big AND little

When we told Blue that the baby was here and it was a boy he replied that he had really wanted it to be a girl. If he was really disappointed, he seemed to get over it pretty quickly. He is a a big fan of the baby. He had so many great questions when he came to meet Brother in the hospital and wanted to unwrap him and inspect his belly and toes. 

In the days since, he has proven an eager helper in the entertainment and pacifier retrieval categories. He tells me that Brother is his baby and will sit right next to us while nursing. It will be fun to watch their relationship grow. 

BROTHER gray davis

Name: Brother Gray Davis
Gender: Male
Date of birth: 8.21.2014
Time: 8:56pm
Weight: 10lbs 
Length: 21"

The third Davis kid is here! Brother has already distinguished himself amongst the sibling set by weighing in a pound over his predecessors. Despite his hefty build, he entered the world with very little drama and continues to be pretty chill. He does not like transitions or dirty diapers and is quite loud about it. He does like his pacifier, a good pat, and listening to his family's voices and will settle right back down. He has Blue's stout build but is carrying a little extra weight in the cheeks. He definitely looks like a Davis/Burchfield kid but with an extra dose of Davis, Graham specifically. Which means, of course, that he is very handsome ;). We are all so happy he is here and healthy!  

pretty LITTLE voices

These are a couple months old now but wanted to feature Blue singing about butterflies in Japanese and Wiley going through her Frozen repertoire.



VID00075 from Micaelan Davis on Vimeo.

VID00056 from Micaelan Davis on Vimeo.

things BOYS do

Blue has developed a super new and exciting way to eat cereal. After all, he is Optimus Prime and using hands (or a spoon!) would be way too human. 

the terrible TWOS

Wiley is two! It is yet to be seen if they will indeed be terrible. I doubt it. I do think they will be more difficult than Blue's third year of life but that is mainly due to their personalities. Wiley wants so badly to be independent and do things on her own. But sometimes she just can't and that is frustrating for her. Blue would gladly let me put his shoes on for him to this day if I made myself available.

Wiley at age two is an amazing communicator. She speaks in full, and mostly grammatically correct, sentences. She still seems so little and has a little voice so listening to her talk is really, really cute. Her favorite color is pink. She loves to sing and listen to other people sing. She is an observer, taking it all in. She can still throw a mean tantrum. We finally ditched the bottle and, true to form, she refuses to drink milk out of a cup. Graham thinks he is going to be able to stay one step ahead of her but I have my doubts ;). She does love her daddy though. She insists upon picking out her own clothes in the morning and often tries to put them on by herself as well. I bought her some new shoes the other day and it took her exactly 45 minutes to find them high up on her shelf and walk into the living room wearing them.

This is what Wiley was doing while we sang Happy Birthday.

This is what Blue was doing. 

We love you, Wiley-girl.

the WASHI commissions

So I posted about my first washi tape drawing back in September here. I started working on another one and gradually it became a thing. I amassed an impressive collection of tape and kept going. I did two commissions (one for a friend and another for the kids' preschool) before I left and have four more commissions lined up! 

Ohana International School (and surrounding buildings)

View of Roppongi Hills from above

Inside the Daienji Temple looking out into Yanaka

Hiroo alley

Tokyo lends itself perfectly to rendering in tape - layered and angular, messy but still organized, dense. I haven't quite figured out how to translate tape drawing to different locals. Especially Austin, with its abundance of greenery and the famous big sky. It will be fun to experiment with it though.

wrapping it UP

We spent our last weeks in Tokyo doing art projects we had yet to get around to, playing with friends, dealing with the rainy season, celebrating future birthdays, finishing up some washi tape commissions, and eating good food.

Doesn't this look idyllic? A few minutes later Blue dumped his cup of dirty paint water out on the floor. My crafty girl kept painting for a good solid thirty minutes though.

We are back in Texas now and we miss our friends. I miss my bike despite my new car (!). I miss the little French bakery next to the grocery store. I miss the adventure of it all. I miss the lack of clutter in my house. And I miss the shopping despite the crazy prices. But, on the flip side, I have really enjoyed seeing old friends and how much their kids have grown. My new minivan is pretty swanky. Who needs all those delicious pastries anyway :(. Three kids will be enough of an adventure for now. Slowly, slowly I will work my way back to minimalist living. And there is always Target.