Happy Holidays

Howdy Everyone!

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Of course, I promised myself that I would post new pictures and videos by the time I sent out the Christmas cards and I’m running a little behind on all of it.  I have no idea where the time goes!  Don’t worry; the laundry, dusting, vacuuming, and grocery shopping aren’t getting done either.  I’m fully neglecting everything.  Tis the Season, right?

I just wanted to take a moment to catch up with some moments from 2009.

Rohm’s Likes:

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Putting things in bags
Carrying those bags around
Putting rocks in buckets
Pushing strollers and carts at the store (although she can’t see where she’s going)
Spitting water out of her mouth onto the floor from her highchair (not one of my favorites)
Pouring water from one cup to another
Snowmen
Trains
Airplanes
Imitating absolutely everything mom and dad do

Working Already

Rohm’s Dislikes:

Sitting on Santa’s lap, until he gives her a peppermint sucker, then it’s all good
When Frosty leaves at the end of the story (cries real tears)
Jack Frost (from the Frosty video, Dad taught her he was mean)
Oh when you try to do anything for her

Last Sunday, the Ware family went up to Larch Mountain.  Our plan was to jog up the closed street until we reached the snow so we could build a snowman.  In theory, it was a beautiful plan.  As we started to jog, I’m sure it was less than 5 minutes before I was convinced my lungs were bleeding, a combination of asthma and the altitude ;) (It had nothing to do with the fact that I’m used to jogging on a treadmill in a cozy gym in front of the TV).  Adam was pushing a 32+ pound baby in a jogger, I have no idea how he was doing it.  So we walked/jogged for about two miles and didn’t quite reach the snow.  As we decided to stop where we were and build a miniature snowman out of the snow piled in the ditch on the side of the road, it started to pour down rain.

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So, soaking wet, we definitely jogged the two miles back to the car, without stopping, which was fabulous since it was downhill the entire way!  I could have used some wipers for me face though!  And throughout all of this we managed not to get shot since the only other person out there in the forest with us was a gunman who was engaging in an illegal target practice, we love the back country!

Happy Holidays to You and Yours!!

Love,

Adam, Gina, Rohm, Bea Bea, and the Kitties too!

Happy Mothers Day – Part 3

Hey everyone.  Can’t believe it’s been so long since we posted; thought it was a good time for an update on all of us.  Seems like it was a million years ago that we were posting the pictures of Gina pregnant with Rohm on Mothers Day 2007.  This will be our third Mothers Day with Rohm (counting the one when she was in Gina’s belly).  Happy Mother’s day to all the mothers, grandmothers, and great-grandmothers out there; we have more respect and gratitude for all you than we ever have had before.  Here are the updates on everyone.

Rohm (the only one you really want an update on) is an amazing little person.  She is really independent and can entertain herself without needing our constant attention.  This is very nice because it allows us to do things like update the family blog while she is up and about.  She is also incredibly well-behaved, which is obviously testament to Gina’s methodology.  Rohm will constantly cleanup after herself, follow instructions and requests, and generally just act well.

Rohm is constantly learning how to do new things right now; rake the lawn, turn on the tv, turn door knobs, take socket protectors out of the sockets, set the table to feed Bea imaginary food, etc.  She watches us and repeats.  Right now she is puting her baby doll in a car seat that is in our living room – buckles and straps and all.

Gina is doing very well.  Things are popping at Popina’s so that is keeping her busy out of our home.  In the home Gina runs the show so Rohm can be happy and Dad can focus more of his time on SwellPath.

Speaking of SwellPath, it is thriving, and keeping me incredibly busy.  Check out our updated site if you have a chance, SwellPath.com.  That really is all I’ve been up to besides the time I spend with Rohm, Gina, and Bea.

Oh, did I forget an update on Bea?  Bea is doing quite well – filling out nicely thanks to Rohm’s generousity at meal time.  Bea is looking forward to the annual Pug Crawl, which happens next weekend.  We still haven’t decided on a costume for this year, but we’ll make sure we get some photos.

Here are a couple of new videos, Gina claims to be planning to upload more, but don’t hold your breath.  Remember, we’re always uploading photos and videos to our Flickr account: We’re always available on Skype for a video call, for those of you that have figured it out.  Rohm got to meet her great-grandparents, Great-Gommy and Great-Papa, last month via a Skype call with Aunt Cathy.  It was really fun, and Rohm hammed it up for them.  Happy Mothers Day everyone, lots of love from the Northwest.

