Being a Mommy !

My son will be 1 year old in less than a month! I am watching him grow and become smarter and smarter each day! It is amazing to see him as he learns new things. I am feeling a little sad because I feel like I don't have my baby boy any more! I read that these feelings are normal :-)! My son loves his daddy so much! When my husband walks into the room...Josh's face lights up and he says Dada Dada! I love watching the two of them. I feel so blessed and grateful that Josh has a mommy and daddy that love him deeply. I just feel more and more that he is such a precious gift from God. Being a mother is not easy...I just wanted to get a few things from the convenient store this morning and it was a whole production with the carseat and then trying to bring it all back to the car was a whole other deal. Thankfully I have met two nice ladies who helped me along the way! I am a first time mother and I was determined not to be a mother that gets easily worked up over the little things, but sometimes it is hard not to! He is my boy! My only boy! I could go on and on... He is so much fun. He has a really neat personality! He just makes me laugh! I know that my husband and I have a lot ahead of us, but with God we can make it! We hope to have more kids in the future! I can hardly wait!

Train Mural Process #1

I began this mural last Saturday night...As you may already know...I am a wife, full time working mommy and an artist...so when I paint...I have to schedule it around my life! I enjoy every project that I do!! With this project I typically worked on it after 9 or 10pm until about 2am. The owners were nice enough to give me a key to the center, which gave me the freedom to come and go as I pleased! I met all of the wonderful security guards that monitor the buildings in the area too!

With this project, I drew the design, and traced it on overhead projector paper and then projected it onto the wall and traced the image. I liked this technique because it allowed me to ensure that the size of each cart would balance with the one before and after it! I traced the image with a pale gray color. If you use a color that is too dark...you may run into some problems when it comes time to paint in the colors that you want to use...the tracing lines may show through the paint.

You are not able to see it in the final pictures...but I painted the letters a little thicker to make them stand out better. I will take pics. of those soon.

Train Mural Process #2

I took me a while to get the shading the way that I wanted it on each cart! I wanted each cart to be different but fun and fit the theme of the Learning Center. I used acrylic paints for this mural...some paints had a gloss to them which added a nice touch!

Train Mural Process #3

The final stages of the mural consisted of painting on the letter in each cart. I think my biggest fear was missing a letter from the alphabet :-)! The owner was so thrilled with the final outcome of the project! I was too!!!

Family Photo

Josh, my husband and I haven't had a picture taken of the three of us for about 3 months. Here we are at a local Mexican Restaurant over the weekend. The older Josh gets, the more he wants to do his own thing. I think Lee and I thought that Josh was going to always be the nice and quiet baby we took to the movies when he was just a few months old. He slept the whole time. Those days are no more...but it has been truly amazing to see him grow. He learns something new everyday. He just started taking steps about two weeks ago. Now he can do about 6+ steps before falling. My husband is just blossoming into an incredible "DaDa", as Josh calls him. I love to see him playing with his boy.

I have learned a lot from Josh too! He is so brave, and he just gets so excited when he tries something new. When he walks to me...you can see him getting up the courage to go for it, and when he reaches me...he gets to tickled with himself. I think to myself...I want him to always have great courage to try the hard stuff that life with throw at him. In the Bible...God tells Joshua "to be strong and courageous!" I see this in my boy!!!

I take this lesson from my 9 month old son... "Take risks and try, try, try, even if and when you are scared, and when you reach the other side... you can thank God that you made it and be tickled with yourself too!"

Have a Courageous Day,
Lovlee

Past Weekend Project: First Window Mural

I worked on my first storefront window mural this weekend. I sketched out the picture on paper, and then went to town on this big window. This biggest challenge was painting the mural in reverse. The real picture is seen on the front of the window. What you see here is the back. I will take pictures of the front when I can get some day time hour shots. This mural was done for a daycare center that will be opening in a few months. I really believe that it will be successful. I have met so many nice people while painting this mural. It took me about three days. I began at about 8:30a on Saturday morning and worked for about 4 hrs. I went back on Sunday morning from 7:15a-9a, and then that same evening for several hours and now today is Monday and I put the finishing touches on it tonight. I can't wait to get the daytime shots. Fun! Fun! Job and it was nice to have some time to create!!! Sip coffee and jam to my new CD. Loved IT! I hope to do more in the future!