October things....

I guess probably the whole country knows that California is on fire right now. The air is so smoky, I've totally locked the boys indoors. It's really awful watching the news. This reminds me so much of the fires in 2003. At that time we had just moved in to our first house, and one of the fires burned up over 300 homes in the neighborhood. It was an incredibly scary feeling seeing the sky turn black & knowing the fire was roaring through the neighborhood. I remember huge pieces of ash and wood and people's lives raining down from the sky, and seeing the fire itself between the homes across the street. Trying to pack up pictures, artwork and the cats in case we had to get out of dodge. This time we're incredibly fortunate that none of the fires are burning directly near us, but it's still frightening seeing those images on the tube, and not knowing when it will end. Michael's all tripped out because he does a lot of work up in Arrowhead (he's an appraiser for B of A), so he's really familiar with those neighborhoods that are burning. Man, I hope the next few days bring a little relief to things.
We got a couple of new pieces of art, A handmade uke by Kevin Titzer,

and "Four Ghosts" by Jim Houser

And I just sent off "Sausage Queen" to be in the "Picks of the Harvest: Chicago Invasion" show at DvA Gallery.
Things are good on the home front. Bodie had colic for the first few months of his life, and it would get really frustrating after a day of screaming. There were a few days that I was in tears, wondering if it would ever get better. He totally turned the corner last week. There are some fussy times still, but nothing like those really bad days. He also started sleeping from 10 pm to 6 am. Man, Dylan didn't sleep through the night until I was pregnant with Bodie, so that's HUGE! Dylan just gets more & more fun. The older he gets, the more he understands. Plus he's talking a lot now, he's really a funny little kid. Here' s some pics of him helping bake a "Daddy Cake".

mmmm.....chocolate, now there's a man after my own heart :)

This past Sunday we went to the pumpkin patch with the Soto's. Here in Yuciapa we have this super cool family owned pumpkin patch/christmas tree farm. When we moved here I'd had visions of this being a family tradition, but we heard this is the last year for the patch... they apparently sold out to Target. I'm usually a fan of Target, but I'm pretty pissed off about this...
Anyway, Mike's parents took Bodie for the morning, so we could have some one on one with Dylly that day. Jeff & Jennifer brought Shannon's wagon for the kids to ride in.
This place is a kids paradise, complete with monkeys dressed in cowboy garb.
Dylan shaking hands with the monkey.

Shannon and Dylan dancing to some good ol' hoedown music...

pony rides...

jumpers...
family pic (sorry Bodie) amongst the pumpkins...

The next morning we carved...



our pumpkins. I stole the Jack Skellington idea from the pumpkin patch. I'll use it as a vase to hold flowers.
And lastly, here' s Bodie and his crazy hair.

Good times

The other night Hubby and I put the boys down and decided to actually make a little time for ourselves. We laid out a great spread of yummies, opened up some wine, put in a movie and just hung out. It was awesome.
One of the things I wasn't really prepared for with having children was finding out how easy it is to totally lose yourself. You just sort of forget to make time for yourself and one day you feel like your own life has stopped. It is totally and completely about them. And for the most part, I guess that's how it should be.... but sometimes I need a life outside of being a mom, so I think it's really important for Michael and I to do little things like this every once in awhile.

We hooked up a playdate last week when Jeff got back into town. I was really excited to hear about his trip to New York, but we didn't get to get into it really. The playdates usually just turn into craziness just trying to keep up with Dylly and Shannon. It's really cool to see them having so much fun with each other.

Here's a super cute picture of Jeff and Jenn.

Playing chase in the backyard.

I guess it's actually kind of a nice thing to get together and not talk about work, but instead just slow down and hang out with the babies....

Yesterday was Michael's 35th birthday. It's pretty crazy to me to think we've been together since he was 24 and I was 23. Man, it's true... Time does fly. Our good friends Sloan and Joseph came down the hill to help celebrate. We were also celebrating the final days of Hubby's fertility,
as he's getting "the snip" tomorrow. (No more Carrillo babies for us, thanks!)

Sloan and Joseph are Bodie Bear's Godparents.

Our next door neighbors Tom & Bonnie AKA "The Poopies" dropped in with an ice cream cake from Coldstone creamery. Our friends rock.

Happy Birthday Bunches!

So after everyone headed out, we bathed the boys, put them to bed and chilled out in the living room, where we were greeted by this fellow. Aren't these guys supposed to be poisonous? Or is that just a myth? Whatever the case, I wasn't chancing it. I leapt onto our countertops and made Michael deal with him. All those creepy crawly little legs give me the willies.


eeeew.

