Fun with Anellina

Stockton's cousin Anellina was here this week, so she and Stockton had a lot of chances to play.


They swam in the little pool together. They had a blast!

Splashin' from Rachel Haider on Vimeo.

All of sudden it started to rain, so we came inside. It was over pretty quick so we headed back out. Here they are waitin' out the storm together.


After getting in and out of the pool so many times, the pool started to get blades of grass in it and it kinda grossed out Stockton. So he didn't want to get in anymore. Anellina tried so hard to get him back in. She would take him by the hand and pull him, but he wouldn't do it.



Pullin' faces!



Anellina's 2nd birthday party was on Saturday. It was a full-blown Mickey Mouse party!



Stockton's favorite part was the little slide they had set up. He went down that thing about 80 times... and I'm sure he would've done it all day long if we would've let him. (Holy Moly, does he look like an Orgill in this picture, or what?!)



They played a game with Mickey bean bags, and had fun putting them over the different Disney characters.



Anellina with her Mickey Clubhouse cake! So cute!

Just Bein' Cute

Just wanted to post these pics of Stockton being cute. We went out to check on the grass, how it was growing in the front yard and to water the flowers.

Stockton just sat on the porch so cute and posed for this picture and even smiled on cue. I love this little boy!

He spotted the watering can and was more than eager to help.

Walkin' Backwards from Rachel Haider on Vimeo.

Stockton has been into walking backwards and spinning lately. I don't really know why, but I'm glad I caught it on video.

County Fair

The Salt Lake County Fair is held just a few blocks from our house. So we decided to take advantage this year.

First we went to the Demolition Derby! Oh yeah! There's just nothin' like a bunch of run down trucks revin' their engines, rammin' into each other, and flingin' mud into the crowd! It brings out the inner redneck in all of us!

It was the first Demolition Derby for both Brady and Stockton. Of course, they both loved it. Stockton was getting a little bored waiting for it to start. But, as soon as he heard the truck engines coming into the arena, he was mesmerized.

We wanted to see what else the fair had to offer and found this petting zoo. There were a gazillion little goats and sheep running around. I didn't know how Stockton would react, because they all thought he had food and kept nipping at his hands and bumping into him. If you think about it, they are his same height... imagine a hairy horned creature coming right at you. He was a bit jumpy, but he loved it! He kept backing away, then getting closer and squawking at them. It was hilarious!

Petting Zoo from Rachel Haider on Vimeo.

Demon goat!!! This picture freaks me out just a little. The evil eyes and the human-like mouth on this goat is just too much for me to handle.

There was even a little pony hangin' out in there.

Next we checked out all the booths and ran into our friends the Doxeys, who were there promoting their rain gutter business, Ace Gutters. So Stockton got to play with his friend Riker. They are about the same height. But, Riker weighs a few more pounds than Stockton. The sad thing is, Riker is six months YOUNGER than Stockton. Poor little Stockton, he's going to be small forever. But, you can't get a great dane out of two chihuahuas.

Grass at the End of the Tunnel!

We have been working on getting our front yard in and it's been a very long process. Major props to Brady and my father-in-law Rob who have worked endless hours in the 100 degree heat and even more hours after the sun has gone down. And of course thanks to little Stockton who is the best helper ever! After months of planning and a lot of man hours we finally have grass growing in our front yard!! Yippee!

Here are a few pictures of the process.

Stockton operating heavy machinery... I know it's not recommended, but hey, we needed all the help we can get on this project!



Anticipating the glorious green grass! Thanks to Uncle Jordan for supplying this high-powered mower to get Stockton into practice. He's gonna need it, being the oldest son!


You should've seen the delight on Stockton's face when they started testing the sprinklers! It was pure toddler nirvana! But, man... you should've seen the dirt ring after his bath that night!

Going for a ride in the wheel barrow with Grandpa! So much fun and excitement out in the yard! WAY better than anything I could be doing inside.

Baker Family Reunion

This past weekend we had a family reunion on Brady's mom's side. It was held in Durango, Colorado and it was a BLAST!

We stayed at the KOA and we shared a little cabin with Brady's sister's family. Stockton was so excited to be with his cousin Anellina. They had a ton of fun together and if for some reason they got separated Stockton would call out for her: "Ana!" And she would call for him "Tah-ton!"

The first day we went to Mesa Verde and saw the Indian cliff dwellings. It was so cool!

The little kids loved it once they were out of the back packs and could run around.

This is Spruce Tree House. It was nice, because it was a self-guided tour, but there was a park ranger there to answer questions.

Then we took a tour of Cliff Palace. This was with a tour group and we hiked down in to these ruins together.

Some places got a little tight on the way down! Stockton had been so tired before we started the tour, so I gave him his bottle and pretty soon....

... he was out! He slept for most of the tour. He woke up at the end, when everyone started clapping.

These ruins were so amazing. The indians lived here in this natural alcove, but had to climb out to farm and hunt. We had stairs and ladders to help us, but the Indians just had little hand holds they carved into the rock... yikes!

Climbing up out of Cliff Palace.

Heading up one of the ladders.

The second day we went river rafting (photos pending.) It was such a blast. At one calm part in the river, Brady's sister Holly acted like she fell in. Then two of the guys pulled each other in. Long story short... every person got in the river! It was freezing! It was overcast and probably only 75 degrees that day. But, it was still so fun and made the trip memorable.

The Slide from Rachel Haider on Vimeo.

Uncle Jordan playing with Stockton at the KOA playground. I think Stockton liked it.

