Quick digital sketch: Christmas ready!

Cant believe I started writing this post this morning .... and I just wrote three words...

Not enough time in the day. 

In crazy love with my little man but totally missing my painting time.

Sometimes I crave so much some uninterrupted art time that a part of me feels guilty...baby should be enough! Not always the case.

Anyways, a couple of days ago we had a fun Christmas shooting and I decided to do a quick digital sketch of one of the photo.

Christmas ready!

digital painting sketch.

Here are some of the photos :

G as in Giraffe

Back to my bear alphabet and today we have the letter G as in Giraffe...of course :)

If you want to check out the past letters here are the links:

E elephant
R  racoon
S sheep
A ant
o  ostrich
S see lion
A albatross
L lion
N  nightingale
D duck

 These Bear Alphabet letters are a cute touch for every nursery, pick your child letter or write the full name!
Just drop me an email for any option!

Another beautiful sunny day here at ocean beach, the baby is sleeping next to me ( on the swing of course!!), hubby came home earlier from the office...it is a nice Friday :)

Alex, 15 weeks.

It took me three morning naps to complete :) here it is, the first (of many!) portrait of my baby.
He is much more beautiful in reality... it is always so very difficult to portrait the people you love.  However I am happy with the final work.

Alex, 15 weeks.

The list of things to do for him is still long: write in his book, put in order his THOUSAND photo (apparently I can't stop my self from taking tons of daily pictures!), make a baby calendar, do more drawings and sketches of him and with him, and more! But the portrait was on the list! SO I am very glad I can tick one off :)
He is actually still napping this morning, THANKS TO OUR BABY SWING!!!! the best baby presnt ever ! Couldnt live without it! ;)
 Time to clean the house and make some lunch!

two days to THREE MONTHS ...the two of us

When you have a baby and especially when you spend your whole day and your whole time with the baby ( like me!) is normal that your mind is just thinking baby stuff...
 It would probably easier at this stage to start writing a baby blog, instead of an art blog.
Talking about poop ( yes he pooped today! after two days of no-poop-what so ever- but-super cranky- baby) naps and sleep or better NO SLEEP.
We started a new sleep routine few day ago. Basically is the same as before ( batch, feed, lullaby, bed) but it starts earlier. So that around 8 pm I can do something for my self :) like eating, or cleaning up :( or maybe drawing if is a lucky day (as it happened tonight!)
Anyway....I did not expect that it would take so  much time to put a baby in bed! Between tow hours and one hour and half. The same time I used to spend to do a couple of quick study in my PRE-baby-life.


Here is a quick study done today during the afternoon nap time.
My baby is almost three months.... I absolutely adore him.
Our life is much more beautiful with Alex around :)

The two of us.

Super Swaddle!

SWADDLE, a word that was totally unknown to me till 4 months ago, when hubby and I went to our first and only new parent class. They had us practicing on a doll that day, way easier than with the real thing! :)
What matters is that swaddling works!! At least it did work with our baby.
 Here is our super baby burrito all swaddled up!

Big Love! Small Sketch!

Just a quick post to let you guys know that we are alive!! :)
Finding time to draw is getting more and more difficult, especially since I started school again. (taking an history class though...no practice!).
But the good news is that Alex is adjusting well and he is starting to establish a nice daily routine. He is a good sleeper at night but unfortunately he doesnt like to nap that much in the day time.
Here is a very quick drawing from yesterday. No time to finish it or to embellish it so I will post as it is and I would rather do a new one if i get some more time.

I love this baby so much!!! Having him smiling is always the best part of my day .

Things change...

Driving is not the same anymore ....

Crying record : 45 minutes ...  55 km

From Palo Alto to San Francisco, yesterday .   

Painful!

Three weeks of pure love. Digital drawing.

Three weeks today of pure love.
This motherhood experience is so much more than anything I was expecting. More love, more responsibilities, more smiles, more awaken hours (much more!), more happiness.
I am loving and enjoying every moment of it.
We are slowly getting to establish a normal daily routine that hopefully will allow me some drawing time too. Of course Mona fun time has priority on my art time! She is dealing so well with the little one...being patient, understanding, loving and protecting.
 Happy Monday everyone!