Doing Yard Work

Cooking It Up

Post-Plunge Update

Today was the Polar Plunge and Team SwellPath made quite a splash (yes, I recognize that’s a horrible pun).  I was totally outdone by my business partner in the costume category.  But I didn’t care when I hit the 40-degreee water.  It was way colder than I expected, and way colder than any winter surf-session I’ve ever had.  Next year I might wear a wetsuit and disguise it with some kind of costume.  Those of you that wanted to be sure I “paid” for your donations with pain, can be assured that I definitely did.

We raised about $900 between the two of us, and we’re going to boost that up to $1000 with our own donation.  Big, big, big thanks to everyone that donated.  The entire event raised about $120k for Special Olympics Oregon, so it was great to put forth a big chunk of that.  As promised, I am providing pictures below.

In other news, life is moving along out here in PDX.  Rohm is quite a toddler now.  She does a lot of signing, and a fair amount of talking.  Some of it we understand, and some we don’t.  She isn’t putting multiple words together or anything like that, but she is a lot more chatty.  She physically is about 8 months ahead of most kids her age in size, and she is pretty active.  Up and down on tables, chairs, stairs, and everything else in the house.

Gina is staying busy managing Poppina’s and taking care of Rohm, Bea, the house, cats, and everything but the garbage pretty much.  Poppina’s seems to be a weird anomoly in the current economic climate; business is strong despite the fact that they’re selling swimsuits in Portland in the winter in a recesscion.  Go figure.

Business is going well for SwellPath also.  We moved into our first office space in a cool 100-year-old building in the heart of the Pearl.  We’ve signed some pretty big clients, and we’re starting to bring on a small staff to help us the work.  We’re “cautiously optimistic” about things, but pleased with the results so far.

Hope everyone is doing well around the world.  We are hoping that we can get back on a regular schedule of making visits back to Chicago and everywhere else now that things are starting to get a little more stable for us.  So hopefully we’ll get a chance to see most of you all this summer, or at least by year-end.  As promised, here are the pics from the Plunge.  Take care everyone.

Pre-Plunge PoseIMG_3127IMG_3128IMG_3129IMG_3131IMG_3134Sexy DuckTeam SwellPath at the Polar PlungeIMG_3138IMG_3139IMG_3147IMG_3148IMG_3149IMG_3150Team SwellPath waiting to PlungePolar Plunge Waiting LineIMG_3154IMG_3156IMG_3157IMG_3159Making the PlungeIMG_3161IMG_3162IMG_3163IMG_3164IMG_3165IMG_3166

Happy New Year: Blasts, Presents, and Plunges

Happy New Year everyone!  Hope that everyone had a great holiday season and that 2009 is off to a great start for everyone.  We had an awesome Christmas, despite the “Arctic Blast” that hit Oregon, the media blast that accompanied it, and the delays it caused with gifts arriving from everyone.  Rohm had a much better time than her first Christmas, except the Santa visit of course.  Anyway, there are plenty of new photos and videos up on Flickr.

In other news, I’m jumping into the Columbia River on February 21st to support Special Olympics Oregon.  If you can spare a few bucks for a charitable cause, click here to make a pledge.  I’m trying to raise $500, so every little bit helps.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Reading Books IReading Books IIReading Books IIIAiring out my Bottom IAiring out my Bottom IIMe & LutieMe & Lutie IIMe & Lutie IIIBubble Bath IBubble Bath IIBubble Bath IIIHanging out with Dad's RiceEating Mashed Potatoes

I feel like I just emailed everyone recently but we have a lot of exciting news.

First of all, Adam quit his job at Ryz and partnered up with another guy named John who has an agency called SwellPath Interactive.  Swellpath is an internet marketing agency offering innovative business solutions in the ever-evolving online environment.  So Adam is now basically a consultant who works with this guy and a little on his own.  It was kind of a leap of faith but so far it’s been a really good thing.  I’m really proud of Adam for taking that leap and I have no doubt that he will be great at what he does (even though he doesn’t think I know what he does and he’s kind of right).

