Updated Book tour!

Jim Bob and Michelle gave us update on the book tour for the girls. The girls are going to be very busy with book signings in nine different cities and then speaking at the church

March 12 - Harrisburg, PA
Barnes & Noble Book Signing
Camp Hill Shopping Center
Camp Hill, PA 17011
7-9pm


March 13 - Alexandria, VA
Family Christian Book Signing
7714 Richmond Highway
Alexandria, VA 22306
6-8pm

March 15 - Raleigh-Durham, NC
Family Christian Book Signing
5950 Poyner Village Pkwy
Raleigh, NC 27616
11am-1pm

March 15 – Spartanburg, SC
Christian Supply Book Signing
1600 John B White, Sr. Blvd.
Spartanburg, SC
6-8pm

March 16 – Moore, SC
Anderson Mill Baptist Church – Speaking Events
4455 Anderson Mill Rd.
Moore, SC
8am, 9:30am, 11am, & 6pm
*Not a book singing, but books will be sold at this event

March 17 - Chattanooga, TN
Barnes & Noble Book Signing
2100 Hamilton Place Blvd.
Chattanooga, TN
7-9pm

March 18 - Birmingham, AL
Lifeway Christian Store Book Signing
1672 Gadsden Hwy.
Birmingham, AL 35235
6-8 pm

March 19 - Jackson, MS
Barnes & Noble Book Signing
1000 Highland Colony Pkway
Ridgeland, MS 39157
7-9pm

March 20 – Tyler, TX
Lifeway Christian Store Book Signing
5510 S. Broadway Ave.
Tyler, TX 75703
6-8pm

March 25 – Rogers, AR
Lifeway Christian Store Book Signing
2203 Promenade Blvd.
Rogers, AR 72758
6-8pm

John David update

John David went with Lawson and Warden Bates went to a mission trip.

19 reason and counting

 

Michelle duggar mom to 19 kids

taking care of herself and her kids

Josie duggar is the youngest of the bunch

Four kids and counting

11 kids and counting

The duggar family

Jim Bob and Michelle before it all started

19 reasons Michelle Duggar loves her body, even after 19 babies

Michelle Duggar, mom of 19, says she sees her stretch marks as a blessing.
Michelle Duggar knows all about mom body issues.

The mother of 19 children, who with her family stars in TLC's reality series "19 Kids and Counting," says she gained a few pounds with each baby. Happens to a lot of women and it's no big deal if you have a couple kids. But when you hit double digits, those few pounds start to add up.

"It snuck up on me," Michelle Duggar told TODAY Moms in an exclusive interview for our Love Your Selfie body image series. "Before I knew it, I was 40 pounds overweight."

That was about 10 years ago; she lost the weight and kept it off with a combination of better eating and exercise. And she's happy with her body now. Of course, it's not the body she had pre-babies. But she's OK with that — and here are 19 reasons why.

1. God. The Duggars are Christian, and her faith in God helps Michelle avoid obsessing over her bodily imperfections. After all, God gave her this body, so who is she to complain? "I am not the center of my universe, Jesus is," Michelle says.

Her religious faith also helps motivate her to work out in the mornings when she'd rather stay in bed; she figures God wants her to take care of her body: "I don't want to get up at 6 in the morning and get on the elliptical, but I take myself off the throne and put Jesus on the throne."

2. Her daughters. Michelle says she's very mindful that her nine daughters, as well as her 10 sons, look to her for cues as to how they should feel about their own appearance. "A mama really sets the tone more than anyone else," she says.

3. She doesn't let the haters bring her down. As Michelle and husband Jim Bob's fecundity has sometimes become a topic of national discussion, Michelle is often the butt of jokes. Strangers speculate on the condition of her body. Does she care? Nope. See No. 1. "I don't want to reject my critics, there could be some truth" in criticism, she says gently. "But at the same time I'm not going to let it dictate who I am. Truly, my Lord is the one I want to please."

