Fun times...

We spent last week visiting our new neice (along with her family) in Arizona. While we were there we went to this cool place called "Fun Times for Kids". It had a "town" that was kid sized with lots of different stations-like, a beauty salon, a garage, a dr office, a kitche, etc. Alia had a total blast!!! She spend 95% of her time in the kitchen cooking things and ironing but she did venture out a bit to discover other things.












Alia, changing her baby's diaper.
















Daddy had fun, too!
Here he is teaching Alia how to golf!











Alia is quite the griller! She grilling up some yummy hot dogs!

Sling time!

This is how I carry Elijah around a lot. It's a sling called a pouch and I love it. He loves falling asleep in in and loves to be faced out to look at the world.

Me and my kids

Here I am with my little munchkins...aren't they cute??

Welcome!

At 3:17am Alia and Elijah's new baby cousin, Cayley Ann Pitblado, was born. She weighed 7 pounds 10 ounces and was 20" long. We cannot wait to meet her! Welcome, baby Cayley!

So fun!

Here's an adorable picture of our Alia enjoying a water fountain. If only we could be so excited about such little things.

Baby Bumbo!!

Here's our little boy in his new Bumbo seat! What a great invention!!! Doesn't he look like a big boy? He sat in this seat for a while this afternoon...and even played with this rattle. I just love that he can sit up and look around. Sometimes his head looks down, but his neck will grow stromger every day. This is the greatest thing...really it is.

Pictures

So, Jason came home today with our camera, so here are a bunch of new pictures.
If you wanna check out our new house, go to:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/trishbacklund/album?.dir=/73bcscd

Enjoy the pictures!

Little Mister

When Elijah sleeps we wrap him in the "Amazing Miracle Blanket". It's a special swaddle wrap that helps babies sleep better. It's been a "miracle"!! And, the other picture is a picture of Elijah that we took just today. He's growing up and out! Thanks, Quayles, for the cute safari outfit.

Big girl bed

Last week we took Alia's side off her crib...so now she has a "big girl bed". We have to lock the door on the bedroom, otherwise she comes running out of the room. Then, when we look at her, she turns around and runs faster back to her bed. It's funny...but not okay. She likes her bed and so far hasn't fallen out. Once we move she'll move into a twin bed-then she'll be an even bigger girl!

Buddies

Alia has become quite the daddy's girl. Here she is feeding her baby while Daddy feeds Elijah. And the other one is of the two of them at Chuck-E-Cheese's playing a video game. They both are pretty cute.

Strong Man

Look at me!! I'm holding my head up!

Lil' Cuties

Here's a fun little picture I thought I'd share with you. :)

Homeowners!??!?!

What?!? Us, homeowners!?
I guess that's what you are when you purchase a home. Crazy!!! We are homeowners! We have taken a couple different opportunities to go up to Visalia to look at homes with our realtor and we are proud to say we are homeowners. Well, escrow won't close until Sept 20th, so I guess it's not real official till then. I don't have pictures right now, Jason took the camera to get some, so I'll post some in the next few days. It's actually a brand new home so it's not completely done. Jason goes to the design center today to pick out the flooring and some other stuff...but it's mostly done. It's 2300 square feet and has 3 bedrooms plus a bonus room. Two bathrooms, a great room/kitchen, and a formal dining room/living room. And, it has a nice size backyard. We're pretty excited, but overwhelmed at the same time. We are hoping to move in mid September-it's just a matter of our flooring being in stock, etc. So, we might be able to go sooner-wouldn't that be great!!
Hoorrah!! We have a home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I never thought it would happen. :)

Colds

Well...we are all sick. Alia picked up a cold somewhere and then was nice enough to pass it on to mommy and daddy, and now little Elijah has it too. Our very first family illness. It's not too much fun, especially since daddy has been gone. I can't wait for him to get back today. Then maybe I can get some good sleep. Here's to germs!!

2 Months

Elijah had his 2 month checkup this week. He's looking real good. His stats:

12 lb 10 oz = 75%
23 inches long = 50%

He's growing much quicker than Alia ever did...will he end up being bigger than she is? We'll have to wait and see. The doctor said that his head control is suberb and that he should be rolling over any time. Our little boy is growing up. :) He also got his first set of shots. Note the little bandaid on his right thigh. He got four shots, so he had four little bandaids on his thighs. He did pretty well-he cried for a bit, but then fell right to sleep. Nothing more than that.
What else is new with him...hmmm...last night he went about 7 hours without eating! Yep, I didn't get up until 4am to feed him. It was wonderful! :) I'm hoping that it will only get longer, but who knows. I cherish the little extra sleep I can get. He is much more interactive-looking around and coo-ing at us. We will talk with him now, not just to him. And when he shoots us his big smile, our hearts just melt. His hair is growing too. And it's still red. Yippee!

Homeward Bound!!