We have also decided to move back into our very small house in NE.  But, I am very excited about this.  Although it may be small I know that we can make it into a great little home for our family.  And yes, we’re moving again.  It’s been about five months so we figured we do it again.  I was thinking about opening my own moving company; I’ve pretty much got it down to a science by now!!

Speaking of opening my own business, I am actually going to open a little, teeny, tiny daycare at the house.  I figure if I’m sitting at home with Rohm all day, we should make a little cash doing it and it’ll be good for Rohm to have some buddies (Bea’s just not cutting it anymore, the licking gets really old).  So that will be fun too.

As for Rohm, she has just made so many new milestones since the last time we emailed all of you.  She’s completely walking now!!  At first she took these really wide, giant steps and she would only take a few at a time and then fall.  Then, just last Friday, she just walks everywhere!  She figured out to take these small teeny tiny steps and balances herself on anything she can find.  But she is definitely into walking!!  It’s very cute.  She also cut her third tooth.  It’s the top right tooth and I think the other one is about to pop out too.  She is also very into following directions.  If we ask her to do something she seems to understand what it is that we are saying to her.  For example, the other day I was combing my hair and I then handed her the comb and told her to brush her hair and she did.  She then decided she needed to brush her dolls hair too!!  Monkey see, monkey do!  Her first word is Hi.  And she likes to say it to the cat, Luta, the most.  Her other favorite thing to do now is take her clothes off while she’s suppose to be napping!  So far all she can do is slip her arms out of the sleeves but for her that’s good enough and she practices over and over over when it’s naptime.  Oh well.

There are a few new pictures and videos up on flickr, check them out!

Anyways, that’s it for now.
We love and miss all of you!
Happy Thanksgiving!!
Eat turkey and be well!

All of our Love,
Adam, Gina, Rohm, Bea, & of course the cats too!

Rohm’s a Little Human

Hello Everyone!  It’s been a while and I wanted to give a little update on some of the things that little Rohmmie has been up to.  We went to her one year check up on October 22nd!!  She’s 31 inches long and 24 pounds.  She’s in the following percentiles: head 100%; weight 92%; and height 98%.  She looks like an 18 month old and I need to start buying her 2T clothing since she barely fits in the 18 month clothing.  She still only has two teeth but still eats everything.  Her hair is also starting to fill-in more and grow a little longer; as you might have noticed in the pictures but it still doesn’t cover the hemangie :) .  She is such a little person now, it’s so crazy that she’s not really a baby anymore.  It’s kind of a bummer because it went by so fast and in such a blur that I feel like I missed the whole thing!  I honestly think I’ve been in shock this whole time, I can’t believe Adam and I actually had a baby, and now we have this little person cruising around our house!

Physically:

Rohm took her first steps, on her first birthday, on video!  It was like she had been waiting for that exact moment!  Since then, she stands a lot by herself and will take 2-3 steps by herself but still has a preference for crawling over walking.

Her latest thing is to lay down in the bath tub on her belly and kick her legs like she’s swimming.  And when she’s done with one side, she pops up, turns the other way, lays back down, and kicks in that direction too.  Essentially she’s doing laps in the bathtub without actually moving.  It’s the cutest thing ever and I’ve got a video of it up on flickr so check that out when you can!  It’s posted in the new pictures collection.

The other thing that I found her doing this morning was breaking into her laundry hamper, stealing dirty socks out of it, and then trying to put the socks on her feet!!  I also have pictures of that!

Developmentally:

Rohm is still very independent and does NOT need mom to help her stay entertained; which is good for now because I know that’s about to change.  She likes to put objects in other objects.  And she has started to try to fit herself into her toys.  This is great because it’s exactly what Aunt Liza researches and it’s fun to watch Rohm do it.  I have a few pictures of her in her baby cradle and one of her trying to get into this toy highchair, I’ll have to post them for you to see.

I’ve also noticed that when she finds the remote, she knows to point it towards the TV to turn it on.

She also learned that you need to turn the door knob to open a door.  So the other day she was in her room, standing by her door, and trying to open it but couldn’t reach the door knob.  She got mad and started fussing!  I was impressed because I didn’t know she knew to do that!

Emotionally:

Rohm has become a little love bug.  She likes to snuggle a lot and dad taught her how to give a kiss!  Dad asks for a kiss and Rohm will lean out and give a kiss.  The other night Adam was reading her a story and it said “near and far”, so Adam was pushing the book away for far and pulling it close for near.  When the book came close (and we all know Adam so that meant it was in Rohm’s face) she would kiss it!!!

