Phil and Alex | Part 1

[Caisflame]

That makes sense, I can understand why you wouldn't know they mean the same thing since it's not your first or even second language.

[RecklessDisregard]

The "live results" video got a number of comments from people offering financial assistance - ranging from a couple who wanted to fund the (next?) embryo transfer themselves, which is at least noble in a way, to one commenter who felt that every subscriber should give them $10 each. I honestly have no idea what's wrong with some of these people.

I guess I'm just jaded. I feel like mentioning the expense involved is kind of calculated. Though I didn't sit there and listen to the whole video... I usually do a lot of fast-forwarding through the speeches. I teared up a little when Alex's face crumpled, because I understand the struggle and pain... And at least they weren't the ones to suggest that viewers contribute. But honestly, it just feels calculated.

At least they didn't delete the (few) negative comments, though.

[skiingmama1]

The "live results" video got a number of comments from people offering financial assistance - ranging from a couple who wanted to fund the (next?) embryo transfer themselves, which is at least noble in a way, to one commenter who felt that every subscriber should give them $10 each. I honestly have no idea what's wrong with some of these people.

I guess I'm just jaded. I feel like mentioning the expense involved is kind of calculated. Though I didn't sit there and listen to the whole video... I usually do a lot of fast-forwarding through the speeches. I teared up a little when Alex's face crumpled, because I understand the struggle and pain... And at least they weren't the ones to suggest that viewers contribute. But honestly, it just feels calculated.

At least they didn't delete the (few) negative comments, though.

I feel the same. Can't you see the writing on the wall, within a few months we'll see a video where Phil is saying something along the lines of "you guys are amazing you let your love multiply and have donated and now we can keep pursuing our dreams"

[RecklessDisregard]

Today I caught up on their last few videos... I still have mixed feelings, lol. When Alex is filming and the girls are being cute, I start to think maybe I've been too hard on them lately. But then the next clip is Phil and he's being himself, either focusing exclusively on Kinsley or monologuing, and I'm annoyed again.

I think that Phil has a strong need to proselytize and give "uplifting" speeches. He is a born pastor. But he seems frustrated, like he needs to be "inspiring" in order to drive his own blues away, so he's subjecting the viewers to the speeches because there's nobody else to listen. Their audience is almost entirely supportive right now, given the recent IVF stuff, but I really don't think most adult viewers are seeking out inspirational pastor-speeches on YT family vlogging channels. Eventually I think this will turn more people off. Then I guess love will divide, instead of multiply.

I still find Callie's shrieks very endearing, and I'm glad they got the clip-on high chairs so that both girls can eat at the same time. I know nothing about those type of chairs - they would make me nervous. Hopefully they are safe.

[RecklessDisregard]

The "maintaining friendships through infertility" vlog was kinda nails-on-a-chalkboard annoying for me. "Maintained" is the wrong word in any case. The friend got pregnant, Alex got jealous, and the friendship was revived by the other woman when Kinsley was born. Infertility is very painful (I would know) and we can't always help the way we feel, but we can certainly control our actions. Drifting away from the friendship in jealousy and heartbreak doesn't seem like something Alex would do, which makes me feel like the personality she shows in the vlogs is more of a persona than a genuine representation of her character. That's disappointing, though I suppose it's human nature to present our best selves in public. Just kind of a bummer, as I generally have liked her.

Do we know if Kinsley screaming at naptime is a regular thing? I can see how it might cause anxiety to be put down in a strange room, but I think they brought her pack & play, and it's not like they left her in the care of strangers. Their friends' children seemed nervous about the histrionics. IDK, resistance to naptime is common enough and I'm not above letting a toddler cry in the name of consistency/boundaries, but I can't see myself doing that as a guest in a friend's home while their children were being put down as well.

I thought it was kinda bizarre that they talked about wishing they had vlogged Kinsley freaking out in Chik Fil A. I'm sure parents having to retrieve a screamer from the play place is a daily occurrence. I've done it myself, when my stepgirl used her "one last time" to stage a rebellion, around Kinsley's age. My thought process did not involve wishing MORE people could have witnessed it, lol.

I did laugh a little when Alex told Phil he had more energy than Kinsley and he said "I think that's a compliment." Lol. I wish they would either disclose the super-secret huge-ordeal project, or stop mentioning it. This is not how you build hype. And I'm starting to notice a few more critical comments about how public they are making the pain of infertility, considering they are raising 2 daughters they adopted as newborns who may very well feel inadequate later in life when they see the vlogs for themselves.

Little Callie continues to melt my heart. Phil was right, she felt left out watching the other kids play through the glass door. And she just lit up when Phil got down on her level, with the clapping and that mischievous little grin. I just want to scoop her up and tickle her.

[Mom2two]

Did anyone else think it was odd when Alex said, "we need to call Callie's birth mom and ask her if we should put sunscreen on her." Isn't that common sense? I guess not because they don't put sunscreen on Kinsley.