 Three weeks of being a mom.

Boobies time!

Hello everyone!

I am out and about :) ....(have been out for a while actually!)

Tomorrow I will be two weeks old...time flies when you are having fun :)
Life outside is awesome! I finally met mommy, daddy and the doggie.
It's fun!
Everyone loves me but I love especially  mommy's boobies!!

Life has been pretty intense and busy in the last couple of weeks....hopefully I'll get to squeeze some art time here and there.

Early morning are the best, before everyone wakes up, before the coffee effect wears off and before the tiredness kicks in :)

A clear example of multitasking, drawing and feeding my little man!

A photo of my two awesome men:

It 's baby BIRTH day !!!

Hello Alex....
you are on your way!
Exciting and painful at the same time :)

During the night we went to the hospital, after some exams they had us coming back home and wait for my contractions to get stronger.
And here we are, at home waiting.
Not long left though... contractions are getting closer to each other and stronger.
Could not sleep and I decided to draw instead...maybe I ll be regretting it soon! Everyone is talking ALL THE TIME of new parents sleep deprivation. We 'll see what is gonna happen to us :)
Time to drop Mona  at the doggie care and go and get you out of here!!

Is a another beautiful sunny day...incredible.
You are truly a summer baby!

Here is how they day looks like your BIRTH DAY.

Love you!
see you soon!
Mommy 

Pregnancy Fairies, part one: Nausey and Cravy.

40 weeks and 4 days (284 days)

We had a beautiful Sunday, sunny and around 80F .
Something special for Ocean Beach in July, maybe is just for you... and for me! :)


During these 284 days of pregnancy I saw my body changing, inside and outside.
At the end of this fantastic journey I am around 10 kg heavier and we are two people in one body.
(Pretty amazing!! )
I am a bit sentimental today since I have the feeling you are coming out soon, very soon.
Are you coming tomorrow? I bet YES :)

 What I am posting today is the first part of my pregnancy fairies project, each Fairy bring some kind of change with her, some are good some are less good!

Everything started with Nausey, the "lovely" Fairy who bringsvmorning sickness, nausea, stomach burn and similar .

Then there was  Cravy. Which is one my favorite.
 During theses 280 days is a good sign to put on weight so I indulged my self with all my cravings. Mostly pizza, parmesan cheese, bread, LOADS of bread, ice cream...more pizza and pizza again!

 I have 4 more fairies planned....let's see what happens tomorrow! :) I might to take some time out !!

Some photos from today :

Mona and me in the morning:

Me and your daddy in the evening!

 Have a good night and see you soon!
Love you!

Update from the bump: water breaking.

40 weeks and 3 days.
I am feeling really good! Fully energized and much better than yesterday. The sun is shining and once again I do not feel like today is THE DAY.
However the final decision is not up to me :) but up to you!!!
Flipping the coin might help you to decide if today is the day or not!
Please let me know!
One kick right is YES, 2 kicks left are NO.
Taking you and Mona out for a walk....please,don't make any joke !

Water breaking.

Update from the bump: EVICTION notice.

Eviction notice.

Still at home...and still VERY pregnant.

40 weeks and 2 days.

My baby has just been given an eviction notice . Better for him to be out by Sunday otherwise he will be forcefully removed.

I would rather have him getting out of his own choice :)

I know it is nice and comfy in there! But also here outside is not bad at all!Everyone is looking forward to meeting you! COME ON!!

Kisses from your Mommy, Daddy and Mona! See you soon!

This is me today.
Feeling tired and heavy :) Still....I love my pregnant body...2 people in one, is kind of magic!

But please don't misunderstand me !  I am also missing seeing my own feet :)  so PLEASE COME OUT.

Are you talking to me?

N

Are you talking to me?

Digital painting, quick study.

Hello little brother!

Are you joining our pack or not? Daddy is getting a bit anxious, you know...he  doesnt like people being late. But you are half Italian...so i guess you can be a little bit late :) not too much though!.

