Happy Birthday Alia!!

After Alia woke up this morning she had s special breakfast of a "cupcake" pancake on our birthday plate. She was very excited to start her day...and showed us this by waking up about 5 times last night asking when it was time for breakfast! I must mention that she never wakes up in the middle of the night...so this was unique. :)


A Dora bike! This was our gift to her...and she can't wait to ride it. We don't have a helmet yet but once she does we'll have her out practicing!


Alia was a school most of the day today. I sent ice cream sandwiches for their afternoon treat and Alia thought that was the greatest. She got to wear a special cupcake necklace that I made for her and her teacher also made her a little birthday crown (you can see it in the bike picture). Once she got home we ate cake (see picture) and opened presents.


Thanks so much Jacob for my art paint dots! I love them! And thanks Grandma & Grandpa B, Gramma & Grammpa Jim, Judy & Darrell, and mommy, daddy and elijah!

After the present opening we played a bit and then piled in the car to have dinner at Chili's-one of Alia's favorite places to eat because they have books the kids can take to their table to read. She was so tired that she didn't eat much and ended up falling asleep on the way home.

Thus ends my baby's 4th birthday. It seems like just yesterday I was holding her in my arms in Chicago wondering how God could trust me to be her mommy. Now I love her more than I did then (despite the preschooler issues) and can't imagine loving her more...but know that I will.

Random Video

Here's a random video of the kids on Father's Day. I took and and wanted to see how this uploading situation worked. it took me almost 20 minutes to upload this little video onto the blog...does anyone have any other ideas that won't take as long?
At any rate, enjoy the silliness.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers! :) After church today I had packed a little picnic and we drove to a nice shady park for a picnic lunch. The kids had fun and daddy had fun, too. Alia gave him his cards and gifts- a new grill cleaner and a small cast iron pan for eggs. Then the kids got to play for a bit while I tried to snap some cute pictures. It was hard...so these are the only ones you get to see. I think they are pretty cute. After watching some of the golf tournament this afternoon Jason took off to go play some golf. So, I'd have to say he had a nice day.
Happy Father's day Jason...you are the best daddy I know...and I know the kids adore you and think you are the best! I love you!

Sailing the sea with Mickey Mouse

We were priveleged enough to be taken on vacation with Mickey Mouse! That's right...we were on the Disney Cruise ship, the Magic, from May 25th-June 1st. We had an amazing time with amazing memories..thanks so much mom and dad!
I am taking Alia to a birthday party in a few minutes...so I can't write more...but when I can post some pictures, I will write more about our vacation (translation: trip).

IT'S A....

BOY!!!
Yep...I will be a mother of two boys and one girl. :) It's hard to believe...and beyond me how I am going to make it through each day without being ganged up on. :) So, yes...I guess I'm a bit nervous...so you can begin praying for me and my family now. I know Elijah will be so excited to have a playmate around and Alia is excited to have another brother. Right now we're trying to figure out how to make the bedroom Elijah is in work. It's a bit small for 2 people...but it's going to have to work. We think we might have to do bunk beds so there is actually carpet space for them to walk and play a bit. We'll see...that'll probably just encourage the "monkey business" but we're not sure of another way. He's strong and healthy, according to the ultrasound we had on Monday. That's the biggest news we have. Have fun ponding my life for me. teehee

21 weeks

MOMMY and her THREE kiddos

Here is it...the long awaited picture. Today I am 21 weeks along. It gets more and more funny as I take these pictures because I look at them and wonder why I feel like I look so much larger than I am in the picture! At any rate...my belly is growing and so is the baby. Our baby weighs about the size of a coke can-12 ounces. Baby is moving in my belly, too. Alia made a comment this morning about how my belly is getting bigger. :)
Well...I must be off to take Alia to a party. TTFN!

17 weeks

Here's this morning's picture...it looks like my belly has popped since last week. :) :)

16 weeks!