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[Mom2two]

Did anyone else think it was odd when Alex said, "we need to call Callie's birth mom and ask her if we should put sunscreen on her." Isn't that common sense? I guess not because they don't put sunscreen on Kinsley.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[RecklessDisregard]

I thought it was odd too. Callie is obviously a fair-skinned little thing and it wouldn't take much for her skin to burn. Kinsley has a gorgeous tan, but honestly I would put sunscreen on her as well. I'm certainly not an expert, but I was taught that sun exposure adds up, regardless of whether they burn or not. We've come a long way from the 60s and 70s, when my mom used to sunbathe after coating her skin with Crisco, lol.

[Caisflame]

I don't watch them, just read here, but what the hell? What a stupid statement. Everyone needs sun screen regardless of skin tone, whether they burn easily or not. The sun is damaging to skin even if you don't get a sunburn. That makes her look like an idiot.

[thanksalatte]

The "maintaining friendships through infertility" vlog was kinda nails-on-a-chalkboard annoying for me. "Maintained" is the wrong word in any case. The friend got pregnant, Alex got jealous, and the friendship was revived by the other woman when Kinsley was born. Infertility is very painful (I would know) and we can't always help the way we feel, but we can certainly control our actions. Drifting away from the friendship in jealousy and heartbreak doesn't seem like something Alex would do, which makes me feel like the personality she shows in the vlogs is more of a persona than a genuine representation of her character. That's disappointing, though I suppose it's human nature to present our best selves in public. Just kind of a bummer, as I generally have liked her.

Do we know if Kinsley screaming at naptime is a regular thing? I can see how it might cause anxiety to be put down in a strange room, but I think they brought her pack & play, and it's not like they left her in the care of strangers. Their friends' children seemed nervous about the histrionics. IDK, resistance to naptime is common enough and I'm not above letting a toddler cry in the name of consistency/boundaries, but I can't see myself doing that as a guest in a friend's home while their children were being put down as well.

I thought it was kinda bizarre that they talked about wishing they had vlogged Kinsley freaking out in Chik Fil A. I'm sure parents having to retrieve a screamer from the play place is a daily occurrence. I've done it myself, when my stepgirl used her "one last time" to stage a rebellion, around Kinsley's age. My thought process did not involve wishing MORE people could have witnessed it, lol.

I did laugh a little when Alex told Phil he had more energy than Kinsley and he said "I think that's a compliment." Lol. I wish they would either disclose the super-secret huge-ordeal project, or stop mentioning it. This is not how you build hype. And I'm starting to notice a few more critical comments about how public they are making the pain of infertility, considering they are raising 2 daughters they adopted as newborns who may very well feel inadequate later in life when they see the vlogs for themselves.

Little Callie continues to melt my heart. Phil was right, she felt left out watching the other kids play through the glass door. And she just lit up when Phil got down on her level, with the clapping and that mischievous little grin. I just want to scoop her up and tickle her.

This made me laugh because I remember staging my own rebellions at McDonald's!

That vlog annoyed me a bit too. I'm over the Love Multiplies business (or whatever it is) already and it hasn't even been formally announced. The hype died for me like a month ago. I hope this doesn't sound insensitive but in some of their vlogs (this one and the one about not saying 'x' to adoptive parents) they seem to come off as selfish and seem to intentionally capitalize off of the pain of infertility. I'm not saying that they're selfish for feeling those things, I just mean the way they present them in their videos.

Also the sunblock thing rubbed me the wrong way as well. I really doubt Kinsley's birth mom told them not to put sunblock on her, just that she likely doesn't burn easily. My SO is half Indian, making my daughter a fourth. Fortunately she inherited his hard to burn skin which is awesome compared to me who burns even thinking about the sun, but we still lather her up.

[blackroses]

I was really excited for the surprise announcement for the first two times they mentioned it and now I'm exhausted of hearing about it.

[Tiger27]

I was really excited for the surprise announcement for the first two times they mentioned it and now I'm exhausted of hearing about it.

SAME! How many times are we going to have to listen to them hype this up. I have a suspicion we are going to be severely underwhelmed with whatever it is at this point. We already know Phillip isn't working anymore, which I'm sure will be part of their announcement and its supposedly some sort of interactive non profit for people with fertility issues? If that is what it is, I just don't think they have the youtube "stardom" to support their family (plus a potential new baby) and garner up enough interest to make a startup/non profit successful.

[marsala]

Did anyone else think it was odd when Alex said, "we need to call Callie's birth mom and ask her if we should put sunscreen on her." Isn't that common sense? I guess not because they don't put sunscreen on Kinsley.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Wow, she really said this?? I don't watch regularly so I didn't see.

I was always under the impression that babies NEED sunscreen. Even if they are an ethnicity like Mexican. Everyone technically needs sunscreen. Babies have delicate skin, and you don't want their skin being damaged at such a young age. I always thought that babies should wear sunscreen at the very least, and also a hat and long sleeved type of swim shirt if possible/necessary when in the sun for longs periods of time.

