So, this week I think started out slow. I don't really remember Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday George has a doctors appointment and shots :-( he's above the 97% for height and about 75% in weight. They showed me a graph with time on the bottom and height or weight on the left. There were lines for the 75%,the 95%, the 97% and then George's stats were plotted with a line as well. His weight is an improving curve but more rounded. His height is almost a steep line instead of the gentle curve. This means, at 2 months he was taller than the 97%but he is even farther away from that line now-he must be having a growth spurt. Anyways, he did better with the shots as far as being able to calm down sooner, but he ended up with a fever. We gave him Tylenol and he was so miserable and tired. He still looks a little tired to me but he's acting normal again and doesn't have a fever anymore. Friday we had institute, went to the library, and then went back to the institute. For the married institute class it's like potluck refreshments, so I took the time (since we'd be sharing) to try a dessert. I did low fat fudge brownies, then added chocolate pudding and a lot of chocolate chips. So triple chocolate. I think they tasted good. Others liked them, jon had the only complaint, and his complaint was that they were too gooey for his taste (but they still stayed together and you didn't need a fork).
Saturday was valentine's day. Honestly I hadn't done too much for jon. He woke up and made me awful waffles, heart shaped eggs, and served it with potatoes and yogurt. We went shopping for food for Sunday dinner (we invited some good friends over for sushi and tempura fried veggies and shrimp). Those same friends actually briefly met up with us on valentine's day too. My back hurts a lot now and so jon suggested a massage. We have a Chinese foot massage place on the south side of indy (also where the babies r us is, and we had points from our baby registry that would be expiring in a month. ) Anyways jon was willing to let me get a massage and skip one to watch George but I didn't think that was fair on valentine's day or very romantic. So we called our friends in Brazil who met us there. Sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself. Jon got me a dance game I really like for valentine's and my birthday. I got him star wars light Saber chopsticks, but there was a problem with the shipping. .. anyways, he challenged me to a dance off. Then we went shopping and then drove up to indy. I didn't want George to be miserable so I actually held him for some of the drive and let him look out the window. He loved watching the moving trees. So we got up there and went to dinner at a place I found out about in Louisiana, called johnny carinos. It's Italian but has a southern flair to it. Then I went to babies r us with George. We got some sippy training cups, some spoons, some baby oatmeal, and two outfits. We then walked through the toys and George liked a talking puppy (which is supposed to help teach letters, numbers, counting, body parts and colors but also sings songs. So we got that. (I remembered something from Tuesday! I went to a secondhand children's store here, to check it out and get a small toy for George after his shots. We got a cheap caterpillar toy that a friend recommended. ) Then George started reaching out to an exersaucer. This particular one can be a mat, an exersaucer or break apart into two tables. We put that together tonight and he went to tired and a little cranky to tired but happy and exploring. It'll be great for him. He can already turn around in it and is curious about all the toys. Getting ahead of myself again though. So after babies r us, we got massages. We met up with our friends and gave them a sleeping George. Then after our massages, we went to a kids area in the mall and switched. We watched their little boy and they went and got massages. Jon walked with George to go get cheesecake from the cheesecake factory and then after all the massages, we drove home. Jon had rented breakfast at Tiffany's but we'll watch it another time. This morning we woke up early for choir practice. Then came home for lunch and a nap. Then our friends came out early for dinner and hanging out here since we had stake choir practice tonight. Anyways it was a busy week.
Spiritual thoughts have been a little scattered. First, in Sunday school they talked about how a prophet is never accepted in his own country and how the people of Nazareth had a hard time accepting Christ as the Messiah. Someone mentioned that this concept is foreign to us and that people in Utah are proud of the apostles and prophets. But I started thinking. People who know the prophets as they're growing up or intimately are privy to their faults and weaknesses. Sometimes it's hard to look past those faults and see a prophet. So many people research Joseph smith's flaws and then have a hard time accepting him as a prophet. The funny thing to me is, the prophets themselves remind us that there has only been and will only ever be one perfect man- that is Jesus. To see their faults is to realize that they are not hypocrites. They are not trying to claim a perfection they don't have. To see that they are human means they can be a prophet and are not the one and only messiah. For Jesus though, He claimed to be (and was/is) the Messiah. But we are told that he learned grace by grace, little by little. To see someone so normal, that is not normal but perfect and the Messiah... to me that seems like it would be much harder to accept.
Then they mentioned being rich and the eye of the needle. The teacher quoted it wrong but oh well. He said it's easier to get a camel through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to be in heaven, but it says for a rich man to get into heaven. To me there is a big difference. On my mission it was always the poor who were willing to accept the gospel, be baptized and enter the gates of heaven, symbolically. I think in seminary was when someone explained to me that the eye of the needle was a sort of small overnight door. If the city gates were closed, you had to use this door. To get a camel through you had to take off whatever it had on its back, and someone who knew the camel had to coax it to kneel and get through. This process is easier than a rich man getting into heaven (or getting baptized), so today I thought, then it should require at least everything the camel does. A man ladled with riches must take off the load. Put them aside. Then someone who knows the rich man needs to encourage him (ie simply tracting in a rich neighborhood is not going to do it. He'll need a good friend). The rich man will have to humble himself (kneel down). Then, since the camel is easier, I imagine it takes something else that may change depending on the individual. This scripture does not mean it's impossible, nor does it mean there will be few rich people in heaven, it just shows how much of an obstacle wealth CAN be.
My last thoughts were on the family and come from a conversation I had with jon about the family proclamation and Satan attacking the family. He brought up gay marriage and how many members are very vocal about how it's Satan attacking the family. He brought up how Satan is attacking the family in other ways as well. I guess my thoughts are along the lines with, we should be equally vocal about all attacks on the family. I'm not saying we have to be more quiet on anything but I want to make sure that I'm not speaking out about one attack and excusing the others. " Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan." This says man and woman, but it also says marriage. How many families are broken because of the fad to not get married, or for some other reason. "Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity." A man and a woman who are married but cheat on each other is an attack on the family. I have gained a strong testimony on what I feel this means. If a man looks at another woman and lusts after her, he hath already committed adultery in his heart. I don't think it is complete fidelity if his heart is an adulterer. Also a man is to leave his parents and cleave to his wife and none else. If a man confides in another he is not cleaving to his wife. One can emotionally cheat on their spouse. Children deserve this loving relationship. To lack it is an attack on the family. The pornography business attacks the family. A man is not cleaving to his wife when looking at porn. There are also other simpler things as well. If you are depressed and confide in someone besides your spouse, you have, at least temporarily, put that other person above your spouse. "We warn that individuals who violate covenants of chastity, who abuse spouse or offspring, or who fail to fulfill family responsibilities will one day stand accountable before God." Domestic abuse is an attack on the family. Twisting marriage to not be between a man and a woman is only one attack on the family.
Jon and I know we have room to grow. My favorite part of the family proclamation is the following part: "Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities." I know that these principles can help strengthen a marriage and families.
As a last side note, Michelle sent a really cute outfit for George. I will take pictures as soon as the outfit fits. :-) mom also sent some cute pjs, and some clothes, of which I think I have taken pictures.