Well...WE HAVE A JOB! Yep...Jason has been offered (and accepted) a full time lead pastor position at Visalia Covenant Church. After a few days of discussing and praying, we decided to go for it! This is pretty exciting for us, since it's been almost 18 months since this whole process started.
We are excited about what is to come, but aren't sure what that will look like right now. The first order of business is to find us a place to live. We are hoping to buy a home...and have looked at a few places in person and online. Pray with us that God provides the perfect home for us.
Here is the website for the church, if you are interested. http://www.vccc.us/Home_Page.html

Our trip

So, this past week we took our first road trip with Elijah. How did it go?? Well...the trip was great..the driving part, not so fun. Elijah decided he HATES driving in the car. Every time he was put in the car (not the infant seat) he started crying-and it quickly escalated to a scream...and lasted a long time.

Anyways...we started our trip by driving to Visalia for two nights. I finally got to see where Jason has been-and even got to be in church with him. We then drove to Sacramento to visit our friends, the Quayles. We stayed with them three nights then headed down to Santa Barbara for 2 days. Ahh...there's nothing like the coast. It was cool and breezy-quite inviting. We visited with good friends there, then headed back to Visalia for a night. Then we headed back to the LBC.
While we had tons of fun, it was good to get back to our beds and our schedules.

Friends

Here we are with our friends, Faye and Jeff Quayle...and their little ones, Jacob (Alia's boyfriend) and Keilani (Elijah's girlfriend). Keilani is about 2 weeks younger than Elijah. It's amazing how quickly two couples can turn into 8 people. We had a good time together. Faye and I went and got a 60 minute full body massage...ahh...how nice. But it sure was hard to not think about the kids and the stresses in our lives. Thanks, Quayles, for a real fun time!

Pony Time

When we were in Sacramento Alia took her first pony ride! She had a blast...and so did Jacob.

First Smiles

So, this week Elijah began to smile, is starting to coo, and found his hands (as you can see below). These are some of the best smile pix we could get. The camera isn't quite fast enough to capture the greatness of the smiles. They are pretty great. Tonight he was coo-ing and as I was talking back to him he kept giving me some big smiles. Ahh...nothing like a little baby smiling at you to warm your heart.

Just a few more pictures to enjoy!

Mommy and Alia time

I decided that for the love of my daughter (and her loving me) I would take her out once a week for special mommy and Alia time. So, today we took off after naptime for about an hour and a half...just the two of us. She was pretty excited about it. We first got a smoothie at Jamba Juice and then headed to the bookstore to find a new bedtime storybook. She had a great time looking at the books, and we came home with a fun new book to read at sleep times. Now I need to think of something for next week!

Two extremes

Here are Alia's two extremes. One of these is of her watching one of her favorite shows, and the other is of her being a monkey on her slide. These days she tries to hang on anything she can. She's quite a jumper and hopper and climber.

Swim Class!

Alia spent 4 weeks in a "swim class" down at the Belmont pool in Long Beach. She went twice a week for 30 minutes each. It didn't really turn out like we expected-as there wasn't much instruction. A better name for the class would be swim playtime. Jason spent the time in the water and helped her get used to it. She is definately a bit apprehensive, but talks about it for days afterwards. She will now blow bubbles in the water and will let us help her float. She's a good kicker too!

A Visit

This past week Jason's parents were in town. It was their first time seeing Elijah and were thrilled to spend time with Alia. We did all sorts of things-went to the LA Zoo, the beach, Fashion Island in Newport Beach, and all sorts of yummy places to eat. We kept pretty busy. Here's proud grandpa with his little grandson.

One of those days...

So the day started out okay...and then the afternoon came.
Right now I am sitting on the couch enjoying the few minutes of silence after both my children were screaming...that's the worst, when they both are crying. It makes you feel like such a bad mom. Alia and I had a hard afternoon. She wouldn't listen to anything I said, in fact, she mostly just ignored what I was saying. And, to top it off, she has taken up a new habit. What is it, you ask? She has begun to smack her brother. She will just go up to him and smack him, for no reason. She was doing it all day long. She knows that she's going to sit on the wall if she does it...but tonight I got fed up and put her to bed early. She didn't like that at all.
Elijah has had a hard time sleeping all day long. From noon until about 7pm he only slept about 30 minutes. He'd fall asleep in my arms, then when I put him down he'd wake up about 10 minutes later screaming. I finally swaddled him in this thing Jason bought and he cried for about 3 minutes, and then fell asleep. So far he's been asleep for 30 minutes.
Ugh...after today I just want to take a trip to Hawaii by myself for a long long time.

A bit about us...

So, I haven't really updated any of you (whoever you are...) on what we are doing with ourselves these days...so, in light of that, here you go! I hope you are in a nice comfy chair! :)

Jason:
Well...Jason is currently traveling to the central valley of california for three days a week where he is the part time/temporary interim pastor of a Covenant church up there. He has been preaching each Sunday and doing pastoral care and writing his sermon the rest of the time he is there. While he is enjoying doing ministry again, the drive is less desirable.
In regards to a permanent job-he has been interviewed by two churchs...so we are just awaiting the thumbs up or thumbs down. The two churches are in very different places but in the end they are places to serve. Please pray that Jason would know where he best fits.
When Jason is home he is am amazing dad and husband, doing all he physically can to give me rest and take care of the kids. Alia has surely become a daddy's girl because he spends so much time with her when he's home. She tells me all the time that she misses daddy and that she's "kind of sad" cause daddy's gone.