That night we had a big dinner all together and got to visit. Here's Stockton meeting his new cousin Landry for the first time.

We got matching Durango t-shirts for the kids and they both wore them the day we left. They are also sitting on their matching chairs that they got from the Easter Bunny.

It was such a fun trip, but it was LONG drive, about 6.5 hours if you didn't stop. Stockton was sick of it and had to find ways to relax... notice the foot up on the cooler. Thank goodness we borrowed a portable DVD player from my sister. That saved us!

And notice the ba ba. After this trip we said bye bye to the ba ba. I was just holding on until this trip was over with, because I knew we couldn't survive the drive without it. We have gone nearly 72 hours without a ba ba, and everything has gone really well.

Stockton at 15ish Months

I've been meaning to do a post for Stockton's 15 months. But, life happens and now he's pushing 16 months. So some of this data is now skewed.


Stocky is no longer Stocky! At his 15 month appointment he was in the 13% for weight at 24% for height. The first time in his life that he has been taller rather than fatter. He weighed almost the same as at 12 months, but he was more than an inch taller. You grow boy! So here's Stockton at 15ish months.



He's very curious and into everything. Climbing on and in everything he can find.



He loves helping his mommy clean... which is actually quite nice. He loves to help vacuum, dust, and do laundry. Of course he's not very good at folding the laundry, but he does a great job of UNfolding it once it's folded!


Stockton is finally in a big boy car seat. He loves it!

Stockton is a definite ladies man... with no pants, nonetheless. Sure this is his second cousin, but that doesn't stop him from flirting with, chasing, and even tackling the girls. He will do anything to have contact with them.

Stockton still loves trucks. He had a blast in this truck cart at Home Depot.

More trucks. He found this lid to a tupperware bin and thought it would be fun to drive his trucks around the rim. Very clever.

Stockton is a little smarty pants. He catches on to a lot of things. While he was he was being baby-sat by his grandma she said, "Who ever wants a cheese stick raise your hand!" His little hand went straight up in the air and he started running for the fridge. He does it all the time now.

He knows where all his body parts are. My favorite is when I ask where his teeth are and he gives me a darling cheesy grin. It's also funny when you ask him where his tongue is, and this enormous, adult sized tongue comes jetting out of his mouth... thanks for passing that on to our son, Brady! Brady's trying to teach him how to touch his nose with his tongue. He's almost got it.

I've taught him that you have to blow on food when it's hot. The other day we were getting in the car and he reach up and grabbed the handle and it was hot. He immediately pulled his hand away and started blowing toward the car!

He knows probably over 20 words. Most of them are pretty common like, "Mama, Dada, Night Night." But, I love it when he says "Jay Jay"- for Uncle J (Jordan), and "Ana" for his cousin Anellina. Other fun words include "Gabba "(for Yo Gabba Gabba, his favorite show), "Up", "Ham", and "Tractor."

Unca Joel

My uncle, Joel Ivan Orgill, passed away on July 7th. He passed away from cancer, and his beautiful wife Lynne is suffering from almost the same kind of cancer. He was such an amazing example to me. He was witty, he was creative, he was a spiritual giant, he was a great leader and he was just fun to be around. His funeral was not your typical funeral. I think I laughed more than I cried and that's how he would've wanted it.

He requested to be buried in a pine box. They brought out sharpies and everyone could write messages on the box. Some of the messages were so touching.

This one from his son Jed was one of my favorites "Return to Sender."

I also liked this one from his son Justin "Contents: World's Greatest Dad!"

The four Orgill brothers.

Joel's family.

After the funeral I felt so inspired to become more like my Unca Joel. I wanted to study the gospel more, I wanted to serve better, and I wanted to develop my creative talents. I think Joel gave me just the push I needed with that last one. I've been meaning to get back into drawing and I've wanted to draw a picture of Stockton. But, I lost all my art supplies when we moved. So I was determined to go buy more, but hadn't gotten around to it, because they are expensive. Well, the day after Joel's funeral I had the sudden urge to organize my wrapping paper... why on earth would I want to do that?! Well, right in the middle of the Christmas wrapping paper there was a bag, inside the bag were my art supplies! I can't help but thinking that Unca Joel was there, guiding me along.

Discovery Gateway

A few weeks ago we visited Discovery Gateway Children's Museum while RoShawn and Anellina were in town.

Uncle Jordan came with us, too. Notice Stockton holding his wrist up. He hated the feel of the wristband they gave him, and he had torn it off within about 2 seconds.


The kids had so much fun! They were just so excited. I was afraid that Stockton was going to be tired and onry because it was his nap time. But, he was stoked! I also wondered if he was going to be too little for some of the activities, but he knew exactly what to do. It was so cute!


Forty gazillion balls in one place!? How could life get any better? (The only way it could get better if it germs did not exsit. I was a nervous wreck the whole time, thinking of all the microbs all over these toys and trying to keep them out of Stockton's mouth.)


Stockton spotted the toy vacuum right away. He loves toys he can push in front of him.


He also spotted a stroller with two black babies in it. He pushed this around all over and it was hard to pry away from him. His daddy would be proud.


Anellina and RoShawn enjoying the toddler area.


Stockton loved this little slide. He would climb up it and then slide down and go right back up again.

Of course he found a TRUCK!!!

The little grocery store was so cute.

Anellina made a delicious looking sandwich in the deli.

If you haven't been here, I highly recommend it. The kids LOVE it! It is a little choatic, so be prepared. And wash your hands after you leave!!! It's also a little pricey, but you can usually find 2 for 1 coupons in the paper.