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Chip and Joanna Gaines helped put HGTV on the map. Their series, Fixer Upper became the most popular show on the network and drew a huge audience.
The couple truly built their empire from the ground up. They opened their first business, Magnolia Market, in Waco, Texas in 2003 after borrowing $5,000.
Joanna learned design, and soon they began flipping houses together. The couple made a good team, with Chip in charge of building and Joanna’s creative touch.
While they were building their business, they were also building a family. They have five children: Drake, Ella, Duke, Emmie, and Crew. The Gaines family live in a beautiful (of course) Victorian style home in Crawford, Texas, a suburb of Waco. The house is nicknamed “The Farmhouse”. They have a huge amount of land where their kids can run and play.
This super couple somehow finds a way to balance the empire they have built and their family life.
8/8 How Did Chip And Joanna Gaines Get On HGTV?
Chip and Joanna were flipping homes in Waco when producer Katie Neff from HGTV saw Joanna’s design blog. When she called Joanna about filming a reality show, Chip thought it was a prank call. Joanna did not listen to her husband, and returned the call. Soon, Fixer Upper was born. The duo was comfortable on camera and had a quirkiness that viewers loved. The show was a huge hit.
The couple had four of their five “kiddos” before they became reality stars. Youngest son Crew was born in 2018.
7/8 Are Chip And Joanna Gaines Strict Parents?
The couple strive to keep their kids down to earth, and not caught up in being the children of celebrities.
Chip told People that he always thought he would be a “wild parent” but when he became a dad he found himself on the stricter side. “I feel a little bit like a drill sergeant sometimes,” he said. “Some elements of my personality, as a parent, I’m not real crazy about.”
Joanna turned out to be the opposite. “It’s funny, I’m a little more laid back than I thought I’d be,” she said.
One decision the couple made was not to have a TV in their home, keep their IPad time down to a minimum, and no cell phones until college. Joanna told Southern Living, “Our rule for the iPad is that the kids can use it a certain amount of time every other day,” Gaines said. “It’s contingent on them doing their chores and homework. I try hard to make it not the thing they look forward to every day. I don’t want them focusing on that.”
6/8 Chip And Joanna Gaines Put Family First
The Gaines’ have multiple successful businesses and work hard at them. But their intention is to always put their family first. “They always eat meals together at the table and their family nights include games like cards and checkers, then bedtime stories and prayers,” an insider told Closer Weekly.
“For the record: If there’s ever a need with my family, I’ll shut this circus down so fast it will make your head spin,” Chip, 44, once said. “But Jo and I believe that with God, anything is possible, including having an amazing family and a career you love.”
Their children are the Gaines’ top priority.
5/8 A Scary Moment With Duke Gaines
We are all scared of our children wandering off. Chip Gaines had that moment and realized what the cost of fame sometimes is. Duke wandered off only 10 yards ahead of his dad while they were at a flea market. Fans realized who he was and swarmed the little boy.
Chip told Today, “And so I was basically on my way to kind of gobble him up and get him back into a safe place, and at about that same second, I was surrounded by this group of people.” He continued, “It was sort of a disturbing series of events only because I realized in that moment I was incapable of communicating accurately that I was actually a desperate father trying to get my son into a safe place, but also at the same time kind of trying to resonate with these people and trying to not be rude and all the things that we struggle with in a typical situation.”
The incident had him take a look at his fame, “And it sort of forced me to reconcile with whether or not all of this was worth it in some of those kind of big life decisions you have to make in these cases.”
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4/8 The Addition Of Crew To The Gaines Family
Chip Gaines announced that they were having baby #5 with this tweet, “You might recall a few months back.. the ever amazing, ever romantic @JOHNNYSWIM was in Waco. And they put on a little too romantic of a concert.. anyways, one thing led to another, & we are officially pregnant. And I could not be more EXCITED! #5 #7ThePerfectNumber.”
The pregnancy was a bit of a surprise for the couple, but they were thrilled.
Although not exactly planned, Crew came at the perfect time. Chip and Jo had just announced that they were ending Fixer Upper, so they had more time to spend with their now-growing family. Mom and dad and older siblings are thrilled to have Crew around. Joanna says he is something of a boss, ‘This boy is going to be able to run the company by age 5!’”
She also says that their older children are “obsessed” with their little brother.
3/8 What Do The Older Gaines Kids Like To Do?
The four older Gaines’ siblings each have their own personalities and interests.
Drake always liked to get involved with the production of their TV shows. Joanna said, “Drake loves the production side, so in the summer he’s up with the guys and they’re teaching him how to edit.”
Ella Gaines is the eldest daughter and the one Joanna says is the most like her mom, “I think she’ll follow in my footsteps and have her hand in a lot of things,” she told People.
Duke Gaines loves hanging out with his brothers. He prefers being behind the camera instead of in front of it. He likes to grow vegetables.
Emmie Gaines likes to cook and bake with her mom. In 2020, she helped Joanna record her audiobook, The World Needs Who You Were Made To Be.
2/8 Gaines Family Vacation
Chip and Joanna Gaines love family time with their kids. In August, the Gaines crew took a family trip to the beach, which Joanna shared on her Instagram Stories.
They enjoyed playing in the water and hanging out on the dock. There were pictures of Crew climbing and Joanna commented, “I’m more of a ‘lay on the beach-er’ than a hiker. This boy can walk and climb for hours…”
The family also played volleyball and in the waves. Crew even “thanked” the waves for “washing their feet”.
1/8 Oldest Son Drake Gaines Leaving For College
The Gaines’s oldest son Drake is 17 years old and leaving for college. That milestone leaves a lot of moms sad and wistful, and Joanna Gaines is no different.
She wrote in an essay in Magnolia Journal, “Soon, our oldest son, Drake, will be leaving home for college,” she shares. “In the grand scheme of heartbreaking things, this one comes with a lot of gratitude and excitement. But still, my first child is moving away, and our family dynamic will change because of it, and that can feel like a loss of its own. I catch glimpses now of what that life will look like and wonder if — or how many times — that might bring me to the floor.”
She also said in a post that she , “…tried my darnedest to savor the moments along the way – but dang they were right, it happened so fast.” But she also says that she is grateful for the growth.
