Soon to be Twenty and Counting...

20. The amount of children in an average classroom. 20. The worth of one twenty dollar bill. 20. Should not be the amount of children born into one family! Just this morning, proud parents Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar announced that they were expecting their twentieth child. Their popular t.v show, 19 kids and counting stays true to its name. Soon to become 20 kids and counting, Jim Bob and Michelle could not be happier about their newest addition. However, there have been no comments on how their other 19 children feel, including a daughter-in-law and two grandchildren. Their children currently range from age 23 years to 23 months. In order of age, these are the Duggar children: "Joshua, 23 (who is married to Anna, 23 and has two children, Mackynzie, 2 and Michael, 4 months), twins Jana and John-David, 21; Jill, 20; Jessa, 19; Jinger, 17; Joseph, 16; Josiah, 15; Joy-Anna, 14; twins Jedidiah and Jeremiah, 12; Jason, 11; James, 10; Justin, 8; Jackson, 7; Johanna, 6; Jennifer, 4; and Jordyn, 3, and Josie, 1 1/2." (cnn.com) As you may have noticed, all of the names start with a "j" and Josh's children appear to be following a similar theme with the letter "m." While we are used to the abnormally large size of the Duggar family, this announcement came as a bit of a sock especially because of the trauma both Michelle and baby Josie went through with her last birth. I think that a sane person would know they had enough children when their previous baby was born prematurely weighing only 1 lb. 60z. 

Actually, I think an even saner person would have stopped having children before their family sized reached double-digits. I come from a family of seven, with four younger brothers, which in these days is a large family. Because of the numerous activities my brothers and I participate in, we spend our days running around trying to complete all the necessary tasks without taking a breather. My mom gave up her job as a nurse to be a stay-at-home mom because she felt that was the best thing to do for our family but very rarely does she have time for herself. Along with the rest of America, I have no idea how Michelle manages to homeschool ALL of her children, make meals, do laundry, go shopping, clean the house, help with music lessons, and dedicate an equal amount of time to each of her children. I think that the author of this article, Alicia Dennis, questions Michelle's pregnancy. While Dennis appears to be happy about the soon to be newest addition to the Duggar clan, she also appears worried about Michelle and the baby's health. Because of Michelle's previous pregnancy, Dennis feels that Jim Bob and Michelle should have none when enough was enough. In her article, she dedicates an entire section to "Questions about the pregnancy". Michelle and Jim-Bob appeared very confident about the upcoming birth and revealed that she will have a C-section in hopes of preventing any complications. So for now, I say good luck to the Duggars and hope that their newest baby is healthy and happy, as well as the rest of the family. 

Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar: "We're Expecting Again!"

http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/08/showbiz/celebrity-news-gossip/duggars-expecting-20th-child-ppl/