters.  My dad knows he has depression; he has chosen time and again to do nothing about it because he doesn't believe in (talk) therapy, and medications don't do anything.  My dad had several . . . . unusual . . . . . methods of trying to minimize sibling conflict, all of which have caused heartbreak, anger, and trauma in his now adult children.  My dad's methods are eerily similar to things Steve did - like not letting two children pursue the same interest, and not encouraging the development of a child with a genuine talent/interest in something.  We did not have religious fundamentalism as an excuse and but we show all the characteristics of children raised in Free Jinger families.

Warning, make way for  

So I think Steve had something radical and life changing happen, probably in the six months to a year before the infamous Reversal.  At this point, my dad is incapable of recognizing the precipitating incident, although all four of his adult children can pinpoint the even clearly, and it happened years before any of us were born!  Steve is probably equally unable to identify the "what," and if he is, probably doesn't acknowledge it as a big deal.  But something happened that made him feel anxious and depressed, that only a definitive physical action could relieve.  And I think that all of his decisions and choices since then have been about trying to make the anxiety go away, if only for a little while, and for decades, he's been able to do that sucessfully by controlling his adult children.  Since he no long has that outlet, every unhinged Dad's email he writes is a reflection of his inability to make the anxiety go away.  I would hazard a guess that COVID spiked his anxiety, as did going to a new church (my dad is unbelievably awful about visiting new/unfamiliar places). Sarah moving out/dating/getting married without Steve's explicit approval inflamed his anxiety.  Anna and Mary not just leaving home but going to a different state to attend college probably put him into stratospheric anxiety, and Anna recently heading back to school, BY HERSELF . . . . . well, based on the way my dad is, I can only imagine how anxious Steve has felt the past few weeks.  If, as some speculated, Anna might have left home for school without exactly saying good bye, that would make it even worse.  The Dad's emails are just a reflection of that.  He can't act on "the girls" to relieve his anxiety anymore and he has no other way to deal with it.

If any of the Maxwell "girls" read here, my advice would be to lock down your identity and any social media you use in such a way that Steve can't break in.  Use the auto generated passwords that are strings of gibberish, and give fake answers to security questions.  My dad goes trying to pry into my life in bad ways when his anxiety is elevated and while it's mostly harmless (an ex partner of mine got some late night unhinged text messages a few years ago), he does have the capacity to do real harm "unintentionally."

I haven't spoken to my parents in four years.  I don't know when I will.  Every word I say gets scrutinized for things my dad can act out his anxiety on.  Every action I take, same.  At this point, my parents don't even know what schools my kids go to, because they've proven unable to handle that knowledge appropriately (and apparently don't realize FERPA is a thing; fortunately, our school admins are well trained on the topic).  I would like to be able to have nice, normal, pleasant and comfortably superficial conversations with them but at this time, it just isn't possible.  Maybe, with enough therapy, I'll get to a point where I can.

[Bethy]

On 9/25/2023 at 10:53 PM, SPHASH said:

Sarah looks so happy.  And her top!  Hope Steve is shitting a brick.

 

Realistically, how is he even going to see this? I don't imagine he follows Chelsy's blog. I don't imagine anyone texted him the pic. She looks great (I mean, I personally hate cold shoulder tops but am glad she feels the liberty to wear them now) and I'm sure he'd disapprove of every part of her outfit but I'm not sure he's really likely to see it, unless somebody texts it to Teri and it shows up in her Covenant Eyes report. 

[JermajestyDuggar]

15 minutes ago, Bethy said:

Realistically, how is he even going to see this? I don't imagine he follows Chelsy's blog. I don't imagine anyone texted him the pic. She looks great (I mean, I personally hate cold shoulder tops but am glad she feels the liberty to wear them now) and I'm sure he'd disapprove of every part of her outfit but I'm not sure he's really likely to see it, unless somebody texts it to Teri and it shows up in her Covenant Eyes report. 

I personally hope she wears outfits like that when she goes to visit back home. And Steve just has to grumble to himself and Teri after they leave. 

[browngrl]

I have been thinking about the Maxwell's quite a bit this summer. 

My husband and I have taken up hiking and when I find myself getting up ridiculously early to climb a ridiculous trail I think "dear sweet baby Jesus, have I become Steve?" On our last hike, we stopped at Costco to get supplies, I had a list of food to buy, and I fed some chipmunks during one part of the trail. During a particularly gruelling bit I found that the thing that was keeping me going was the need to prove I could do it if Steve could. What have I become????

So far I have not yet hiked in a skirt but I did purchase a short skort this weekend so....

 

[HeartsAFundie]

On 9/26/2023 at 10:10 AM, Red Hair, Black Dress said:

I believe Sarah is having "excellent" fun and loving God.

Listen Stevie boy -- having fun and loving God are not, and never were, mutually exclusive. 

