Seriously!?

Several weeks ago I was added to this group on Facebook:

That's right.  A group for the people who have recently gotten married and left the singles' wards here in the Twin Cities and are now pregnant.  And, you read that first line right, too.  I was added.  Not invited.  Added. 

I don't want to share my pregnancy with the other 11 people in the group.  I don't even really know them, even though two just joined our ward this fall and are due around the time I'm due (yes, that means honeymoon babies for quite a few of them).

And, the things they post on there aren't that exciting and are no brainers.  Take the following for example:

 

This was a really popular topic.  It seemed like everyone had an opinion (or two or three) and chimed in on what they thought, what their doctor appointment schedule is, etc.  Then the original poster added this addendum to her post:

Well, DUH!! If you are worried about how infrequently YOU have chosen to see the doctor and HE wanted to see you every four weeks, it's your own fault!  Schedule an appointment in between!  And, don't complain about it to this facebook group.

So, I want to know what I should do.  I've tried ignoring the posts, but I can't help looking to see what new crazy thing is being posted about when I get the little notification.  And, now they want to have a get together.  I don't want to hurt any pregnant lady's feelings by quitting the group (they would know because there are only 12 people in the whole group), but I'm sick of being a part of it.

What should I do?  I'd be glad to take any opinion.  And, if you want to join just for the fun of it, I'll add you and you can be apart of it.  We can fake your own pregnancy:)

The baby bump

5 weeks

15 weeks

20 weeks (and 1 day)

I don't know how I managed to look really awesome in all of these pictures, but I'm pretty sure it's because we always take them before we go to bed or after I get off of work.  Or maybe it's because I don't really do my hair anymore because I'm too busy sleeping in to have time to do it.  I realized this morning that I can't see my toes anymore if I'm not purposely standing so my belly doesn't protrude as much.  I'm glad that now I am at 22 weeks, and I can't wait to get back to my pre-pregnancy body.  I don't think I'll complain about my body anymore once I get it back.

Baby's Big Day

Today was the big day we found out what our baby will be.  The ultrasound technician had a hard time getting the baby to stay still so that she could get all the pictures taken that should could and spent most of her time chasing the baby around. Eventually, she got baby to hold still, and we found out it's a boy! We are excited to have a little momma's boy running around here in a little while.  And, we had decided on one boys name long before we were pregnant, and liked lots of girl names, so it works out nicely that we won't have to whittle down names we like!

In other good news, Ben's final grades were posted today.  He was able to pull out his goal GPA for all of law school.  We were a little worried about one grade that Ben felt really good about, but the professor just forgot to include the midterm grade in the overall grade.  Once that was fixed, Ben's GPA was right where he wanted it.

Hopefully, our good luck will continue and we'll hear back that the car we test drove is in our price range and we can get it :)  It would be nice to have heat in my car since the weather has dropped back to typical winter weather.

Our Holiday Adventures!

Hello!,

It has been an eventful end of 2011 for us! Ben finished law school a semester early with a good GPA, a certificate in ADR, and an award for going far beyond the requirement for Pro-bono service. He also started working, and began studying for the bar exam. Joanna worked, did Relief Society get-togethers, and handled all the stresses and discomforts of being pregnant.

Then we went on two awesome trips!

First, we went to Arizona to spend Christmas with Ben's family. All his siblings with their spouses and kids were there! Ben's Mom made the traditional "Eggs Golden-Rod" Christmas Eve dinner - and it was all eaten up. This meal was originally disliked by all the Joslin kids growing up, but it was seen as the rite-of-passage to Christmas, and over the years all the kids have grown to enjoy the meal and eat lots of it! (Especially those delicious Vienna Sausages!) Also on Christmas Eve, we had a reading of Luke 2 and other Christmas-related scriptures - all with a live Nativity by all the nephews and nieces! It was awesome . . . and hilarious.

Afterwards we all went to bed and waited for Santa to come! On Christmas Sunday we all went to church and Ben's Mom and Abram and Rebecca sang and performed in the ward choir and it was awesome. We then came home, opened presents, had some laughs, made some food, then ate on two large tables. We were STUFFED! Games and chatter followed.

Grandma and Grandpa

Tyler

Joanna and Ben on the couch at Mom and Dad's house. 

Dave, Lindsey, Mike and Lori arrive.

Lowe and Sophie. 

Mike is always thrilled to see us. 

Lori with Sammy, and his cheeks. 

Caleb 

Tyler. Joanna smiling! 

Becky, Kingston, Rebecca and Lindsey.  

The Christmas tree! 

Starting the Nativity story with the live actors! 

Becky is very happy to be home from work and holding Kingston. 

Preparation for the Nativity - notice Asher comes bearing GOLD! 

Grandma and Grandpa watching. 

Nathan, Alicia, Rebecca, Abram, Lowe, Sophie, Jacob, Lori, Sammy, Asher, Dad, Mom, Mike, Dave, Lindsey. 

Lowe was Joseph, Sophie was Mary, Jacob/Caleb/Asher were the wisest of men. 

Abram lights the candles on this German nativity twirly thing. 

Dad enjoying the Christmas Eve with family - and flames. . . . and laser red eyes. 

Sophie is VERY happy to get this plate of goodies!!

The crime scene investigator, Abram, hands out presents on Christmas. Hannah /Joseph and Nathan/Alicia all act like newlyweds/engaged couples! 

Grandma and Grandpa and Dad all oversee the distribution of presents. 