I am happy if you are late ! I can a fun time sniffing and walking around the park with my mommy!

But I guess it will be nice having you in the pack, the more the merrier!

I can teach you how to hunt for moles, gophers, squirrels, raccoons and even for chicken. I know plenty of good tricks. The best one actually is to cover up your own smell by rolling yourself in a poop or in a garbage or even better in a dead animal carcasses if are lucky enough to find any!

I am SO VERY GOOD at it!!

But mommy gets mad at me..don't know why!!And then I always end up having a bath. I hate that part.

You will have plenty of bath too, POOR you!! They bought a small bath just for you...not a good sign!

Anyway...It will be fun having you around...hopefully you will not bark too much..i hate those small dogs that have a high pitch bark. 

Something about myself:

I love to sleep, especially in the morning after my breakfast and my long walks in the park.

I hope you will like to sleep too. Then we can sleep together.

I love to eat, I can eat anything and i am super fast! SUPER  FAST!
And I love to go on walks and sniff...I am never ever tired of walking and sniffing!

My day is the following:

1. wake up and long stretch on the carpet

2. eat my food in 3 seconds

3. go out with momy, poop, pee (at least hundreds times!) and sniff everything

4. back home and nap.

5. look at mommy preparing food and checking the floor for microscopic food particles.

6. nap

7. repeat step 3 and 6

8. walk with momy to pick up daddy from the tram ( I am so scared of that weird thing!! but daddy is not scared! tough daddy :) he is spending all his day inside the tram! we leave him there in the morning and find him in the same place in the evening! daddy works so hard...mommy says so)

9. repeat step 5 and 2 and 3.

A lot of information about me!! Cant wait to meet you!! I ll be your best friend!!....you know everything is better with a dog around!!

Mona Lisa!

 

Are you flying to me?

Are you flying to me?

Hello in there! Are you ready? Today is your first due date (yepp!! they gave me two dates, today and tomorrow! ) . However few weeks ago I started saying that i could never miss out on a nice sunny July day (..since they are normally rare over here...) and since then it has been sunny everyday! I swear it :) !

Today is just super nice, pretty warm already and is not even 8.30 am.

Unbelievable !

Small drawing done for you last night, I wanted to try out some new digital watercolor brushes, hope you like it!

Your daddy has decided to work from home today, just in case you decide to  join us! But we also have a good friend of mine over for lunch...so maybe you could choose the late afternoon or even better the evening time to start the show!

Have a good day my baby!

Cant' wait to meet you soon!! Very soon!

xxx

Ethan. Playing around :)

A couple of days ago I took a couple of picture of the beautiful son of a friend of mine, havent done a portrait of a new born in while, time to get back into it!

He is often wearing an orange hat...so I thought to play a little bit around with orange, blue .

 Ethan, 3 months and little bit.

And here is less alien version!! :) 

 

And retouched photo portrait, Ethan and his orange hat!

Ethan in the orange hat.

Weather update, cloudy morning but now the sun is out! Time to leave the house :)

Have a great day everyone!

Final Destination San Francisco!

Destination San Francisco.

Hello there!

You made us a bit worried yesterday (first time worrying as parents!!). You were not the usual kicker you normally are. Happily all was ok, but we preferred to have things checked up! Just to stay on the safe side. 

Probably you were resting , getting ready for the big day !

You are almost here...in San Francisco, California. 

Is a very cool place, I think you are pretty lucky to be born here, actually. 

So many places to go, so many things to do...., you will love it!

Your daddy and I went to through a lot before getting here.

I am Italian, your daddy is Polish. ( Which makes you an Americna-Polish-Italian boy! hopefully you  will not get too confused!!) Your dad and I met when we were both  living in London and at our first date your daddy told me that he was moving to NYC in few months and in 5 years time he was planning to live in San Francisco.

I was young, crazy and in love (!! I still am!!) I left everything and went with him. We ended up in California just after 4 years, with one year stop in New York.