And Kinsley should be wearing sunscreen. If her birth mom said she doesn't need it, I'd be like... uh, thanks, but we're putting it on her. They shouldn't have to ask Callie's birth mom whether she needs sunscreen. Phil and Alex, YOU are the girls' parents. You don't need to check with birth moms to see whether they should be wearing sunscreen as babies. And Alex is a nurse, shouldn't she know better in this regard??? How strange.

[marsala]

Did anyone else think it was odd when Alex said, "we need to call Callie's birth mom and ask her if we should put sunscreen on her." Isn't that common sense? I guess not because they don't put sunscreen on Kinsley.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Wow, she really said this?? I don't watch regularly so I didn't see.

I was always under the impression that babies NEED sunscreen. Even if they are an ethnicity like Mexican. Everyone technically needs sunscreen. Babies have delicate skin, and you don't want their skin being damaged at such a young age. I always thought that babies should wear sunscreen at the very least, and also a hat and long sleeved type of swim shirt if possible/necessary when in the sun for longs periods of time.

And Kinsley should be wearing sunscreen. If her birth mom said she doesn't need it, I'd be like... uh, thanks, but we're putting it on her. They shouldn't have to ask Callie's birth mom whether she needs sunscreen. Phil and Alex, YOU are the girls' parents. You don't need to check with birth moms to see whether they should be wearing sunscreen as babies. And Alex is a nurse, shouldn't she know better in this regard??? How strange.

Edit: Sorry for the double post, not sure how to fix.

[RecklessDisregard]

Blah. "Should we daily vlog?" Um, no. They film a ton already. The only reason I can think of for them to commit to dailies is the hope that they'll strike pay dirt. They're not exactly being subtle about the YT business. "We're at Costco, tell us in the comments what you buy at Costco." I can't remember the other questions like that off the top of my head, but it seems like they ask similar pointless crap in every video, with the goal of improving their audience engagement stats to become more appealing to sponsors. I mean, does anyone still believe they're vlogging for their family, the memories, etc?

It's interesting that Alex keeps mentioning Phil is "working," both when he is on the computer at home, and when he's away from home. I wonder whether she means he is engaged in gainful employment, or working in the top secret project. I hope he is really working at a non-YT job. I think he needs that stability and routine in order to be his best self.

The nose-picking thing... I didn't find it super endearing. Maybe I am just a hardass (ok... definitely), but I wouldn't have included that clip and also wouldn't encourage Kinsley's attention-seeking while the camera is on, especially if P&A really plan to follow through with having a ton of kids. It will only complicate things. Of course, I know she is only 2 and a certain amount of that is unavoidable. It's not like the Calvin thing, I don't find her hard to warm up to or anything. She's a cutie and I like to listen to her chatter and play with Callie, just as I enjoy Lincoln, Gaines, Jackson etc. But I think she is encouraged/indulged in being over the top, and that is a disaster that will grow in magnitude as she ages.

[RecklessDisregard]

Oh no, the death knell of enjoyment. Fangirling over E+J. I'm 99% sure that Alex meant they "inspired" her rather than "encouraged" her to start vlogging, because encouragement isn't really their thing.

[eab424]

One thing that sort of annoyed me in a mild way is how Alex sort of over analyzes how you should encourage someone. To me someone else who's been through the same thing I have would know how I'm feeling. I'm very put off they'd fan girl over Ellie and Jared.

Off topic somewhat, but their IVF contest was seriously offensive. There's no way I'd want to put a video together (or could) of what my husband and I have been through to grow our family. It was very exploitive. And at 600,000 a year to donate an IVF cycle was a drop in the bucket for them. If it were me I would've done it a whole lot differently. I would have set aside a large amount into an account. I'd then have people sign up and each donate into this account each month. So that I could fund 8 cycles a month. Even a small amount.

I would take 250,000 (lets face it they can afford that amount) put it in the account to start it off. Then I'd have couples sign up and pay $10 a month if 20,000 did this that's 2.4 million that's 120 couples that could get affordable IVF each year. More so if the $10 went higher.

That's what took me away from watching e and j their constant patting themselves on the back and Ellie's stupidity and just pure talent at being as entertaining as watching paint dry.

[foreversoulmates]

So why was Callie's birth vlogs down?

[Tiger27]

So why was Callie's birth vlogs down?

They made some videos vaguely discussing it but it was my understanding that someone the birth mom knew found the videos and was attempting to "expose" her/use them in a negative way. Apparently the threat is over.I think it was pretty noble to take them down per the birth mom's request but I bet they are super excited to have them back because they are definitely their most interesting vlogs (aka some money makers).

[foreversoulmates]

So why was Callie's birth vlogs down?

They made some videos vaguely discussing it but it was my understanding that someone the birth mom knew found the videos and was attempting to "expose" her/use them in a negative way. Apparently the threat is over.I think it was pretty noble to take them down per the birth mom's request but I bet they are super excited to have them back because they are definitely their most interesting vlogs (aka some money makers).

Thank you. I don't watch a lot of their vlogs. I did watch Callie's adoption ones though.