Cannot believe it has been almost a year since I have updated this blog. I have had plenty of prodding from family and friends, but just did not do it. But look what I have been attending to. My cute family. We just had portraits taken in February and I wanted to share them.

Tavo is now 8+ and just finished working on his first science fair project. He and his friend Bosten grew crystal formations from sugar and salt. The rock candy was eaten with a lot of pride and the salt and vinegar crystals grew to an impressive size since he added more growing solution every day. Tavo loved every bit of the project. He wishes every day could be science at school. He also loves scouts and playing on the Wii.



Alee is so sweet with her brothers. She is loving school and her reading has really taken off. She is so pleased to be reading anything she wants now. She has made some really great friends at school and in the new neighborhood. However, she thinks about and loves to see her friends from her former neighborhood also. She is just a social girl! She has been so impressed with a woman in our new neighborhood and invited Laurie to be her substitute Grandmother at the school's recent grandparent day program. Alee calls Laurie "The Queen" and was invited to a Tea Party at Laurie's home. Alee is loving her long hair, but hates when we have to brush out the snarls. She has the cutest first grade teacher ever!

Lucas is such a little pip! He has more attitude than all of the kids combined, but he also makes us laugh a lot! He is naturally funny and age three. What a combination. He is my little buddy and loves when the kids are off-track and has someone else beside mother to play with. However, we are really good at making all sorts of things out of playdough. Our favorite pasttime! Lucas has had a rough year with not feeling good and we finally figured out he has a milk allergy. What a difference that has made to how he feels and what we can do. We now know that milk allergy manifests itself in the same way asthma does. He tells even new acquaintences, "I not sick anymore!"

Nikkolaus is the happiest baby ever! He is so easy going and I am so grateful for that. He is 10 months old and is crawling everywhere. He is loved by everyone and is the recipient of a daily "day care" that Alee runs for him after school. She takes him to her bedroom to play and it is such a blessing to me. He has us all wrapped pretty tightly and is learning new tricks every day. Clapping, "Bye bye", and saying "Da Da" are all milestones this month. Tavo makes sure he "walks" everyday and is convinced that he needs to move past crawling on all fours and be on two feet. Tavo has taken it upon himself to walk him holding on to Nikko's hands. This baby laughs so easily. We love it!

Baby Nikkolaus Armando Estrada has Arrived!

Hey everyone, this is Gustavo writing this blog entry and I am not a blogger...this is my first attempt in the world of blogs so forgive me if this does not work as well as it should. I am doing this under duress and hope I do not embarrass my family too much!

Well, here he is...Nikkolaus Armando Estrada. We had forgotten how timy new borns really are and cannot believe how much fun it is to hold him and kiss him. He has got great dimples and loves to eat (sounds like his Dad already) and does not want to be put down. There is no way you can spoil a baby too much when it comes to cuddling. Michelle loves this and is thoroughly enjoying her time with Nikko.


Tavo, Alee and Lucas came up on Friday (May 22nd) and spent a few hours at the hospital in order to get acquainted with their baby brother. Tavo did not want to leave and while we were driving down south he told me how disappointed he was with having to leave Nikko so I mentioned I would send pictures out and he let me know that was not enough and that he needed to hold him.


Alee is already little mommy and loved everything about Nikko. She was the first to hold him and the last one to put him down. Alee is a sweet girl and is tender with all. We know she will do a great job helping out with the little guy.


Probably not a surprise to any of you who already have had the experience of introducing a new baby to the current baby, Lucas was quite stand-offish. First he could not understand all the things that were hooked up to Mommy and why she was not home. Then he could not really grasp who this new kid was. Try as you may to prepare kids for new experiences they never react the way you expect. The following comment by Lucas pretty much summarized the situation:

Lucas to Mommy: "Did doctor take baby from your tummy?"
Mommy toLucas: "Yes, this is your brother."
Lucas to Mommy: "Mommy, never do dat again."

I took Lucas for a walk throughout the hospital and really enjoyed our time together as we got on and off elevators. I know he was feeling insecure about the new situation because he kept telling me and everyone he saw that I was HIS daddy and then he would hug me. I have a feeling he and I are going to get closer over the next few months. I love being a Dad and sharing time with my children. Michelle and the children are my life and I am humbled that I am blessed with the unconditional love of my wonderful wife and our beautiful children.

This is a special time for the Estrada clan, thank you for sharing it with us.

Gustavo

Lucas at the Park

While Tavo and Alee are at piano practice, Mom and Lucas have to do SOMETHING for an hour... so we went to our old favorite Granite Park. Lucas was so happy to have this pregnant Mom play with him for a while at the park, he kept blowing me kisses from wherever he was climbing and shouting, "Watch this, Mom!"

He loved to run over the bridge and kept asking if there was a troll that lived below.

This is typical attitude from Lucas. He likes to give me the look.

This is right before we started playing McDonald's. He likes to take my orders and serve up food, but is never sly about asking, "Where's your money?"

Easter

Jason and Abby joined us for East Sunday. I took to the couch while they helped the kids expend energy.