 

"Having "excellent" fun and loving God" would make an awesome thread title for the Maxwell girls.   

[SassyPants]

You know what I love about Sarah at this point? It’s that she clearly does not give a flying eff about what Steve Maxwell might think about her adult behaviors, clothing or food choices.

Why do adults think that they should have control over their adult, self supporting, stable, healthy, fully functional, independent offspring? WHY??????

[marmalade]

8 minutes ago, SassyPants said:

You know what I love about Sarah at this point? It’s that she clearly does not give a flying eff about what Steve Maxwell might think about her adult behaviors, clothing or food choices.

Why do adults think that they should have control over their adult, self supporting, stable, healthy, fully functional, independent offspring? WHY??????

A good question for both Steve and Jim Bob Duggar.

[SPHASH]

Forgot to mention Chelsy and John also bought a camper! As a lover of camping and the outdoors and buying my first camper last year I am thrilled for them for a number of reasons...1.A big fuck you to Steve as he probably doesn't approve of a purchase like that, 2.John must be doing well enough with his irrigation business, 3.possibly a sign they aren't having any more kids, unless they bought a motor home no way are they going to stuff 19 kids in a 5th wheel or travel trailer.

Edited September 29, 2023 by SPHASH

[JermajestyDuggar]

1 hour ago, SPHASH said:

Forgot to mention Chelsy and John also bought a camper! As a lover of camping and the outdoors and buying my first camper last year I am thrilled for them for a number of reasons...1.A big fuck you to Steve as he probably doesn't approve of a purchase like that, 2.John must be doing well enough with his irrigation business, 3.possibly a sign they aren't having any more kids, unless they bought a motor home no way are they going to stuff 19 kids in a 5th wheel or travel trailer.

I’m just glad they aren’t living in it. I feel so sorry for the fundie kids who have to live in campers. And the newlywed fundies are using campers as starter homes. I just couldn’t do that. I don’t need a ton of space. But I do need space. 

[NoseyNellie]

Sarah looks great!  Love that she gets to do something she loves and that Kory is along for the ride- entertaining her nephews and holding her equipment bags for her!  

I love that they ladies look genuinely happy in their matchy outfits.  Love that Chelsey notes the dress is not flattering and she tried to help her figure.. Says to me she is not expecting (Would have expressed how comfy the fit was for tender growing bellies).  

[JermajestyDuggar]

I wore a bridesmaid dress that fit similar to the one Chelsy wore. The waist would make anyone look pregnant. I was actually 5 weeks pregnant when I wore it. Yes, I looked slightly pregnant but I shouldn’t have. Only being 5 weeks pregnant I should have looked like I had my period and was a bit bloated. Boy am I glad I’ll probably never wear another bridesmaid dress in my life. 

[HoneyBunny]

On 9/19/2023 at 3:33 PM, MamaJunebug said:

He’s not gonna get help.  I’ll bet $100. In his mind he’s right.  End of ends. 

He and LazyLori really are two peas in a pod. And lumping them together serves to highlight how very NOT meek and quiet Lori is. She will argue to the end of time about how right she is. There is not an ounce of Christian love in both of them together. 

The pics do make me wonder about potential pregnancies (and I hate that I care). I would have sworn at Mary’s wedding that all the women except Melanie were expecting. 

[IReallyAmHopewell]

On 9/27/2023 at 6:53 PM, anjulibai said:

Sarah has gained weight and I am here for it. After all the years she was forced to adhere to her father's food issues, I am glad it looks like she can eat better now.

Fertility drugs?

[JermajestyDuggar]

3 minutes ago, IReallyAmHopewell said:

Fertility drugs?

I don’t think fertility drugs are very likely to make you gain weight. It’s more likely that Sarah is happily living her life without an odious obsessive Steve Maxwell breathing down her neck to eat 2 animal crackers for dessert. 

[Bethy]

3 hours ago, HoneyBunny said:

The pics do make me wonder about potential pregnancies (and I hate that I care). I would have sworn at Mary’s wedding that all the women except Melanie were expecting. 

My initial reaction to Sarah's appearance was "Oh, she must not have been pregnant at Mary's wedding, or else she'd be way bigger by now because Mary's wedding was a long time ago" only I forgot about Chelsy's posting lag - this wedding was a month and a half ago and only like 10 weeks after Mary's. Whatever is going on with Sarah, I hope it's exactly what she wants and that she is truly as happy as she looks. 

37 minutes ago, IReallyAmHopewell said:

Fertility drugs?

I think those cause some belly bloat, but shouldn't cause overall weight gain in face, arms, legs, etc. I tend to agree with @JermajestyDuggar that Kory likely isn't shaming her about every crumb that goes in her mouth or holding lengthy fasts or expecting five adults to be satisfied sharing one serving of tortilla chips with cheese as their entire lunch, and her body is settling into its happy, healthy weight.