What You Don't Know About Chip & Joanna Gaines' Adorable Family

Chip and Joanna Gaines live a seemingly charmed life, and not just because they're rich and famous. Many people aspire to have fame and fortune, but the Gaines' biggest accomplishment is their family. The Fixer Upper stars have four children (so far): Drake, Ella Rose, Duke, and Emmie Kay, with another baby on the way. Balancing a family and a successful career isn't exactly easy, but Chip and Joanna Gaines somehow manage to make it look like it is. Here's everything you ever wanted to know about their adorable family.

A happy home often starts with an epic love story. Chip and Joanna were clearly destined to be together. Chip told PopSugar that as soon as he saw a picture of Joanna in her father's automotive shop, he knew he'd "marry her one day just by the picture on the wall."

The two finally met when Chip was back in the shop to have his brakes fixed. Joanna was working in the shop's office that day. "We met in the waiting area and hit it off immediately," she said. "He was genuinely engaging and he had such a sincere smile." It took her a little longer than it had taken Chip to realize that they were fated to be together, but finally realized "he was the one because I knew I could trust him."

Many fans don't  know that Joanna is half Korean. Her parents have their own inspiring love story, which Joanna shared in an Instagram post. "My parents met in 1969 when my dad was stationed in Korea and their story is one you hear about in the movies," she wrote. "All the odds were against them but they fought through and became an example of how to love, fight for, extend grace to, and honor each other amidst all their many differences."

The whole family is super close, and that includes the extended family. Joanna often posts pictures of her relatives on Instagram, including a picture of her working with her sister's baby on her back. "Forgot what it was like decorating with a baby!!" she wrote in the caption. "I miss it! I wonder if my sister will let me keep him for a while."

It's easy for the kids of celebrities to get caught up in the fame of their famous parents, but Chip and Joanna believe in keeping their kids down-to-earth. They revealed their parenting style to People. Chip said he always thought he was going to "be a wild parent," but when he became a dad he discovered his personality was actually on the strict 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." Interestingly enough, Joanna ended up being less strict than she had expected. "It's funny, I'm a little more laid back than I thought I'd be," she said.

"I don't even know what's gonna happen when the girls start asking to wear makeup, but we keep telling our kids they don't get a phone until they go off to college,"  she added. Joanna said that Chip is pretty strict when it comes to technology, encouraging his kids to step away from video games and explore the outdoors. 

Chip might be strict, but one thing that he knows he's going to be laid back about is his kids dating. Joanna told People, "That's where I'm gonna turn on the crazy," but Chip insists he's looking forward to his kids dating.

"I want my kids to date, I want them to go out," he said. "I just remember great experiences as a kid, you know? Driving your car for the first time, picking up a young lady on a date for the first time. All those were little milestones to some extent." Many dads are nervous when their daughters start dating, but Chip said, "I think I'm gonna be a good dad when it comes to that."

Chip and Joanna may be television stars, but their stardom is only a small part of their lives. The family doesn't even have a television at home. "So they don't really understand that we have a show," Joanna told People. "They don't get it." The couple are determined to give their kids the most normal childhood possible, a goal that is certainly helped by the fact that their kids don't see their parents' faces every time they turn on a TV.

While the Gaines kids do appear on Fixer Upper, don't expect them to turn into TV stars anytime soon. Chip and Joanna are determined to give their kids a normal childhood and keep them out of the limelight.

"We are thankful for our success," Chip told People. "But if it ever compromised our ability to be a healthy married couple or our kids started to get a little bit off track, we would quit this thing in a heartbeat."

Family is everything to Chip and Joanna, and a major reason that they decided to step away from Fixer Upper, making season 5 their last. "This is just us recognizing that we need to catch our breath for a moment," they wrote in their blog. "Our plan is to take this time to shore up and strengthen the spots that are weak, rest the places that are tired and give lots of love and attention to both our family and our businesses."

In an interview with People, the couple admitted that their grueling production schedule was hard on their family. "They would ask, 'Mom and Dad, do you guys have to film again today? When is this going to be over?'" Chip said.

Well before Chip and Joanna knew that baby number five was on the way, they were hinting that they might have another baby. "I look at life as the more the better," Joanna told People back in 2016. "If I found out we were having another baby, I would be really excited. We like a full plate. That's just how Chip and I operate."

In October 2017, Chip told ABC 13, "I'm really excited to go back and try to maybe... try to make some more babies." Just a few months later, the couple announced that their family was growing.

Chip and Joanna make parenting look effortless, but there was definitely an adjustment period after their first son, Drake, was born. Joanna told People that when Drake was a baby she left him with Chip to "take a short run."

"I walked in and discovered Chip had prepared an elaborate breakfast for me," she said. "I sat down to eat, and I looked over at Drake. He was sound asleep in his swing, still wearing nothing but his diaper." When Joanna asked her husband if he had taken Drake to the store without dressing him, he said "I totally forgot Drake was here."

Joanna was understandably "freaked out" that their baby had been left home alone. A few days later, Chip accidentally left Drake alone again, leaving the house for work while Joanna was out on a jog. Fortunately, nothing happened to the baby and Chip and Joanna are now able to laugh about the challenges of their early parenting days.

Joanna summed up her parenting philosophy in a viral Facebook post in 2016. "There's an Adonis blue butterfly bush I planted by the girl's [sic] window almost five years ago when we were renovating the farmhouse," she wrote. "I wanted butterflies by the girl's [sic] windows that they could see and enjoy. I never told them about the bush and honestly I forgot about it over the years. This morning I found my little Emmie sitting by her window looking excitedly at the bush and saying 'Here she is! My little hummingbird comes every morning mom!'"

Joanna said that she had forgotten about planting the bush, and that her daughter discovered that it attracts hummingbirds and butterflies all on her own. "It's hard not to think this is a lot like parenting," she wrote. "You sow seeds early on and work hard to be intentional and then over time you move on to new lessons and challenges. Then one day you look up and the seeds you planted in your little children's hearts are now in full bloom. Be encouraged today to keep pressing in and tending to their hearts. It will be worth it."