"Wedding Bells" Recap

On tonight's new episode of 19 Kids and Counting, "Wedding Bells"...

• All the Duggars agree that Jessa isn't as focused on household tasks as she used to be, now that she's in a courtship. Jinger has been promoted to head packer and runs around getting the clothes organized for the family's trip to Erin Bates' wedding.
• The Duggar girls put together a gag gift for Erin. To play off the joke that Erin can't cook, the girls compile a book of easy recipes and takeout menus and purchase a smoke alarm and a fire extinguisher.
• Ben Seewald and his mom join the Duggars for the drive to Tennessee, which will be Ben's first trip with Jessa's family. "I'm going to try to do whatever I can to make myself useful," says Ben.
• Jim Bob's has employed a new strategy to get everyone out the door on time: "Last one out owes me $5."
• When the Duggars arrive at the Bates' house, Jessa is eager to introduce everyone to Ben, and Erin is eager to show her dress to the Duggar girls. She found it on the clearance rack at a local bridal shop and had it altered to fit her modesty standards.
• Chad and Erin take Ben and Jessa to their new house, a cottage located five miles from where the rest of the Bates live. The room that stands out the most is the master bedroom, which Chad allowed his fiancé to decorate. "It's...pink," says Jessa. "I was kind of surprised."
• Wedding prep is a bittersweet event for Erin and her sisters. Since getting engaged, Erin has had many tear-filled nights, realizing she won't be able to have late-night talks with her sisters after she gets married. Gil assures her she can come sleepover anytime. "I don't think Chad will like it if I just come over without him," replies Erin.
• "Chad is definitely a very romantic guy that adds special touches here and there," says Jana. "They're perfect for each other."
• On the morning of the wedding, a member of the film crew asks Erin if she has thought about her first kiss. "That's why I'm brushing my teeth!" she says.
• Erin is very nervous to walk down the aisle and asks Jana and Jill to pray with her before the ceremony starts.
• "Somehow I got selected to be the head car-trasher," says John-David, "And so I took the job very seriously." He and the other boys even go so far as to put sardines and mothballs under the seats.
• And of course, Chad and Erin have saved their first kiss for the altar. After the wedding, Chad cuts the plastic wrap off the getaway car, removes the sardines and mothballs, and he and Erin take off for their honeymoon.

Correct Answers to Duggar Trivia

Here are the answers to Sunday's round of Duggar trivia. How did you do?

1. What organization does Josh Duggar work for in Washington D.C.? FRC Action, an affiliate of the Family Research Council

2. What is Jim Bob Duggar's sister's name? Deanna 

3. Which two Duggars are spending their time delivering babies? Jana and Jill

4. In what year did the first special air about the Duggar family? (Brownie points if you can name the network it appeared on.) 2004; Discovery Health

Babies, Babies, Babies!

Jana and Jill are studying under certified professional midwife Venessa Giron on the birthing team of A Mommy's Butterfly Midwifery. Venessa graciously gave us permission to share these photos of some of the babies Jana and Jill have helped deliver:

Jill Duggar 2012

 Jill Duggar 2012

 Jill Duggar (middle) 2012

Jill Duggar 2012

 Jill Duggar (middle) 2012

Jill Duggar (left) 2012

 Jill Duggar 2012

 Jana Duggar 2012

 Jill Duggar 2012

 Jill Duggar 2012

Jill Duggar 2012

 Jill Duggar 2012

 Jill Duggar 2012

 Jill Duggar (left) 2012

 Jill Duggar (left) 2012

 Jana Duggar (top left)

Jill Duggar (center second from right and bottom right)

2012

Jill Duggar (top left and center middle) 2012

 Jana and Jill Duggar 2012

 Jill (third from right) and Jana Duggar (second from right)