4. They're worth it. Michelle and Jim Bob decided early on in their marriage that they would not use any method of birth control and instead to "let God decide" how many children they would have. They believe children are blessings from God, and everything that comes along with those kids? Also a blessing. "The stretch marks and the little pudgy places, those are my marks of glory for my kids," Michelle says. "I look at Jordyn, I look at Jackson and I think, 'I remember that stretch mark. You were worth it. And I wouldn’t trade that stretch mark for anything.'"


5. No fat talk. Michelle says she pays attention to how she talks to herself about her appearance. Husband Jim Bob has noted that expectations can kill relationships. The same is true, Michelle says, with body image: she tries not to expect too much of herself. "It helps to talk to ourselves the right way," she says. "We are hard on ourselves. We believe lies. We’re constantly bombarded with 'oh, you’re so fat' — those are lies."

6. Jim Bob. Michelle credits her husband for always making her feel beautiful and never criticizing her appearance, even at her heaviest weight. "Jim Bob has NEVER put me down for my body. He has NEVER mocked me for my mommy tummy," she says. "He is one of my biggest encouragers."


7. She doesn't compare herself to others. This is another good example to set, especially when you have nine daughters. "We're always going to find somebody skinnier than we are, somebody bigger than we are," she says. "Every girl struggles with, 'Oh, I wish I looked like that or I wish my hair was like that.' We go back to the point of who you are and how God made you – you’re not your sister. It’s all about being who God wants YOU to be."

8. She forgives herself. No one is perfect, and when you have 19 kids there's plenty of opportunity to make mistakes. Michelle says she tries not to beat herself up, whether the slip-up is a forgotten appointment or a few extra pounds. "Forgiveness makes the home a more peaceful and harmonious place," she says.

9. She got in shape! Loving your body doesn't mean accepting an unhealthy weight. When Michelle realized her weight gain was slowing her down and causing her pain, she made changes. "When I dropped that 40 pounds I felt physically so much better. I had more stamina," she says. Weight Watchers helped her lose the weight. "I had to write down everything I put in my mouth and oh, my word, you talk about accountability."

10. She made fitness fun for the family. Like everything Duggar, Michelle's quest to lose weight was a family project. When you can't escape for an hour at the gym, you make your family part of your fitness routine. "Every evening after dinner we'd all go out walking, I would push the baby and I would walk for an hour. Just enjoying that time outside with my kids."


11. She gives thanks. Especially after her pre-eclampsia health scare with her youngest, Josie, who was born prematurely and is now a healthy 4-year-old, Michelle tries to appreciate the fact that she and her family are generally healthy. "I praise God for the life I’ve had so far, the health I’ve had; I don’t take that for granted," she says.

12. Support from friends. Every morning she texts her friend Cindy; they motivate each other to work out and send each other uplifting messages. "It's good to have outside accountability," Michelle says.

13. She doesn't worry about trends. Hairstyle/clothes/makeup of the moment? Not for Michelle. When she got her hair cut and straightened for a "makeover" on the show, she smiled politely... and then went back to doing her hair the way she's always done it, trends notwithstanding. And when she learned that her favorite style was something derisively called a "mullet"? She laughed. (See No. 3.)

14. No bikini body stress. Michelle and her children dress "modestly," meaning she and the girls cover up from neck to knee. Even while swimming. While the full-coverage swimsuits she favors don't look like the coolest things on the beach, at least she's spared any bathing suit angst.

15. She focuses on relationships. At the end of the day, Michelle says, her life is all about her relationships with God, with family and with others — not what she looks like. "The whole view of who I am is not about that physical body, but it's how I respond to the relationships in my life," she says.


16. She accepts what she can't change. Michelle says she always tells her children there are a list of things they won't be able to change in life, appearance and aging among them. "This is life, and it's about character," she says.

17. Thou shalt not covet. Envying others just leads to bitterness, which makes for an unhappy life, Michelle says. "If you take out resentment and become envious and covetous – that includes coveting someone else’s metabolism," Michelle says. Sure, everyone has those feelings occasionally, she says, but when it happens "we humble ourselves before God and pray about it."