The Birth of a Painting

Thought I'd post a series of pics taken of the sausage painting in the making. I wouldn't say I really have a method to my painting. I kind of just start in one area, and fill in the blanks as I go. When I'm painting on a personal level, I don't always work everything out in the sketch, I like to let a few things happen along the way.
Transfering the image onto the wood



Wasn't really happy with the background color. Since I would be using a lot of reds in the sausages and details, I thought a nice green would be better....
Throwing down on the skin tones, and some splashes of permanent ink. It bleeds through the end result, helps with the aged look I like to get.


Then I start making some decisions on where the accents and type will go...
pencilling in the type....
added a few more weenies, because really... you can never have too many....
viola. Finished up with a little aging.
A close up of the Queen.
So there. That's how I make a painting :)
Michael made me this really large wood canvas to paint on. It's sitting in our garage beckoning to me everytime I pass it. I'm actually really intimidated by painting large. But I think I'm going to try and tackle my fears on that one next.

Back to the Drawing Board

Went to a sneak preview of Jeff Soto's upcoming solo show a couple of Sundays ago. Jeff always amazes and inspires me. After seeing his work I felt a fire brewing under my butt and needed to get back to work myself. Took just a couple of pics there. Here's Jeff inside the studio
And here's a view from the outside
And here's Dave Chung and Michael bringin' sexy back
It was cool to finally get to meet the Chung face to face. Super cool guy!
We didn't get to stay too long because we had to pick the boys up. We had dropped them off for a couple of hours at Mike's parents' house. It made it possible to actually get to go SEE Jeff's work and take time to appreciate it, instead of chasing Dylan around and missing out on everything.
Dyl's been much better lately. Lovin' his brother. Bodie looks a bit like a deer caught in headlights here... we lovingly refer to him as Grumpy McGrump. Can't wait for those smiles to start coming!
Dylan's been lots of fun. We started him in daycare two times a week. It's actually at our neighbor's house, two doors down. So he's not far away, and he seems to dig on going over there to play for a few hours. Plus it gives me a little bit of time to get back to painting, and catch a break from Thomas the Train. Here's a sketch for my next piece.
It's going to be an ad for Sausage. I like to get the main image transfered onto the wood, then kind of ad-lib the type and additional stuff. I'll start painting her tomorrow. I also have a phone interview tomorrow morning for a Mag called "Stretching Canvas". It's a new publication started by Chris Pfouts, the editor of International Tattoo Art. Should be cool. I'm a little nervous though, because I haven't had real sleep in awhile... I'm just hoping I don't come off like a total ass.

Adjusting

Welp, it's been a little over three weeks since Bodie Bear came home. Having a second baby is a totally different experience. I was so freaked out over everything with Dylan. I had never been around a baby until he was born. This time it's so much easier... at least these early weeks. We're all getting in to a groove, and things are starting to run a little more smoothly....unless you count Dylan hitting the "terrible two's" head on. There's been a lot of "time out's" 'round these parts. His new favorite word (besides Mommy, and No) is "Mine". It's wierd, we don't use that word at home... and beyond playdates with Shannon Daisy, he's not really around other kids... so where the hell did he learn that word? Are their little brains just pre-wired to use "mine" and "no" in abundance once they hit two? aah, fun times. Here's a cute little picture of him swimming at my parent's house.

And here's the more devilish side... with me and Bodie

Along with Dyl's craziness, I've had a major bladder infection. So my crotch has been on fire. Plus a couple of blocked milk ducts. So my boobs have been in total pain. AND if I have to watch this guy for one more day, I'm going to puke...
It's been nice having Michael home with us. He took a month off of work to bond with Bodie, and help me out with managing two little boys. He goes back to work next week, and I'm really going to miss spending my days with him. It's been so great.
We got a couple of new pieces of art this past week. A David Choe piece, which I'll have to take a picture of, and a piece by Lilli Piri


"Sweet Pea" It's really delicate and beautiful. I love getting new artwork!
Sunday we're going to Jeff Soto's studio for a sneak peek at his upcoming show. I can't wait... I need to get out and see some inspiring artwork!

YEEEHAWWW!!!!

Our new little cowboy has arrived!
This is going to be quick, since I have a feeding to attend to in about a half an hour. Basically since my last post we've been running back and forth to the hospital about three times a week to be monitored, trying to keep the little man on the inside to cook a bit longer. Well, Monday we made it to 37 weeks, and they sent me over to Labor & Delivery to be induced. Overall, this was a completely wonderful experience. Although painful at times, this one went a lot smoother than Dyl's birth. At 6:14 pm on Tuesday I gave birth to Bodie Taylor. He weighed in at 5lbs, 11 oz. Just another little peanut. He had to stay in the NICU for a couple of days to watch his breathing and his eating, but he came home today. Big brother Dylan was super excited, didn't want to nap today. He later fell asleep on the floor next to his new little bro. Here' s a shot of one of the more peaceful moments of the day.

I'll upload more info & pics in a day or two, but now...time to feed the little guy!
Thank you everyone for your prayers & thoughts! It means so much to me!