2013

 Jill Duggar (right) 2013

 Jill Duggar (right) 2013

 Jill Duggar (right) and Venessa Giron 2013

 Jill Duggar (right) 2013

Jill Duggar 2013

Jill Duggar 2013

Suturing workshop

Recap: GrandDuggar Makes 3

19 Kids and Counting, "GrandDuggar Makes 3!"

• At 25 weeks, Anna is feeling great. Jana, studying to be a doula, and Jill, studying to be a midwife, are halfway through their training and will assist at Anna's birth.
• Anna says she and Josh enjoyed delivering Mackynzie and Michael at home but are looking forward to having baby #3 at their midwife's birthing center, which is an hour away. "We already had one in the bathroom," says Anna, who hopes the baby will not be born on the side of the road. "We don't need to have any new scenarios."
• Josh and Anna, who are planning to move soon after the baby is born, take a trip to Washington D.C. to house-hunt. They have been on many trips to D.C. with Josh's family, but this is their first time going alone. Anna, 33 weeks pregnant at the time, has not experienced any complications and has been approved to fly east.   
• "We're really not sure exactly what we're looking for in a house," says Josh. "We're not for sure if we're going to rent or if we're going to buy. I would definitely consider buying a fixer-upper if the price is right." The couple tries searching on their own but quickly realizes they need a realtor.
• After buying D.C. shirts at a souvenir shop, Anna has to navigate to a restaurant while Josh heads to a meeting. "Anna is not what I would call a navigation guru," says Josh. Anna agrees.
• "We went by the White House, where Barak Obama lives," says Mackynzie.
• "I felt like I was juggling...just trying to keep everyone safe," says Anna. "I think adding a third child is definitely going to make things a little more complicated."
• Back home, Michelle takes Jackson, Johannah, Jordyn, and Josie to the thrift store. Jackson and Johannah use the $10 they earned drawing caricatures to buy a "noisy toy" and some clothes for the baby.
• While Anna attends a prenatal exercise class, Josh takes the kids shoe shopping, also at a thrift store. "How hard can that be?" he says. But the minute he walks in the store, the kids make a run for the toy section. With each day he spends alone with Mackynzie and Michael, his appreciation for Anna grows.
• "I'm a little nervous because I've never done anything like this before," says Anna, who admits she is not in shape but that she is looking forward to a "mental vacation."
• At 6:00 am on June 2nd, Anna has been in labor for two hours and is having contractions two minutes apart. Michelle and doula Debbie Query ride with Josh and Anna to the midwife's house, where they are joined by Jana and Jill. 
• Anna gives birth to Marcus Anthony in the bathtub, and Josh and Anna head home that afternoon to introduce him to the rest of the family. Mackynzie is especially thrilled to be a big sister again.

"Decisions & Deliveries" Recap

Tuesday on 19 Kids and Counting...

• When Josh is offered a job in Washington D.C., he and Anna seek wise counsel from Jim Bob and Michelle.
• "I'd hate to see the grandkids grow up without us being there," says Jim Bob. "I think they really need to pray about this decision.
• "Just the change of going from two children to three children in huge," says Anna. "Adding on top of that the possibility of moving to D.C.... sometimes it's too much for me to think about. We're just kind of weighing our options and trying to see how this is all going to unfold." Tune in next week to hear their final decision.
• Jill and Jana assist at another homebirth. Due to a defect in the umbilical cord, the girls and their birthing team decide to send the baby to the hospital. "We had never seen this specific defect before," says Jill. "But we wanted to make sure that baby was doing okay. Everything was great, as far as we could tell. His vitals were amazing, but we knew that on the inside things still weren't right."
• Samuel Arlington Barnes IV has corrective surgery and does not experience any lasting effects from the omphalocele. According to his mom, he is "doing fabulous."
• "Jill and Jana have been amazing students," says Vanessa, the midwife that the girls are apprenticing under. "Especially when it comes to fully taking care of our clients. They are ready for any emergency that arises, and they are extremely loving to the clients. And they both soak up so much information. They're like sponges."
• The family heads to Texas for Joseph's graduation from ALERT Academy (Air Land Emergency Response Team) and a demonstration of the skills he has learned. After being away from Joseph for nine weeks, the Duggars are thrilled to see him.
• When they arrive, Joseph is standing at attention.  "It was hard to just walk up to the little yellow line there, not to be able to go and just run and grab him and give him a big hug," says Jana.
• Jim Bob can hardly contain his joy. "We love you Joseph. Blink once if you love us back," says the father of 19. Joseph blinks.
• At graduation, Joseph is commended for his personal excellence, endurance hike, and Scripture memory. When the ceremony is finally over, the entire family runs over to Joseph and embraces him.
• "I enjoyed the physical training and stuff like that," says Joseph. "But being away from family is so hard."

Jana and Jill: An Emotional Delivery

In the following video, Jana and Jill experience an emotional delivery that takes over 35 hours and requires further medical assistance:

Recap: Baby On the Way

On tonight's season premiere episode of 19 Kids and Counting...