They helped us hide all the eggs for the hunt!

Our new community held an egg hunt the Saturday before Easter and it was a lot of fun! Inflatable slide, pony rides, egg hunt... Mom took Lucas to the doctor while Dad, Alee and Tavo were living the good life at the park.

Alee was too sick to go to church that day, but still had to wear the Easter dress she inherited from Miss Molly Day. Molly - Alee LOVES your clothes! You may not be able to tell, but it is a white dress with a pink sash around the waist and pink rosebuds on the skirt... lovely!

Alee also found the GOLDEN egg - which is Estrada family tradition to have an egg with money. The Golden egg had $5 and boy was Tavo disappointed it was not him. He always has big plans for his money. Alee's gloating did not help much.

Thanks to LaLa and Aunt Froggie, the boys ate chocolate Easter Frogs! Boy were they happy to open that package from California! My kids are spoiled rotten!!!

Tavo takes his chocolate very seriously.

Since the day we moved in, the kids were asking daily about WHEN we were going to decorate our new home for Easter and especially when we would decorate eggs. I was digging through piles of boxes to find Easter decor and make them feel like we were done with the stress of moving into a new home.

Alee made bright, bright colored eggs, Tavo stuck to the blues and greens for boys and Lucas just splashed his eggs into the closest color pot and made some very interesting colors with a mostly cracked shell motif. He is such a two year old and was done in about four minutes with colors all over the table cloth and his hands.

He thought this was exciting, but then he opened a pair of Buzz Lightyear pajamas which were so thrilling - he could have cared less about the candy. Check out those muscles!!!!

Our New Home

Looking at the front door with basement stairs. We will start framing a few rooms in the basement next week. Right now, it is unfinished.

Looking from the sliding glass doors going onto the patio, this is more of the great room/kitchen/family room looking toward the garage door and laundry.

Gustavo's kitchen... and it is his!

Crazy hair day at school

Alee liked the height of the hair.... wants to wear it like this every day. She said the boys at school would not leave it alone and it fell apart too quickly. They wanted to figure out how she got it to stay up so tall.










Tavo kept laughing at himself over this one. Lucas was on a kick that every time Alee got her hair done, he wanted to get a pony also. Tavo thought it would be funny to have pony's all over his head. He wore them all day long! Although putting them in was torture for him. He wanted me to continue in spite of the pain.

After 9+ Great Years...

...we are moving this week. I have felt so sad these past few weeks to say goodbye to a neighborhood and home that I love. My husband had an idea the week of New Year's that we should go look at the housing market just to see what was out there. Three months later, our home is sold and we have purchased a new one. I am excited for the adventure, my home is again organized and purged (even though it is all in boxes), and I know I will love the new home. However, I have an amazing network of friends in this neighborhood and I cannot imagine life without them. It is not the same when you are not crossing paths on such a regular basis.


I am mainly posting these pictures as a memory for me and to prove that my home was, at one point, all clean at the same time. I remember for years this room was stark empty. It used to have a plastic slide, a train and table, an art table, etc. for Tavo and Alee to survive the winter months indoors. With all the toys packed up, I wish I had a few of those novelties to entertain my 2 year old. Instead, I box it up and eliminate one more item or toy to have to keep picking up. The poor kids are bored out of their minds with the move prep. Little do they know that a lot of items that are "so special" to them are probably not coming out of the boxes... hee hee hee!


We purchased this home three months after we married. We were sure we would never be able to fill all the spaces.... almost 10 years later we were bursting at the seams and needed more storage for all the STUFF we felt we needed!



This is the famous "Hotel Estrada" guest bedroom. We have loved hosting so many family and friends over the years. For some, we will no longer be a short 20 minute drive up the canyon to the ski resort. I wonder if that will diminish the number of guests seeking a night here and there?!? We will still have Gustavo's wonderful cooking... please come!



The boys have enjoyed the bunkbeds since receiving them at Christmas.... Lucas especially loved the challenge of climbing the ladder. A month ago, he jumped and has had a cast on to help the breaks in his leg AND foot heal. It comes off on Wednesday!!! Yeah! He has learned how to use that fiberglass as a weapon and the entire family will be greatful when it is off and he is disarmed.


Alee's room! She is 100% girl and wants to make her new room really fancy! For any of you Mom's with little princesses, I hope you have read the "Fancy Nancy" series of books. They remind me a lot of my Alee and her expectations and talents in life. We had a "Girls Night" this past Friday. We started by attending Alee's first baby shower for Sje Pearson Johnson who decided to have her baby girl that day rather than attending her own party. (Congratulations Sje!)

Alee and I then went shopping for shoes and came home with an entire outfit (the dress was made in Guatemala) to go along with that new pair of shoes. What a treat to spend a couple of hours with my daughter. She even fed my ego and image that night as she convinced me that since I wore the sandals she selected for me, we both had fashion that night! (I am having a hard time feeling any sense of fashion as I wear my frumpy maternity clothes and favor any shoe with no heal!) I needed a bit of Alee that night.