18. She's open to having more children. Michelle's last pregnancy ended in a miscarriage in 2011, but she and Jim Bob say more children are always possible. After being pregnant or nursing a baby almost constantly for the past 26 years, Michelle says it's a little odd NOT to be sharing her body with a baby. "Every month, I think, 'Well Lord, are you going to give us another baby?'" she says.

19. God. Again. Yes, religion is a big part of the Duggars' lives and Michelle's self-image, so we're counting Him twice. "One of the things that we have talked a lot about in our relationship and with our kids is the self-image that we have, looking at life from God’s point of view," she says. "It's about accepting yourself how God made you."

"It goes back to that relationship with our Lord, ultimately," Michelle says. "A child is a gift, and we don’t reject the fact that my body changes. We embrace that gift and we embrace the fact that there will be some changes, there will be some stretch marks."

5 weeks to go!

The duggars are back in Five weeks with brand new episodes

New photos

Mackynzie and Michael with Friends at the zoo

Michael

Jordyn with Matty (Amy's boyfriend)

Amy with Johannah

Josh

Mackynzie

Playing some games

Jessa and Ben

Jedidiah

Cousin Amy with Grandma Duggar

Jordyn

Josh

Jordyn with Amy

New season!

The new season is schedule to start April 1 and we are getting ready for the new season.

On this blog we will have
* Episode summary
* Trivia questions for the episodes
* trivia answers

"Growing Up Duggar" Book Tour

The duggar girls book is scheduled March 4, 2014. Jana, Jill, Jessa, and Jinger are heading to PA (March 12)  and TN  (March 17) to signed their first book that the girls wrote together.

Wednesday, March 12, 2014, 7-9pm
Jana, Jill, Jessa, and Jinger Duggar to sign books at Barnes & Noble Booksellers
58 South 32nd Street, Camp Hill, PA 17011
Questions? Call 717-737-0221



Monday, March 17, 2014, 7pm
Jana, Jill, Jessa, and Jinger Duggar to sign books at Barnes & Noble Booksellers
2100 Hamilton Place Boulevard, Chattanooga, TN 37421
Questions? Call 423-893-0186

Teaching Manners

Michelle Duggar's Most Important Tip for Teaching Kids Manners

FAMILY MATTERS on 02.24.14

Michelle Duggar19 Kids and CountingBIO

 

Photo: DCL

Question from a "19 Kids and Counting" fan on Facebook: I’m dealing with a child that’s in the phase of, “I want. I want. I want.” They want everything. Do you have any advice for breaking that habit?

I sure do. I learned the hard way. With my first one, that was a struggle!

They need to learn that you don’t say, “I want.” You need to say, “May I please?” That has been so powerful in transforming my little ones’ attitudes. They might need something, but the way to express that need is by asking politely. If they ever start a sentence off with “I want,” I always stop them and say, “Wait a minute. You said that wrong. What do you need to say to Mommy? Try it again. Let’s practice. Say ‘May I please have a drink?’ ‘May I please have a piece of cheese?’”

I have them do it two or three times, practicing the right way, and then I say, “Sure, you can.” I teach the older ones to reinforce this. Do not give it to them if they say “I want.” Make sure you talk encouragingly to them to say it the right way. They need to understand that they’ve got to express gratitude, or else they’re going to be a self-centered child.

We read a book by S. Truett Cathy, the man who started Chick-fil-A, called How Did You Do It, Truett? His recommendation is that when somebody says thank you, instead of saying, “You’re welcome,” you say, “My pleasure.” You go above and beyond really expressing that service spirit that we should all have. So I always have them say thank you. I tell the kids, “We are learning to be grateful. When somebody gives you something, you say thank you.” Then I respond, “My pleasure.”

We also look to Jesus and we want to follow his example when he said, “The greatest among you will be the servant.” So we have a chart in our house where we keep track of their good work, praising them for good character -- not being selfish, but for being kind to others, and showing gratefulness. Every time one of the children does something correctly, like saying please or thank you, they’ll get a checkmark. It’s very encouraging for them to see their progress. When they do really well, they’ll get a small reward.

This is all that concept of attitude, teaching them that life does not revolve around you. You’re not the center of the universe. Surely there are other people around you, and you need to express kindness to them for all the ways they serve you.