Today marks 16 weeks along for this little baby of ours...crazy, four months. Anyways...we had an appointment this past week and everything looks great. We heard the heartbeat finally-it was 146 beats a minute. I have gained some weight...so the nurse was happy about that. Not much else to report...my tummy isn't feeling AS BAD as it was...but it's still not great. I've had two more migraines the past 2 weeks...not fun. And, believe it or not, my belly has gotten a bit bigger. The pictures taken below were shot this morning, right after I woke up. Depending on if I remember, I might take another one tonight because as the day goes on my belly gets a big bigger. My midsection feels much bigger than it looks in these pictures...I don't even look pregnant! :) Yes...I really am, I promise.

sorry about the cut off head :)

Some Pictures

Here's a variety of pictures for your viewing pleasure. If you are awaiting a belly picture...one will be coming this weekend-a 16 week picture.




We bought Elijah the perfect little backpack for our trips this summer at Target. Alia decided she wanted to wear her backpack to school, and so Elijah had to wear his "bah-pah". They were so cute I had to take some pictures.



The kids both got haircuts today. Here are the results. It turns out, when we got home daddy had gotten a haircut, too!


Alia drew this picture at school about a week ago. It was on the wall in her classroom and I happened to notice it. It brought little tears to my eyes because I hadn't yet seen such a detailed picture of our family. So cute...a keeper if you ask me! Now we'll have to see how long it takes for the baby to appear in her drawings. :)

Poor Little Mister!

The past few days Elijah has been sick. He had a little fever on Wednesday afternoon...but Thursday he seemed just fine. Well...Friday he had a fever again and would cry every time we put him down. Friday morning he fell asleep on my chest about 45 min after he woke up (he doesn't EVER do that anymore). I then layed him on the couch and he slept for a total of almost 2 hours! He then took another 3 hour nap in the afternoon. He did this again on Saturday, too. When he wasn't napping he was in our arms, holding on for dear life, it seemed. He would just sit there and stare into space...obviously not well.
Saturday morning he woke up with a 103 temp so I decided enough was enough...and took him to the Dr. It turns out he has an ear infection, an inflamed throat, and some bronchial issues. Man...poor little guy. He' now on antibiotics which is helping him feel better.
This morning he woke up without a fever (yeah!) and was up an about chatting and moving...not as fast as normal, though. I stayed home with him from church so he wouldn't infect other kiddos. At some point this morning I took a shower and he played right in front of the shower door...and by the end of my shower he was laying on top of my clothe on the ground...I knew he was ready for a nap! So I gave him a little snack and he was off to be...where he slept another 3.5 hours! (not to mention mommy sleeping for 2 of them!)
So...he's still not back to normal...but he's getting there. I must say that I did enjoy the quiet moments of snuggling with him. Those are few and far between these days.


Here's Elijah this afternoon...after his nap. He's trying to smile, but it clearly is taking a lot of energy. Oh...by the way...I know, he needs a hair cute, but doesn't he look like such a big boy!?


Here is the image you would have seen if you had been in our house at any point this weekend. The blanket i his special blankie that he loves and he also has a stuffed lion that is his lovie...I'm not sure you can see it in this picture, though.

Small Joys Friday

So...my friend from MOMS Club has a website and most Fridays she creates a post called Small Joys Friday. She then lists the little things that brought her joy this past week. I love reading it...so I'm stealing it! :) Thanks Tiffani!

My small joys this week:

*taking a walk with my friend after I dropped Alia off at school. Elijah likes to sit in the stroller and point out all the "goggies" (translation: doggies)

*picking up Alia today from preschool and having her finish listening to the story the teacher was reading...on my lap

*having an afternoon where I felt halfway normal

*me and the kids ALL taking naps on Thursday-usually it's just Elijah and I

*my husband...he's been amazing the past number of weeks, cooking, cleaning, loving on the kids...i wouldn't survive without you!

*seeing just how smart Elijah is...man, he's sharp!