Trish:
What am I doing? Well...not sleeping, I can tell you that. Seeing as how Jason is gone 3 days a week...I have a small (3day) taste of what it's like to be a single mom of 2. I pretty much feed Elijah, change diapers, and try to keep Alia entertained and busy. I try to get out once a day-right now I know I can go to the mall with the two kids (there's an indoor play area where Alia can run around) and I can go anywhere that has a grocery cart (like Target, Babies R Us). It's a challenge to go out because I only have so much time before Elijah needs to eat. So I have to plan things around where I can feed Elijah. A lot of the times it ends up being in the car while Alia is watching a DVD. I count the hours till Jason comes home when I can get a bit of rest and maybe an hour more of sleep. :)

Alia:
Well...she's definately 2! She wants to do most things for herself, and she tells us so. "I can do it myself" is what she tells us. We have been going to the beach each Friday and she loves that. She's been taking a swim class...and enjoys that special time with daddy. She now wants to try to "swim" in the ocean water...so she is learning. She is jumping and trying to swing on whatever she can hang on. She is still sleeping through the night (thank the Lord!) and will be moving to a "big girl bed" real soon. As soon as I get some energy or when we move (whichever comes first) we'll begin the potty training.

Elijah:
Now almost 6 weeks old, Elijah is growing and changing. I think he's between 12 and 14 pounds already. He's outgrown all his newborn clothes...and the 0-3 month cloths fit just right. It's been hot in our house so I don't put much on him. Today he spent half the day in just a diaper. He has begun to actually look at people-which brings joy to Alia ("he's looking at me!"). He takes long naps in the afternoon and gives me a nice 4 hour stretch at night (well, most nights). He's not doing too much other than pooping, sleeping, and some crying. But, all in all he is a much calmer baby that Alia was-perhaps it's cause his parents are a lot less freaked out about what to do with him. :)

So, that's our little family. I hope you enjoyed the small summaries of our lives...feel free to pray as the Lord leads for us. Let me tell you, we need it!

This is me...

Here are two sides to Elijah...the sweet and peaceful side, and the...well...not so peaceful side. Either way we are loving him more and more each day.

Flower Power

Do you remember the flowers we planted a while ago? Well...here is the result! Look at all of the zinnias!! Alia has told them to grow every day, and grow they have! They are beautiful! We decided to pick them this weekend, so they could keep bringing us flowers. Here are some pictures for you to enjoy. Is she cute, or what?

Another year old...

Wow...it's hard to believe my little girl is 2 years old! Where did the time go? She growing up fast. We had a small family gathering for Alia's birthday. Her cousin, Avery, was in town-so Alia had a blast with her. Alia wanted all her favorite characters on her cake...so we made that happen-Dora the Explorer, Curious George and the Sesame Street gang. She enjoyed opening gifts...and after each one she looked at me and said, "Should we open this, mommy?" It was pretty cute.
So we now officially have a 2 year old. It's interesting how much more independent she wants to be...so I look for ways for her to do that-it works better that way. :)
Happy birthday, my dear little Alia! I love you and am greatful that you are my daughter.

Party animal!

Elijah was the life of Alia's little party...can't you tell? Daddy took this cute picture of little brother celebrating.

California girl

I took this picture this week when we were out playing. I thought it was cute...so I figured I'd share it with you. Isn't my little girl great? I sure think so.

Big sister, Alia

Alia likes being a big sister. Here, she is reading Elijah a book. This is probably Elijah's favorite place to be-when he's not in someone's arms. It's a baby papasan chair that vibrates and plays music. I haven't put the batteries in it yet-no need to. He just loves to sit in it. He is usually asleep within minutes of being in it. Too bad we all can't have a place so warm and cozy to cuddle into.

Naptime!

This is what Elijah does most of the day...aside from eating and pooping. He's a big sleeper at this point...doesn't do much crying except when he's hungry or getting his diaper changed. He just sleeps...and sleeps...and sleeps. Must have been a tiring journey to come out to the world.

Little feetsies

So here are the two sets of feetsies Jason and I love so much. Aren't they adorable? It's amazing how much one grows in two years.

Welcome!

Elijah James Backlund
May 31st, 4:19am
8 pounds 7 ounces
20 inches
eyes: blue
hair: red

So, our little boy is here. As you can see he came early Wednesday morning...and, much like Alia, we made it to the hospital just in time. In fact...the thing that took the longest was having to wait for the Dr to arrive before I could begin pushing. Then, three pushes, and 7 minutes later-out came Elijah James! And our lives are forever changed, again.
We came home Thursday and have been trying to readjust ourselves. He's a big sleeper right now...and eater...and pooper. Jason and I have already been pee-ed on...and Alia loves to talk about baby brother.
That's all I have time for now. I will keep you updated as I can...

Enjoy the pictures.

Capturing moments...