• The Duggars are moving into a new season of life. "It can be a bittersweet thing to watch your children grow up," says Michelle. "They will always be my babies."
• Jill, studying to become a midwife, is currently taking anatomy and physiology. She is also learning midwifery terms in Spanish and hopes to deliver babies in Latin American someday. Jana is focusing on the coaching aspect of childbirth and plans to become a doula.
• According to Jim Bob, daughters are harder to let go of than sons. "Our babies our delivering babies," he tells Michelle. We're getting old!"
• "They're very supportive," says Jana of her parents.
• Jana and Jill head over to A Mommy's Butterfly Midwifery, where they see 7-12 clients each week for prenatal and postpartum visits. Venessa Giron, the owner of A Mommy's Butterfly, is overseeing Jana and Jill's education and apprenticeship.
• On Mackynzie's third birthday, Josh and Anna find out they are expecting their third child. Keeping a secret from the rest of the Duggars is always difficult, says Anna. "Especially about pregnancy," says the mom of two. "They're always asking."
• For the big reveal, Anna invites Jim Bob and Michelle and the rest of the clan over for a themed dinner. The younger Duggars don't know what that is, but everyone agrees that it probably has something to do with fall.
• On the menu are tater tots, bite-sized vegetables, pigs in a blanket, sliders, and a baby carrier-shaped pumpkin filled with fruit.
• "Taking our family on for dinner is a pretty big thing," says Jill.
• Josh and Anna's kitchen is 1/6th the size of Jim Bob and Michelle's, which makes cooking for a crowd a challenge. "Kynzie loves to help," says Anna. "But it does take longer when you're trying to teach someone how to help." When she realizes that dinnertime is drawing closer and there is still a lot to do, Anna puts Mackynzie and Michael down for a nap and calls in backup...cousin Amy Duggar.   
• Anna says that if anyone can carve a pumpkin into a baby carriage, it's Amy. For the baby's head, they use a cantaloupe with a face made of fruit. 
• At 5:50, dinner is nowhere near done, and the Duggars arrive early. Anna, who was banking on "Duggar time," locks the door, and she and Josh and Amy desperately try to finish preparing dinner. "I loved keeping everyone out of the house," says Amy. "I felt like I knew something that they didn't know."
• When it comes time to guess the theme, some guess finger food, and others predict that Amy is engaged. Jim Bob jokes that Josh and Anna must be opening a restaurant and planning to hire all of Josh's siblings. At the end of the night, everyone gets a special door prize...a candy bar wrapped in a diaper.

Duggars' Asian Adventure Ends Tonight

Watch the last part of the Duggars' overseas expedition, tonight on TLC. 

19 KIDS AND COUNTING: DUGGARS DO ASIA (Beijing, China)

9PM EST/PST (8PM CST) 

The Duggars are off to Beijing, China. The family of 25 struggles to navigate the city’s subway system and make it to Tiananmen Square, where they become a tourist attraction themselves. A trip to the Great Wall of China and a local village give the Duggars a traditional Chinese experience and a chance for Jim Bob to show off his haggling skills as the family collects souvenirs. And no trip to China is complete without experiencing some traditional foods, including Peking duck and the more exotic, scorpion! At the end of the trip, Jana and Jill put their midwifery training to work when a member of the television crew suddenly goes into labor. And the family has one final stop – a visit to an orphanage, which is sure to be remembered.

Why do you think that the Duggars' trip to the orphanage "is sure to be remembered?"

Jana and Jill in Peru 2011

Back in August, Jana and Jill traveled to Peru for a mission trip. Here are some photos from their journey. Enjoy!

Interviewing for Peruvian TV

Jana at Peruvian hotel

Jana visits Peruvian hospital patient

Jana holds a flag on Peruvian Independence Day

Jill cheers up a patient at Peruvian hospital

Jill enjoys a Bembos burger with friend Libby

Jana and Priscilla Keller (Anna's sister) 

Celebrate Peruvian Independence Day

"Duggars on FIRE" Recap

Anna's Beautiful,
Custom-Tailored
Bridesmaids Dress

On last night's episode of "19 Kids and Counting:"

• Fans were able to see the Duggars' church fellowship in action. They meet in a vacant house with several other families for Bible study, to share a "pot-faith" meal, and to visit for several hours. "The food's usually one of the best parts," said Jim Bob, chuckling.
• Josh and Anna explained their thoughts on early education. They have already begun to teach Mackynzie because she enjoys it, and they know that it will set her up for success.
• "I am ready for another baby whenever God chooses to bless us with one," announced Anna, while Josh looked a little unsure.
• Jana and Jill needed uniforms for the formal, EMT side of the volunteer fire department. Anna, an expert seamstress who made all the bridesmaids dresses for her wedding, helped them turn unisex pants into skirts. 
• Jim Bob raved over his daughters' new outfits. He called them Mackynzie's "fire aunts." Hahaha!
• "Was more material leftover?" Jim Bob asked the girls. "I saw the little boys running around with some headbands."
• The Duggars explained that they are not judgmental in regards to clothing; it is each person's choice. 

What are your beliefs on early childhood education? Do you send your kids to preschool?

What do you believe regarding clothing?

Duggars on FIRE!

Jana and Jill have joined the volunteer fire department, and they need some fireproof clothes. But will Anna's "fire skirts" work, or will the girls end up wearing pants?

To find out, tune into TLC tonight at 9PM/8PM CST for "19 Kids and Counting" Duggars on Fire.