*watching Elijah run to the bathroom saying "poppy, poppy!" and grabbing the child toilet seat cover to put it on the "poppy" (translation: potty)

*having yummy Tepanyaki with MOPS friends

*finding a new light fixture for our kitchen...we haven't put it up yet, so i'm hoping it will look great!

*all of the NKOTB chat I've had! :)

What's bringing you joy?

The Right Stuff

So...here's my tribute to the official NKOTB news that aired today! The New Kids are releasing a new album and going on tour...after about 19 years! Crazy Crazy Crazy!!!! Will I go see them? Will I buy their album? Time will tell...

For those of you who don't know...New Kids on the Block were a huge part of my life when I was in 4,5 & 6 grades...HUGE part of my life!!! The concerts I went to were probably in the double digits...my bedroom was wallpapered with their pictures...and I loved Joey Joe McIntyre. I look back at it now and it was a fun part of life...

Uno, dos....tres???

We're having a baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yep...you read that right! The Backlunds are having baby #3! :) Can you believe it? We can't...it's so crazy!
Right now I am about 10.5 weeks pregnant...turning 11 weeks on Saturday. We've know now for about 5 weeks...but have been spending our time mentally wrapping our heads around the idea and just trying to get through the days (that's more me, I guess). I have been feeling pretty bad the past month-lots of migraines and completely nauseous which has been so hard when I have two other kiddos to care for an love. So I'm just trying to make it through each day as it comes. I am praying that in the next few weeks it will pass so that I can enjoy life a little better.
We'd appreciate your prayers as we head in to this wild adventure...a lot of things seem unknown and we just need to trust that with God's plan will bring His provision.
Alia is sooo excited. She's telling everyone that "her mommy is having another baby!" She's gonna be a great biggest sister...and Elijah, well...he's really got no clue. But judging from his love-ness...he'll be a great big brother!
OH! The projected due date is October 18th.

Easter 2008

Our Easter began with two different Easter Egg hunts, one with MOPS (that only Alia went to cause I was home with a migraine) and one with MOMS Club.
We had a pretty crazy Easter...after church we all hopped in the car and drove down to my parents house for Easter dinner! We didn't have any traffic, so we made good time. When we got there there was an Easter egg hunt for the kids...and a jelly bean hunt. :) They had a fun time searching for all the eggs and jelly beans. We ate a yummy dinner of ham, asparagus, tomatoes, and cheesey potatoes. Then had pineapple bread pudding for dessert! Thanks so much mom and dad for a great time.

Here's the kids at one of our Easter Egg hunts. Elijah loved finding the eggs and sitting right down and opening them!


Jason had a children's moment at church on Sunday...they are always a bit comical...but they are fun all the same.


Little Elijah looking so cute! :)


HE IS RISEN! HE IS RISEN INDEED! Hallelujah!

February 14th

We did our Valentine celebration in the morning...I made a banner and set the table up fun for the kids. For breakfast we had heart shaped french toast. It was yummy. Then Jason made a yummy dinner for us all. It was a good day.


Here's what the kitchen table looked like when the kids woke up. I thought it would be a fun memory for the kids...to have it seem special.



Alia with her special breakfast.



Elijah liked the breakfast, too!



On Friday Alia's classroom had their Valentine's party. Here's Alia passing out her Valentines to her school friends.

Disneyland!

This past Tuesday we decided to take a day trip down south. We met my mom at DISNEYLAND!! :) We had a blast! Alia LOVED doing all of the Princess things and Elijah loved running around :)
Here are a few pictures for you.





Here we all are visiting Mickey Mouse in his house! Alia ran right up to him...but the minute Elijah was left at his feet he screamed and ran to us. He was okay when we held him for the picture, though.


Here's Alia sitting in the Princess Chair. We got to sit on the floor right here while Cinderella told us a story. We also learned how to dance like a princess. Alia said this part was her favorite thing we did all day. OH! Elijah kept flirting with the princesses, too. Such a boy!



Elijah's favorite thing to do was climb on anything he could. With all the gates and fences, he had a blast!




