Tell PETA: Infertility is Not a Joke

I realize that most of the people who read this blog have not had to deal with infertility, but PETA's current campaign made me so upset that I had to share. You can also check out these websites/posts: From IF to When and Hannah Wept Sarah Laughed.

PETA is currently running a campaign where if you get your animal spayed/neutered, you can win a vasectomy. While this in and of itself might not be so bad, they are advertising that they are doing this in celebration of National Infertility Awareness Week, which is occuring later this month! Their website advertises:

"...It's a two-fer: Get your animal companion fixed, and get yourself fixed too! Human overpopulation is crowding out animal life on the planet, and dog and cat overpopulation is creating a euthanasia crisis that is a crying shame. Disappearing wilderness, vanishing water resources, and pollution is the price that future generations will pay for more human births, while losing their lives is the price that millions of homeless dogs and cats pay when guardians neglect to "fix" their companion animals.

"Every year in the U.S., an estimated 6 to 8 million lost, abandoned, or unwanted dogs and cats enter animal shelters. The best way to combat the companion-animal overpopulation crisis is to have your cat or dog neutered. And with a global population of almost 7 billion humans, more of our species could use a (voluntary) snip too.

"Now, one lucky man can be reproduction-free, free of charge, just like his pooch or feline friend. In honor of National Infertility Awareness Week (April 24 to 30), PETA will give one free vasectomy to a man who has recently had his companion cat or dog neutered..."

I'm sorry, but how does this honor infertility and the hundreds of thousands of people worldwide who are suffering from this disease? Infertility is definitely not a disease that people choose to deal with, and it offends me that it would be treated this way and that PETA thinks they can honor it by letting someone win a vasectomy. Isn't getting a vasectomy the OPPOSITE thing that most people with infertility want??? I am sure that PETA wouldn't chose to target other diseases in a similar manner in an effort to "control the population". Maybe I am over-reacting, but I really do find this to be shameful and insensitive. I would encourage anyone who finds this offensive to SIGN THIS PETITION or e-mail PETA directly at ingridn@peta.org.

Lots of Movement!

We are definitely seeing a lot more mobility at our house lately. Although Jaxson started rolling over a while ago, he has really stepped it up lately. He now LOVES to roll over. He is really good at rolling from his back to his stomach, but is still working on going from his stomach to his back. Once Jax has rolled onto his stomach, he does a great job of propping himself up on his arms.


Once he is up on his arms, Jaxson will bring up his knees and try to scoot/crawl. So far he isn't too good at going forward, but he is really good at moving around in circles.

It has been so much fun to watch Jaxson learn grow. He is so smart! I know that he will be moving even more before I know it!

Besides Jaxson moving more, his little sibling has been moving a lot, too! I started feeling the baby move a couple of weeks ago, and I am loving it. It is so reassuring and it makes this pregnancy seem even more real. Sometimes it seems so surreal and it is hard to believe that I really am pregnant and will be having a baby in September. But whenever I feel those little kicks, it brings it all home and it is such a great feeling. This pregnancy is going by SO quickly. We go in for our big anatomy ultrasound next week, and Mike and I are excited to find out if we will be having a boy or a girl.

Just the Same

I saw this poem in April's Ensign and LOVED it, so I thought I would share it here:

Just the Same
By Diana Lynn Lacey

Sometimes—
God sends rain
Straight from the sky
To nourish the young flower
and it grows.

Sometimes—
God sends rain from the sky
To the mountaintops,
Then over hills and through valleys
Until it reaches the flower and it grows,
just the same.

Sometimes—
God sends a child
Straight from His realm
Into a mother’s arms
and love grows.

Sometimes—
God sends a child
From heaven to another’s arms,
Then over hills and through valleys
Until he reaches the arms of his mother
and love grows, just the same.

Four Month Check-Up

I can't get enough of this sweet face!

I took Jaxson in for his four month check-up earlier this week, and he did great! He has continued his trend of being tall and skinny - he is in the 75th percentile for his height, but only the 11th for his weight! The best part about the appointment was that his pediatrician said that we could skip rice cereal and go straight to baby food. Apparently they don't recommend rice cereal anymore because it has pretty much no nutritional value. We are not complaining because Jaxson loves to eat his baby food.

It seems like Jaxson is growing more and more all the time. He has gotten very good at grabbing objects and has even learned to "pet" Faline when she is close enough. Fortunately, she has been a good sport and doesn't seem to mind too much. He also can hold his head up really well, loves to shake his toys, and just play in general. He is such a sweet boy!

One of Those Girls...

Did you know that available research indicates that only 5-7% of couples who adopt due to infertility go on to become pregnant? Well, apparently the odds are in our favor, because...

Jaxson is going to be a big brother! We took this picture of Jaxson in January when we used this onesie to share the news with our families.

So far, things seem to be going well. I have had three ultrasounds, and everything is looking great. I am just about 15 weeks and the baby is due September 2. Jaxson and his sibling will be ten months apart in age. This will be quite the adventure, but we are definitely very excited!

Rice Cereal

We recently started noticing that Jaxson seemed VERY interested in regular food. He would start loosing interest in his bottle if he noticed someone around him eating, try and put your fingers in his mouth if you had been eating something, or just find other ways to try and get food. We figured that since he is just about four months old, is obviously interested in eating, and was able to sit up in his high chair that it was time to introduce rice cereal.

He did really good with taking the spoon and swallowing, but I don't know if he is too big a fan of how the cereal tastes.


As you can see from this picture, Jaxson was starting to pull nasty faces after it was in his mouth. It was like he wanted to eat it, but just was disgusted by the flavor. I guess I can't blame him. :)

Today when I tried the rice cereal, I tried mixing in a little bit of apple juice. I thought that would definitely improve the flavor for him, but no such luck. Hopefully we can move on to baby food soon and he will like that a little bit better.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy belated Valentine's Day! Valentine's Day was actually pretty quiet at our house this year. We decided to stay in and watch "Secretariat". Mike and I went out to eat and celebrate on Wednesday, and that is the way to do it! It was easy to get a babysitter, and best of all, there was no waiting at the restaurant we went to.


This isn't the best picture at all, but we were trying to take a picture of Jaxson on his first Valentine's Day. My mom bought him a little Valentine's outfit that says "Future Mr. Right". He looked pretty cute!