Have a burning question for Michelle Duggar? Send it to her and it could appear in an upcoming post!

Volunteer

Looking forward to the Medford Volunteer Fire Department annual chili supper and auction tomorrow night! Hope to see you there! It will be held at Clinch River Baptist Church 407 Cane Creek Rd and doors open at 5:30! Bates family and the Duggar family will be singing as well as some great local bands!!! God bless, and don't forget to vote Zach Bates for Mayor on May 6th!

Duggars to Give Parenting Tips Knoxville

This Saturday, join the Duggars at the B97.5 Parenting Expo in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Saturday, February 22, 2014, 9:30am-4:30pm
Duggars to speak and meet fans at the 3rd Annual B97.5 Parenting Expo
Knoxville Expo Center off Merchant's Road
General admission: $5 per person (Children 6 & under are FREE)
The Duggars will be on stage at 11am and meeting fans from 1-3pm*

*50 tickets will be sold beginning at 9:30am for a guarantee to meet the Duggar family. Tickets cost $5 each and are good for a party of up to 4. Attendees who do not purchase a ticket may still stand in line but are not guaranteed a chance to meet the Duggars.

New duggar photos

What will the new season focus on?

• Jessa and Ben
• Chad and Erin's wedding
• Josh and Anna's family
• Michelle spending time with her kids

The new season will be 10 episodes total and we will have trivia questions and answers for all of the episodes.

Big news!

19 kids and counting is returning on April 1, 2014! No it's not April Fools Joke! It's for real!

Comment down below if you are excited!

Just two more weeks

The wait is almost over for the new book!

Big news tomorrow

We have some big news tomorrow! Be sure to check it out tomorrow

Jessa and Ben's first Valentine's day!

Jessa and Ben are celebrating their first Valentine's d
ay. We kinda hope to see that their engagement to happen but who knows.

We are not saying that they are engaged right now!

Valentine's day!

Happy Valentine's day to all of our fans!

7 tips from the duggars

Despite of having 19 kids, Jim Bob and Michelle work on keeping their romance alive. Michelle recently gave Today moms an interviewed about her marriage to Jim Bob. We are quite sure that Anna would agree on this.
1. Make time for your husband
Michelle revealed that she wants to make sure that she would spend time with her husband even with 19 kids and counting. 
 2. New baby
Jim Bob and Michelle have chose to follow a verse in the bible about waiting for about 80 days if they have a baby girl and 40 days after giving birth to a little boy. Michelle claims it's a way to show that you are looking forward to being with your husband.
3. Treat your wife like a queen.
This one is for the men, Jim Bob always want to make sure that Michelle that he loves her when they are apart and brings her gifts for his affection. Jim Bob loves showing his wife that he loves her and gets respect and support that is needed to keep their relationship alive.
4. The strong, silent type is overrated.
Michelle tries to encourage her husband to express himself.
5. Perfectionism kills romance.
Jim Bob tries to live his life where he sepearts his work life from his family life. He wants to praise and show love to his family. Jim Bob learned to "Expectations ruin relationships." 
6. Make time for date night.
Jim Bob and Michelle have learned to have one night a week to be with each other.
7. Never stop learning.
Every time in life, there is things to be learned and the duggars know that they are not prefect but you know something we are all learning.

Happy Valentine's day blog

Michelle Duggar on Celebrating Valentine's Day

FAMILY MATTERS on 02.12.14

Michelle Duggar19 Kids and CountingBIO

 

Question from a "19 Kids and Counting" fan on Facebook: How do you celebrate Valentine’s Day in your house? Is it just you and Jim Bob or does the whole family celebrate together?

We often celebrate Valentine’s Day as a family. It’s a really special time with the whole family getting around the table and spending time together. Last year, our older daughter, Jana, decided she was going to do a big Valentine’s banquet for our family. We had a beautiful spread on our table; everything was pink, red and white. We took pictures and made a special event of it. It was our way of expressing our gratefulness and our love for each other and the family, and celebrating how much family means to us. It’s so important to nurture that relationship. It was a day of love and fun and fellowship for the whole family.