This was Alia's very FIRST roller coaster ride! This roller coaster was in Toon Town. I had her watch it once, then asked if she wanted to ride it. She was pretty excited. She rode it twice! In this picture she's riding the coaster with Jason and they are in the second cart from the front.

I'm back!

So...man...it's been a crazy couple of weeks! I feel so bad for it taking me so long to post these pictures...but life happens and you have to deal with it. :) After our travels and family visit Alia got pretty sick. She had a high fever for almost a week and it ended up being tonsillitis. The DR was pretty surprised it wasn't strep because of how nasty her throat looked. She went back to school for one day...and then didn't go back until two days ago. In the midst of caring for Elijah, working a TON of hours and trying to keep up with housework and meals, I made it my job to snuggle and comfort Alia. She was in a lot of pain so we filled her up with Tylenol and Advil and she watched a ton of videos: Cars, Care Bears movie, My Little Pony movie, Beauty and the Beast, Finding Nemo...and many other Backyardigans, etc.
We're just now starting to get back to normal (aside from me getting a migraine today).
So that's our deal as of now. Enjoy the pictures of our travels!

Jan 5

So, if you didn't know it, Jan 5 was my birthday. I had a pretty fun day. We spent the morning in Fresno because we had to take my sister in law and nieces to the airport. They were with us the week after we got back from Chicago. The cousins had a TON of fun together. They already miss each other.
Jason had a special dinner planned for my birthday. He kept it all a secret until it was time to be revealed-basically until we showed up at the restaurant. He had three friends of mine there (with their hubbies) and it was a fun surprise! We ate at a Japanese Tepanyaki restaurant (like Bennihanas) and it was sooo yummy. It was extra special to me because Jason had been planning it for weeks. He did a great job! Way to go husby!


Cayley and Elijah.
Alia and Avery.
Happy Birthday to me!!!
Here was my special cheesecake.

a variety of pictures

We went for a visit to Great Grandma's house. She had much joy in pushing Elijah around on her walker. Too cute!


Here's Alia holding her first puppy...this was a puppy of some friends.



Jason's parents had a set of Lincoln Logs. Alia enjoyed making the roofs on the houses we made...while Elijah enjoyed knocking the houses down. :)

Alia and daddy on the airplane to Chicago!


The kids...opening presents at Grandma & Grandpa B's house.


We went to the Winter Wonderland Train exhbit at the Bontanic Gardens. It was amazing to see all of the trains!


Jason and I took a date DAY! We did some shopping and ate at our favorite places: Dengeo's (an american/greek gyro fast food sit down place...we used to eat there all the time) and Twin Anchors (a YUMMY rib joint that is a local bar...we waited over an hour to be sat...it was worth it!)


While we were on our date day the sky let forth a TON of snow! This is the first snow man the kids got to make. Grandma & Grandpa took them outside to play in the snow, build a snowman, and get pulled around on a sled.

Shedd Aquarium

Jason's parents took us to Chicago's Shedd Aquarium. The kids had a blast looking at all of the animals. They really enjoyed the dolphin show. We had a fun day exploring.



The kids were fascinated with the fish, whales and dolphins they could see in the aquariums.



There was a lizard exhibit...I thought this would be a cute pictures.



Here's how tall Elijah ISN'T! :)

Dec 24

Before we left for Chicago we opened gifts at our house ont he 24th. We woke up and pretended it was Christmas morning. The kids were sooo excited about the things they got. Afterwards we went to McDonalds for breakfast and I left to go to work after that.



Here's Elijah and some of his goodies. His new chair and tray, his hot wheels carrier and his new workbench. :)



Alia LOVES her new My Little Pony things. She got this Pony Ice Cream Truck and she also got a Ponyville play set, too. She loves them!


Grammpa Jim sent Alia a new silver B of A piggy bank! Here she is proudly displaying it. She has started collecting coins to go inside.



Elijah got some Thomas the Train pull back trains. A hit in our house.