That's your daddy.  :) Pretty an amazing unique dad. Lucky us.

Believe it or not, the weather is nice and beautiful today too! just for you, and me :) 

Taking you and Mona for a walk soon...maybe by the beach...because in San Francisco we live just by the beach, the neighbourhood is called Outer Sunset...we enjoy the sunset on the ocean every evening, you will not be disappointed.

Love !

your momy

Alessandro, name on wood.

In

Alessandro 

Acrylic and modeling paste on wood.

Hello there! 

Me again :) your mom (!! feels weird!!!)

Forgive me but i really like this kind of stuff....drawing, collage, painting, both traditional and digital ...I like everything that involves "making something" and adding colors to it.

And you will have to deal with A LOT OF THIS! :)

I have the feeling that I will be drawing a lot of you too, be prepared!

We will also be doing plenty of art projects together...when you are a little older :)

Anyway...this is one is the name me and your daddy have chosen for you. Your daddy INSISTED to give you also a second name , just in case you didn't like the first one . You have a very, VERY thoughtful daddy, you will see!!! 

Enjoy your last Sunday inside buddy! 

You have pizza for dinner, again!! :)

The weather is still surprisingly beautiful and warm ..... I think just for you !!!

Love! 

your momi.

Our hearty walks.

I have to consider myself pretty lucky, all in all I had a great pregnancy . Rarely sick and able to run a good daily mileage till my 38 th week.
Probably I have to thank Mona for pushing me to stay active ! We are still walking daily (A LOT !) .
It makes me happy, makes Mona super happy, and make you (baby!) happy too. Since where we are out and about is the only moment i feel you resting, sleeping...and not kicking ! :)

 Our hearty walks.

The weather this year has been a little bit special too... warm, sunny and beautiful...and is already mid July! ( Which you discover soon is the fog season over here!)

Taking the three of us for a walk soon, then we ll pick up your daddy from the bus ( he went downtown to have a nice hair cut to show you how handsome he is the day you will show up!! well....i went to the hairdresser too :) same reason! lol)
In the afternoon we ll be driving to Ikea, to buy the frames for your bear -alphabet letter and in the evening we have planned a very good pizza in Palo Alto with some friends.
I know you cannot wait for pizza!!! Me too!!
So please...keep calm and bear with me (inside me!!) few more days :) If you are a good boy you will have pizza tomorrow evening too!
Love you!
your momy

39 weeks quick sketch

Another quick sketch today, 50 minutes.
I figured that it might be useful to get in the habit of quick sketching again since my drawing time for the next 3 months or so will be quite limited.

This is me today at 39 weeks and one day.
- 8 days to my due date......excited, in love, scared and happy. That is me today.

9 July 2015, 39 weeks.

I am planning to do a lot of belly / baby related drawing during this coming week...since I am sure I ll be missing my baby belly afterwards!
Have a good everyone!

50 min quick study. My two loves.

 My two loves.

quick study

It still feel unreal thinking that our family will have a plus one by next week... 

These two in my quick study of today are my favorite "people" around :) Yes the dog count as a person, she does indeed.

We just had a beautiful long weekend, the three of us, enjoying 4th of July and celebrating my hubby birthday. Love you Baby!!

O as in Ostrich!

Last letter of our baby 's name :

O as in Ostrich.

I am so very happy Alex is not in a hurry to get out!
He is probably running out of space...(kicking more and more these days!) but still , no sign of an early delivery, all is quiet . Good boy! letting momy draw :)

Have a good night everyone!

R as in racoon!

R as Racoon.

See you tomorrow for the very last letter and Happy 4th of July!

D as in Duck!

D as in Duck.

Bath time and 8th letter of our baby name :)

Happy Friday everyone!

N as in nightingale!

N as in Nightingale

I heard my little nephew in Italy is enjoying a lot this bear-alphabet! ( ciao EDO!)

For today's letter with have a Nightingale...in Italian is USIGNOLO .

We don't have many or none at all here in Ocean beach...Plenty of seagulls instead :)

Have a great Thursday everyone!