Of course a lot of times for Valentine’s Day, Jim Bob and I will go on a date, but one of our favorite things to do as a family is to help throw a banquet for the single moms that we know. We want to bless the single moms; those that are widowed, divorced or abandoned, the women that are often forgotten during Valentine’s time.

My dear friend Debbie Query and her daughters teach our children music -- all the music ability that the kids have in violin is because of them. Debbie is a widow with four children; their father was tragically killed in a car accident. They have been amazing mentors and role models especially for my older girls.

Anyway, their family does an amazing widow’s banquet. They put it on, and our family participates in that. The children set the tables and serve as the waiters. They’ll put on black bowties, white shirts, black pants, and serve the meal. Sometimes we’ll have harpists or other musicians play beautiful music during the banquet. It’s very special.

Have a burning question for Michelle Duggar? Send it to her and it could appear in an upcoming post!

3 weeks to go

Jana, Jill, Jessa, and Jinger's new book is coming out in three weeks and counting

Two years and counting

We are celebrating our second year today!

Trivia questions

Trivia questions for February 9 to February 15... These questions are from the new blog posted from Michelle's TLC.
1. When did Jana start walking?
2. When did John David start walking?
3. Who got into almost everything?
4. Who was born first between Jana and John David?
5. Who was born first between Jeremiah and Jedidiah?
Answers will be given out on February 15th!

Will the duggar girls go on a book tour?

We have been getting this question a lot about the new book that is coming out early next month. We do believe that there is a book tour being planned and should start sometime this month.

Michelle Duggar on Raising Twins

FAMILY MATTERS on 02.07.14

Michelle Duggar19 Kids and CountingBIO

 

Photo: DCL

Question from a "19 Kids and Counting" fan on Facebook: Your family has two sets of twins. Are the twins a lot like each other? Do they have similar personalities? 

We were so elated when we found out about Jana and John David, our first set of twins. The joy of knowing there were two little blessings in my tummy was just more than we could ever have hoped for – we were so thankful. We had a lot of prep work to do before they were born: making sure we had two car seats, putting two baby beds in the room, and preparing our oldest Joshua to become a big brother to two siblings at once. We knew it was a boy and girl coming, so we got to tell him he was going to be a big brother to a brother and sister.

As they were growing, I realized that they were so different from each other. Jana and John, of course being boy and girl, had a lot of differences in that respect, but their personalities were so different, too. One was so laid back and the other one was so energetic and into everything. John David just watched Jana because she had enough energy for both of them.

Jana took off walking at eight months. John David waited until the average age of twelve months like the rest of my kids. John was a bigger baby when he was born; Jana was smaller, so I think she was more agile and able to get around.

Because Jana was always getting into things, of course, she was always having to be trained and corrected a little more because I’d say, “No no, you don’t climb up on that shelf because you could fall and hurt yourself.” John would watch and probably think, “I’m not going near that!”

Even to this day, I think Jana will take more chances. She doesn’t mind making a mistake on something because she can always go back and fix it really quickly, and still get done in the same amount of time. John David, he is very steady and methodical. He thinks through everything. He doesn’t take a lot of risk, which is a neat thing since he’s a pilot. I think that’s the kind of pilot you want, the kind who’s not going to take risks and who is very steady and methodical about everything they do.

Now, Jedidiah and Jeremiah, my other set of twins, they’re the same as Jana and John David in in that their personalities are almost opposite. One took off fast, and the other one was more steady and slow. Now they’re fifteen and they do things together all the time because they’re both boys. They have the same interests and they’re really close. Jed and Jer are constantly doing things together. They’re almost opposites in personality though.

It’s really interesting to see how their personalities play out later in life. They really were there from the time they were little.

Girls book update

The duggar girls have their book coming out on March 4, 2014.

Is Jessa engaged?

We might find out in the new season of 19 kids and counting

Six more weeks of winter

Groundhog sees his shadow and that means that we have six weeks of winter

Marcus turns eight months old

Marcus is officially eight months old