Joanna and Ben on the couch enjoying Christmas day! 

Joseph shows off his specially wrapped cheese grater. 

Sophie and Asher lead the way on our walk. 

Lowe runs to keep up, and Grandma/Grandpa and Tyler bring up the rear. 

Christmas dinner table 1. 

Christmas dinner table 2. Look at cute Joanna and baby! And look at that cute turkey! 

Continuous feasting at table 1. 

Grandma and Grandpa's post-Christmas dinner festivities. 

Taking family portraits on Monday. Joanna glows!  :) 

Abram's best side. 

Waiting for our pictures. . . 

Mike and Lori in a classic pose. 

Dave and Lindsey getting ready to chase Sophie. . . .

Lowe in the middle of being mischievous. 

Becky and Kingston

Epic Heroscaping with Mike, Sammy, Sammy's cheeks, Lori, Dave, Caleb, and potato chips. 

Jacob was busy hacking into the government's mainframe. 

Sammy enjoying standing up. 

For the rest of the time in Arizona we visited Ben's adopted grandmother, Mary Anne Brookman in Tucson, saw Abram and Dave's new houses, played games, took family pictures, got sick, took walks, played Heroscape with Mike/Lori/Dave/Jacob/Caleb/Sammy, and did other relaxing things like play with nephews and nieces. It was an awesome time and we look forward to coming back in March for Nathan and Alicia's wedding! 

Joanna enjoying driving our rented Dodge Avenger - with only 600 miles on it. Quite a different experience than driving Jimmy. . .         Ahhhh, look at the awesome warm desert in the background! 

Joanna, Mary Anne, and Ben. Mary Anne was in good health and spirits! 

Joanna and Ben standing out in the desert by Picacho Peak - the site of the furthest west battle in the Civil War. 

Luckily for Ben all the snow fell while we were in AZ, so the roads were clear to drive on when we came back to MN. We stayed for less than a day in MN - just long enough to get some sleep and for Joanna to work and for Ben to clean and do other chores. Then we went on our second trip!

We arrived in Wisconsin a few days before New Years and all (except Emily) of Joanna's siblings and nephews and nieces were there! We were both still recovering from being sick, so that Friday we took it easy and sat around the house playing games, sleeping, and talking. Ben played some basketball with Janet, Brian, Ben and Preston that night, and luckily no one was hurt. The next day was the world-renowned epic "Scoresby Scamper" - and this time it was uber-epic because Janet had ordered green logo shirts, had a registration table, and we all had numbers! It was a fun run - even though Ben and Joanna didn't win anything.

Then we spent time playing games, eating delicious foods, playing Heroscape, scoring new high scores on the Wii, relaxing, watching "Gold Rush" and cooking shows, shopping, playing with nephews and nieces, and staying warm out of the snow. Luckily Ben did not have to drive in the snow because Joanna's parents drove us around while we were there - and it stopped snowing just in time for us to leave.

Lauren got in herself to play with all the toys! 

Macey, Afton, and Lauren all ready for the Scoresby Scamper!!

Pose for pictures, then ON YOUR MARK, GET SET . . . 

GO!!!!          The Bens watch on with Sadie, Shannon, and Mom. 

Afton speeds back first! 

Macey paces in easily! 

Lauren stopped to notice the snow in the cement . . . then she finished. 

Mom pinning the award on Afton. Preston keeps Lauren happy. 

Award pictures. We were still all sweaty . . . 

Joanna smiling, Joseph quasi-smiling, and Dad beaming about his award!!!

Tanner enjoying a brief moment on the floor. 

Janet and Lauren celebrating New Year's! 

Ben and Sadie celebrating!! 

The crazy cool New Year's countdown with the Scoresbys!! 

Preston, Sarah, Janet, and Shannon all tooting their own horns. 

Dad and Brian happy for New Year's. 

Joanna tooting.
. . . . her horn.
And Tracy holding up the Christmas tree. 

Post celebration - Mom in her gown already  :)
Notice the all-seeing eye of Ben S.'s belly! 

Afton taking tooting lessons from Rene/Dad. 

Preston celebrating New Year's with Emily on the phone. Macey is instructing Shannon how to properly toot her horn. 

As the night goes on, people start to get sleepier. . . 

Things get a little fishy when Rene keeps tooting. . . . his horn. 

The epic New Year's Eve Heroscape battle that Ben would have won! 

More epicness. 

Ben watches a manly show - "Goldrush" on TV (it's definitely NOT figure skating. . . )   and he watches the snow fall outside the windows. . . . 

The snow outside the Scoresby downstairs windows. . . . BRRRRRRRR! 

Restful Sunday. Mom on the computer, Joanna resting, and Ben standing. 

The sunset on the drive back to Minneapolis. 

Ben driving Silvia back on nice, dry, snow-less, clean roads!! No kidney stones this time! 

Now we are back home, and enjoying the warmer than average temperatures and the lack of snow on the ground! Yay! Joanna and Ben are both back to work, and Ben is trying to find a law job, and he's studying for the bar exam. Joanna is trying to spend quality time crafting and handling pregnancy. We find out what the baby is next Thursday and we are excited!! Ben is pretty convinced that it's a boy, and Joanna is convinced that it's a girl. Having a girl would probably be a little easier for Joanna to handle, but then again our children will all be little angels anyways. . . .    :)          Vote on what you think we will have!! --------->

- BEN

PS: I hope you enjoyed the mix of first person and third person in this post. Ben's English teachers would be proud!