Did-ju Paint Me a Dinosaur?

Sawyer's birthday was yesterday.  He is ONE.      

A couple of weeks ago I started off the New Year enthusiastic, excited about doing a painting for my boys' birthday invitation (Seth's birthday is on Friday so it's a double celebration this year!).  I finished the painting, and Seth was delighted with it.

"Mommy!!  Did-ju paint me a dinosaur?!  I just wuv it so much!"

Talk about a glowing review.  

I was thrilled that he was so thrilled.  I printed him a copy, and he ran and put it on the fridge right away (a high honor!), but then he decided he couldn't part with it, and he held onto it for the rest of the night, took it to bed, and carried it around all the next day.  

So yeah, I was proud.  

I made a new folder on my computer to stash the file in- 'Watercolors 2016' and then decided to look back over 'Watercolors 2015'.  

Um, there wasn't a whole lot there.  

So, not my proudest moment.  

Deflated, I clicked over to 'Photos 2015.'  That sucker was full, and I waded through the photos for a while, marveling at how much my babies have grown and thinking about how far we've come. 

I spent the first six months of 2015 without one single night of uninterrupted sleep.  Not one night where I slept for more than 4 hours in a row.  I remember opening the microwave one morning to find an entire carton of melted ice cream that I could have sworn I put away in the freezer.  There were tears and tantrums and hard days but so, so many good ones.  

​And so many firsts!  First laugh, first foods, first steps for Sawyer.  Fiirst "I wuv you" from Seth and his first time to hit a ball, say his prayers, dress himself.  I remember the first time I ventured out with both of them by myself.  Sawyer was two weeks old and Seth barely two years.  I took both of them to the doctor for check ups and then braved the grocery store for all of five minutes.

I got a little lost in the pictures and the memories for a while, and I almost freaked out.  

It's going by too fast!  They'll never be this little again!  My babies!  My babies!!  Then I reminded myself that they're just turning one and three, not growing up and moving out overnight.  Hello!  Calm down, crazy lady!!

It's just a little mind boggling at times because some days feel so hard and slow, and yet it all goes by in a blur.  

The Bible  says "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven"  Ecclesiastes 3:1.  So I think I'm just going to trust in that.  Scripture is a pretty good thing to put your trust in.  I trust that 2015 was exactly what it needed to be.  I mothered the heck out of two itty bitty boys, and I kept a little candle lit on my art gig.  I plan on keeping that little candle lit until one day that fire is really ready to roar.  

And look!  

The flame is already growing.  

Behold, I have another painting in the 'Watercolors 2016' folder, and we're not even a full month into the  year.  

​I can't even believe it myself!  

"Sweet Success" 10x8 watercolor on paper by Holly B. Johnson ©2016. Signed, limited edition prints available $20 each.

It helped tremendously that Seth took an interest in painting with me while Sawyer was napping.  

Maybe this will be a new thing for us.  Maybe not.  Either way I think 'three' and 'one' is going to be a really cool season.