"I find your lack of faith disturbing."

Happy Halloween! We actually dressed up this. I pretty much felt like the lamest mom ever last year when I hadn't gotten a costume for Austin and it was the day before Halloween. He ended up going as a skeleton because we had a onesie with skeleton bones on it that someone had given us. He rocked it and looked awesome but I felt kind of like a slacker.

So this year we ALL dressed up. I planned way ahead and had everyone's costumes ready 3 weeks early. Mark and I have never dressed up as a married couple. It just wasn't our thing. But we sure had a good time this year!

I went as the Death Star-- not yet fully operational :) Mark went as a Stormtrooper and Austin went as Darth Vadar. He had the cutest little cape and hat! The cape was my favorite part. He didn't leave the hat on, unfortunately. But he still looked super cute!

May the force be with you!

It's a baby...

BOY!

Here I am about 21 weeks along carrying our next son. We couldn't be more excited for Austin to have a brother. We hope they become the best of friends. 

Where We've Been

It's been a long time since I wrote anything on this blog. It has lain abandoned for nearly a month and a half. We've sure done a lot of things and I sure love spending time with Mark and Austin. That is mainly what has kept me away. But tonight I have some time so here is a brief update.

We moved. The lease on our hold house was up after three years (thankfully) and our friends moved out of their old place (sadly) at the same time. We just took up residence in their old digs. We love our new place.

Mark has had a lot of free time these last few months so we've done a lot of little trips around town.

We went to the BYU vs. Virginia game. We lost. And Austin got really sick. But it was fun to be at a real game!

We went on a road trip. Hopefully I'll get around to writing a whole blog post about that! It was an incredible four days. We had a great time.

We taught Austin to say "TOUCHDOWN!" and hold up his hands. He also does false start which is pretty much just waving his hands really fast. He can't really do the whole spin thing.

We went to the Winston Salem Air Show. It rained so it was kind of lame. Most of the planes couldn't fly. But we had a good time anyway.

Mark ran in a sprint triathlon! He was such a champ. I'm really proud of all the hard work he put in. It was fun to see him transitioning and then sprint across the finish line. Way to go, sweetheart!

Austin got croup :( It was so sad to see him in his little hospital gown but he sure looked cute too! I loved his little diapered bum sticking out the back of the robes.

Mom and Dad Bailey came for a visit. We had a wonderful time with them here.

We went pumpkin picking for the first time. Austin had a great experience. Some of the pumpkins were bigger than he was!

We took an afternoon drive to the Blue Ridge Parkway to see the fall colors. Our camera could do it justice if we knew how to operate it better, but alas-- we don't. It was absolutely beautiful though.

Things in North Carolina are going well. We love it here. We've been so happy together as a little family.  It has been wonderful having Mark around so much. Life really doesn't get any better.

An answered prayer

I have been reading a lot, probably too much, facebook lately. I joined a group out of curiosity called Feminist Mormon Housewives. There are lots of nice women who post things. But there are some pretty self-righteous and mean posts too. There is a big movement right now about Ordaining Women in the church. I find it fascinating. But mostly the group has been posting things about how women are so ill treated and how tired they are of patriarchy and how it isn't right that women are told how to dress and what to think by the media and by men. And sometimes I wonder if they realize how much they are like the things they say they hate. They too try to tell women how to think and how to live their lives and what is right and what is wrong. Anyway.

Reading it has left me feeling uninspired, dejected, and confused. I am pretty satisfied with my life. I have never had a crappy bishop or other male leader who has made me feel like less of a person or like my opinion mattered less in the church because I am a woman. Most of those women either have had experiences like that or they read too much into situations they have experienced.

I don't think they are wicked or apostate or anything like that. I think they are just strong personalities who want a bigger voice in the church governance and priesthood power. And that is okay with me. But I don't always like the way they respond to traditional viewpoints. They get all upset when others respond to their viewpoints with vitreous gut reactions but they totally do the same thing!

Anyway. I have just felt confused and upset lately. I don't know who is right. Are they right to request the things they are asking for? Are the more traditional people right? What about the whole "Even the very elect will be deceived?" thing that is supposed to happen in these last days? Are they feminist groups being deceived? Are the traditional groups being lulled into a false sense of security? Who is right? And how will I know?

I thought those very thoughts last night and as I thought them I realized that Joseph Smith had that very same thought when he was young. He must have been as confused or more confused than I am.

So last night right before bed I said a quick prayer because I was pretty tired. I just told God I was confused and that I didn't know what to do or who was right. I pondered getting of facebook but that didn't seem right or necessary. I have thought a lot about posting some of my thoughts and feelings on the site but that didn't seem right either. So I just went to bed confused and thinking I would just let it go for now.

And my prayer was answered today. Isn't that interesting? It was a quick prayer. I didn't spend long in prayer. It was sincere and heartfelt, but didn't seem particularly more important than my other nightly prayers. But I think Heavenly Father felt differently. I think he knows that this is an important question. This is an important issue for me and he wanted me to know he heard my little prayer.

The answer came through a talk I heard at church. I didn't think too much about it other than that I really liked it. Then when I was reading my scriptures tonight in Deuteronomy 6 what was talked about in church was reemphasized and I felt then a gentle thought that this was the answer I was looking for.

The answer was this: The greatest of all commandments is love. And if you truly love everyone and love God you will be on the right path doing the right things. You won't be stealing, or murdering, or looking at pornography, or committing adultery, or worshipping idols, or treating people badly, or judging them unrighteously while you have a beam in your own eye, etc...  God's answer to me was simply to work on loving Him and Others and as I do I will be doing the right things and I don't need to worry about who is right and who is wrong. As long as I love God and others I will not be deceived. Maybe those women who are pressing for the priesthood and other feminist agendas have a special calling by God that I don't have. So I am going to let them have their calling and love them and their traditional counterparts from afar and just not worry about it. Because God answered my prayer and it is simply to love others and love Him.

Isn't that neat? How God answered my prayers so simply through another person and through the scriptures. I just wanted to write it down so I wouldn't forget it.