Roll playing

Alia has been doing a lot of roll playing. Last night she was playing with her babies and she picked one up and sat her on the wall, saying, "you didn't listen to me so you go on the wall for a time out".










This picture is of Alia "feeding" her baby...the same way I feed my baby (Elijah). Jason and I get a big laugh when she pretends to nurse her baby. Kids sure watch what we do!

Dining area

Here's a pic of our dining area...the chairs are a nice leather. We like it a lot.

Cousin friends!

Here are the pairs of cousins! They just love to be together-can you tell?? Daddy gave Avery and Alia mohawks...they loved it.

And here they are sitting on a bench in downtown Visalia. Too cute!











And now the sleeping babies...Elijah and Cayley. Notice how their heads are turned the opposite ways. Pretty funny. This was probably after a long morning of shopping with Mommy and Auntie Mary.

Our little boy

Elijah is growing up fast. He just had his 6 month checkup-and got 4 shots!! It's possible he has reflux, so he's on some medication to see if it will help decrease the spitting up. We'll see. He's 15 pounds right now. His favorite spots are on his belly, trying to crawl and in his exersaucer. He's moving around by rolling and scooting...so it won't be long now before he's really moving. Yikes! I'm not sure I'm ready for 2 mobile kids. :)

Treat Time

Alia loved trick or treating! There were a few houses that scared her, but holding one of our hands did the trick. And, for a little girl of only 2 years, she got quite a bit of "loot"! We let her eat one piece last night...and she gobbled it down.

Playtime

Yesterday we had some play time on the floor with Elijah. His favorite place to be these days is on his belly. (his second favorite place is his exersaucer)
The past three days he actually started moving. He moved backwards about 5 or 6 feet yesterday! Crazy. He also scooted his knees underneath himself for the first time....the first image of crawling. Doesn't he look so cute?

Happy Halloween!

The first two pictures were taken at a Halloween party we went to last weekend.

One is a chicken, the other is a cow...so cute! Thursday night we went to a halloween carnival at the library. It was so funny to be there...Jason and I laughed most of the time as we watched the other little kids, and Alia, dance around to a singer. She had a great time. After a while she decided she needed to rest-and sat herself down to look at some books.

First Foods!

This past week we decided to give Elijah his first foods. Here he is playing with the spoon. We're pretty sure he likes the rice cereal...as he fusses when we put down the bowl. His favorite thing to do is to try to grab the spoon and bring it to his mouth himself. We've entered the world of messy eating again! Yikes! I have been telling myself that I need to start making some baby food so I'll hve it on hand, but I think I can wait another few weeks before I do that. We'll see. I'll have to spend a Saturday making a number of bunches.

Pictures!

Here are some pictures, finally! I'll get more on soon...kids are crying.

Installation weekend

We had Jason's parents and a number of friends come to town for Jason's installation weekend. It was good to have everyone here. Below are pictures of: 1) The Backlund family 2) Alia and her boyfriend, Jacob Quayle 3) Elijah and his girlfriend, Keilani Quayle.

Pumpkin Patch

So, living out here in the "country"...there is this cool pumpkin patch! Two weeks ago we went to it with some other moms from MOPS. They read us a story and the kids got to pick pumpkins. Here's Alia's pumpkin. There was a little corn maze for toddlers, and a sandbox filled with corn kernels instead of sand. Pretty fun place!

House

Here are some pictures of our house. Alia is sitting on her big girl bed-so proud! Underneath the bed is a trundle (for soon to come sleepovers) and three drawers for toys. To the right of her bed I've created a "kitchenett" for her. We made a little fridge out of a shelving unit. It's pretty cute...she plays there a ton. The other picture is of Elijah's room. It's a baby's room...with crib, glider, and changing table.

Long time...

...no Blog.
Sorry it's been so long. I'm sure some of you have been checking back again and again for updates on our new life in Visalia. The past month has been crazy, but great. We packed up all our stuff in 2 big trucks, and moved our life and family to the valley! We've been spending the rest of the time unpacking and becoming familiar with our new home.
We love our house! And Home Depot loves us, too! :) We have so much to be grateful for when I think of our home. Alia has her very own big girl room...with a big girl bed, a little kitchette area, and a table for her "little people" toys. She loves playing in there-it's so fun to watch. Elijah has his very own room with little boy things in it. He is going to grow up and love his room, too. We have a family room/great room which is perfect for our family! We can be fixing meals in the kitchen and still keep an eye on Alia. We also have a formal dining/living area...right now it's empty...someday soon it will be furnished. It's still hard to believe that we have our very own house. Next week we are having a bunch of the inside of the house painted, so it will look so much different than it does now.
So, I'm sure you are asking, "where are the pictures!??!" Well, I can't find my USB cord to the camera. It is either in one of the boxes still to unpack, or it's still at my parents place. In any event I am hoping to replace it soon. So, hopefully I'll get some pictures up soon-I have a TON of them! :)
Jason's enjoying his job...is glad to be back in ministry. I've been getting involved in 2 moms groups (MOPS & MOMS club), which has been real helpful.
Life goes on...and so does the smell of the cows. :)

Smiley.

Jason's Aunt Melissa and Uncle Dan sent us this great onesie. Uncle Dan happens to be a dentist/orthodontist...so it's a very fitting outfit to recieve from them. Here's my happy baby who doesn't floss! (but, one day he will...I promise Uncle Dan!)

My men

Here they are! Like father like son...aren't they cute in their little polo shirts? :)

Slumber party!

Alia and her cousin, Avery, had a great time playing together all week. Here's a picture of them playing slumber party one afternoon. We can't wait till they can really have a slumber party. We're sure there will be giggling and jumping on beds.

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.