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Joy-Anna Duggar is getting plenty of attention these days. She’s one of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar’s older kids, and she flaunts her life, marriage, and parenting to her Instagram and YouTube channel. It seems Joy-Anna is taking a break from TLC’s programming as well, but she’s still sharing more of her personal life than ever with her fans.

In Joy-Anna’s July 4th video, she showcased her fun weekend with friends and husband Austin Forsyth. And, of course, she shared plenty of footage of Gideon, her 2-year-old son. It looks like Joy-Anna is letting Gideon truly act like a kid without too many restrictions, too. Here’s what we noticed.

Joy-Anna Duggar has a 2-year-old son, Gideon, and is pregnant with a little girl

The Duggars are expected to have plenty of kids, and Joy-Anna started having children with Austin when she was just 20 years old. Like her mother and sisters, she had a difficult pregnancy with Gideon. She hoped to give birth at home, but she was transferred to the hospital to deliver Gideon via C-section after discovering he was breech.

Thankfully, Gideon was just fine when he was born. And Joy-Anna and Austin involve their little boy in all of their home projects, as he loves to “help” with Austin’s house-flipping business.

Gideon’s gearing up to be a big brother, too. Joy-Anna had a devastating miscarriage in the summer of 2019, as she lost her baby at 20 weeks into her pregnancy. Now, she and Austin are getting ready to welcome another little one into their lives. She’s preparing to welcome a baby girl in August, and she’s ultra excited.

She posted a video showing off her 4th of July festivities

Now that Joy-Anna is expanding her social media platform to regular YouTube videos, fans got an in-depth glimpse into how she spent Independence Day. The happy mom showed that Carlin Bates from Bringing Up Bates and her husband visited her, Austin, and Gideon. Together, the couples planned to visit Austin’s family’s camp for ziplining and four-wheeling.

Gideon made several appearances in the video, of course. And Joy-Anna allowed her son to really live it up for the holiday. During their morning coffee run, Joy-Anna asked Gideon if he’d like to have some coffee with everyone else. “Just a disclaimer there — I do not give him coffee on a regular basis,” Joy-Anna told the camera. “It’s a special occasion.”

Next, Austin grabs Gideon while he’s driving, and he allowed Gideon to stand on his lap and hold on to the wheel, which the little one loved. And when it rained later on, Joy-Anna and Austin allowed Gideon to go play in the rain.

Fans are praising Joy-Anna for how she’s raising her son

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Many Duggar followers are quick to judge Joy-Anna for her parenting. But given what we saw in her July 4th video, it looks like she mixes fun with strict parenting in order to give Gideon the best life possible. And many approved of how she allowed Gideon to embrace being a kid by driving with Austin and playing in the rain.

“I just love how you guys let Gideon drive on the farm on Austin’s lap, give him bits of coffee, and let him run in the rain,” a fan commented on Joy-Anna’s video. “I grew up like that and I have amazing memories!!!”

“Love how y’all are raising Gideon,” another wrote. “So fearless and active.”

“Loved the part with Gideon driving on his Granddad’s property,” yet another noted. “He is all boy! Thank you for sharing your lives with us.”

It looks like fans don’t mind Joy-Anna taking a step back from Counting On if it means she’ll keep producing her own videos. And we’re excited to watch Gideon as he grows up into a big kid!

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