Forest vs. Cheerios - Round 1

Mom's Day

The past year of my life has been a very challenging one; full of adventures, disappointments, and eye opening experiences. By far the most amazing thing is a blessing from God in the form of a perfect wife and son. On most holidays I just sit back and enjoy the food and the good times seeing all my friends and family. This past weekend I have been home alone and staying up late wondering what my family is up to. This holiday (mother’s day) I don’t have any food or family to chill with. Instead I have my memories to entertain me. Of course my Mom came into my mind, but she has been in my mind every Mother’s day. This time things are different because my wife is now a Mom.

Tiffany is amazing. She is the best thing that could have ever happened to me and to Forest. Countless hours are spent that I don’t see taking care of Forest and his little personality. I get to come home on my breaks and enjoy hanging out with Forest as he cracks up because his Dad is home to play with him. But I start to think about what happens when I leave. What happens is a fussy boy who wants to play with his Dad that needs to be comforted by his Mom. Her patience grows every day with Forest as he learns more about his body and life around him. Recently it’s been taking Forest over 45 minutes to fall asleep because he is playing and trying new things. Tiffany gets to go constantly for 45 minutes and help Forest fall asleep. I can’t understand what it’s like to be her.

In my depression of being a bachelor this weekend I can only express how happy and proud I am of my wife the mother of Forest. That Mother’s day I am proud to be married to the best Mom in town who loves me to death. Tiffany, I love you so much and I’m so proud of the Mom that you are.

Happy Mother’s Day

Love Robert

change....again!

A little less of this...

and a little more of this...

So...I came, I tried, and now im getting the heck outta here!
We planned to give living out here in the woods a try. Its just waaaay to difficult. Im completely fine with saying that this is absolutely not my scene; and im perfectly ok with that.
I have no problem admitting this and I have no problem admitting that I enjoy wearing cute flats, and big sun glasses. That doesnt flow out here. I am NOT ok with putting on "running" shoes to go outside. Ruins my outfit. I am not ok with sharing a house with creatures. I am definitely not ok with finding spiders the size of humans. Im not ok with being isolated. And im not ok with dragging my son 40 minutes in the car just so we can be a part of things...and we still have to leave a lot of things out. (Im also very much ok with admitting that im totally into a tv show because the fact that its based in Berkeley brings me so much comfort).
So, we are moving into town!!!! YAY! Currently apartment shopping. As far as suburban living goes, Redding is actually kind of neat. Im enjoying it. It will be much more realistic for us to be living there. It will be a bit of a sacrifice, but Robert and I agree that its worth it in the end.

In honor of moving into civilization soon, and also to promote my son to keep it real, Im taking him to San Francisco for the day while we are in the area next week. Cant wait. A stop at the coffee shop which provided me with carrot muffins and hazelnut flavored coffee while he was in the womb, is probably in order! Seems appropriate for Mothers Day.

New Book!

Robert and I are so excited to order this book! It's Shane Claiborne's new book "Follow Me to Freedom". We absolutely LOVED "Irresistible Revolution", as well as "Jesus For President".
We have had the opportunity to attend 2 of Shanes speaking events. It was his first book "Irresistible Revolution" along with hearing him speak and meeting and talking with him, that prompted us to lose some to gain MUCH and to LIVE out the concept of love, tolerance, compassion, and community, that we believe in. I have said before...if you have ever wondered what goes through my mind, just read that book. When i read his book, for the first time ever, I thought "wow, this book is saying everything that i feel and believe in". Finally some one had put it into words on paper. I cant wait to share these concepts with Forest as he grows and develops his own opinions.

a day in Forests life

A picnic isnt complete without some hummus in the nude

He's focused and ready

Liz is loving this way too much!

He likes holding hands on the swing

Making some important calls while in the car

oops, forgot to rotate...little Trader Joes shopper

We had a very fun day at the park! Liz met us again and thankfully she was willing to go down the slide with Forest like a big goon! Im not sure who had more fun, Liz or Forest...by the looks of it, im going to say Liz! haha.

Media Outburst

Just keepin it real....these have always been my two favorites and im not ashamed!
Nicole Richie and Mary-Kate Olsen

And, yes, today i will be dressing like them as i go to "play group"

Another snow day

When im stuck inside for a second day in a row, due to a big snow storm, i have to remind myself of the things that im thankful for. We had to miss play group (which is also a moms group), grocery shopping, and various errands. These things keep me sane when for 4 days a week, i act as a semi-single parent...from 7 a.m until 8 p.m (robert isnt even home until 9:30 though). Living in the woods is really difficult on me some days. Everything i need to go and do takes a lot of planning because its so far away. Feeling like im part of a community takes a ton of energy and effort. Things like snow days happen (even though i could drive 10 min away and snow wont exist). Things like HUGE lizard creatures crawl on my deck when we play. Bugs are INSIDE the house!
Creatures roam everywhere, under my house, and on my deck. I like nature, but im a "fake nature" person. Meaning, when i want nature i would like to take Forest to a park or something, but then go back home when im done with it. Its beautiful out here, the goose pond is awesome, the fox that walk around are cute, Forest loves "his" Geese; but its a little bit scary for me to play outside for long periods of time.
So, on days like today, i have to remind myself of how thankful and blessed i actually am to be out here. God really has answered my prayers, he just chose to answer them along with putting me way out here! I prayed that we would get to move to a place that had carpeting before Forest started learning to roll everywhere and crawl; our place has carpet everywhere! Including our dining room where you can now find smashed beans, tofu, avocado, etc. thanks to Forest. He started becoming mobile a week after we moved!
I prayed that Forest would get to have his very own "baby room" set up and decorated how i always wanted, by at least his 1st birthday; he has his own room, and its almost decorated how i had planned even before he was born...his birthday is in two months! That might sound trivial, but to a first time mom, missing out on setting up a baby room is pretty crushing. And realizing that the house your bringing your baby home from the hospital to isnt yours at all, and the hospital provided more privacy that the home, really kills you inside. Missing out on those first special weeks alone with your baby is something that takes time to get over as well.
I prayed that I would get to start raising my son without other people living with us and get to enjoy some moments between just the two or three of us, that i missed out on when he was a newborn; God gave us our own place, which is very removed, which gives us plenty of family alone time. However, I still am drawn towards communal living if its done the right way. Which i have experienced before and still see major benefits to. (btw: what i referred to above was not when we lived communally. I was referring to when we HAD to live in some one else house.)
I prayed that my stress i felt for a long time would be able to leave; living out here has forced me to chill the hell out. (sorry, just keeping it real).
Robert and I both miss the faster paced lifestyle,(ive never felt more in my element and more contentment in all my life than when i lived in S.F) and we hope to return to it one day in the future, but we are embracing this time we have out here since we dont know how long it will last. Its been wonderful to get re-focused on us as a family, for me to try to get the hang of taking care of domestic things (haha, im even baking brownies today since Wednesdays are our Fridays), and for us to really notice the little (and huge) things we are thankful for.


The day before the snow hit, we had incredible weather! Forest and I like to meet up with my sister Liz after our Monday play group. So we met at the park for lunch and Forest got to try out a swing for his first time. We knew Robert would be upset to miss out on the big moment, so Liz took some pics for us. Here are a few!