Gina didn’t have an ending to this, so when I asked her for one, she told me to write one, and to make it cute. So… Happy Halloween from the Wares – go vote.
-Adam

Rohm is 1 Year Old!

Birthday Girl

Rohm turned 1 and we’re just now blogging about it.  Blame it on football, MLB playoffs, school, work, rain, and anything else that sounds like a decent excuse.  Here’s Gina’s write up:

We had a blast on Rohm’s first birthday. Gommy and Aunt D flew all the way in from Chicago to celebrate with us. We had a family celebration in the morning which included opening presents and watching the video from the hospital. At 3:53 pm we toasted to the moment that changed our lives forever. And later on we had a few friends over for dinner. It was a fantastic time! And thanks Gommy and Aunt D for making such a delicious dinner for everyone!!

And of course pictures are here.  There are a bunch of other new photos up in the Flickr account, including today’s trip to the pumpkin patch.  Hope everyone is doing well.

11 Month Mark

Hi Everyone!

I feel like it’s been a while since I last sent out an update so I thought I would send a quick email about what little miss Rohmmie has been up to lately.

Physically:
So it’s official, the countdown to the one year mark has begun.  She’s actually starting to look long, like a toddler, and not so much like a baby anymore.  And please note that I said ‘long’ and not ‘lean.’  She still has her chubby little legs, and chubby little arms, and round little cheeks.  She will walk while she’s holding onto something like the furniture or her walker but she has yet to walk while holding onto our hands.  Since she’s mobile, she’s pretty much into everything.  But I mostly find her opening the door to the dog crate and crawling into there.  She’ll usually do this for fifteen minutes every morning, it just hasn’t gotten old yet.  She has also started to crawl up the stairs to the playroom.  I think there are around 16 steps and she goes all the way up by herself.  It’s her new favorite thing to do, when she thinks of it.  (The steps are out of sight so they’re mostly out of mind, well for now, at least.)  She still has only two teeth.  We took the pacie away around 10 months and that went pretty well.  She still drinks out of her bottle but that will start to make it’s disappearance around a year.  And she still eats everything.  And I do mean everything.

Socially:
Little Rohmmie goes to daycare two days a week.  It’s an in-home daycare that was recommended by a friend of a friend.  She seems to like it.  She never cries when I drop her off and they always tell me what a wonderful baby she is.  The woman who runs the place, Aunt Gene, always says, ‘she’s just as good as gold!’  There is another girl there that’s a month younger than her and they like to hang out together.  One day, they were spotted holding hands while they were sitting in their highchairs!  How cute is that?  She has also learned how to dance at daycare!  I’ve been trying to get a good video of it but haven’t been successful yet.

Intellectually:
There has been a change in Rohm’s interactions with the environment around her that has made me notice how she is cognitively developing.  It’s been really fun to watch and it makes me really happy that I’m at home with her.  The other day Adam and I had company over and we were sitting in the living room.  In the middle of our conversation, Rohm crawled over to the door, pointed up at it, looked at us, and then grunted!  She wanted to go somewhere!  (And yes she grunts, dad taught her how to do this.  She doesn’t talk, or sign, she grunts!)  When I tell her it’s time to eat, she’ll crawl into the kitchen because she knows what that means and she certainly doesn’t want to miss a meal!  And just today, we were watching one of her videos and she crawled off my lap and into the kitchen.  When I asked her what she was doing, she pointed and grunted and kept crawling.  Then I followed her up to the playroom.  I think she must have seen a toy in the video that reminded her of one of her toys and that’s why see bee lined to the playroom!  She’s just a lot more aware of her surroundings and how to manipulate things and she’s starting to learn how to communicate!!  So the gist of it is, is that she’s staring to act a lot like a toddler too!!

Anyways, I’ve signed up for some music and art classes in the fall.  I’m still hoping to meet other moms with babies Rohm’s age so I can socialize too.  I’m back working two days a week at Popina’s (the swimsuit store) and I’m really happy to be doing that as well!

Hope all is well with you and yours!
Lots of love,
Hugs & Kiss,
Adam, Gina, Rohm, Bea, and of course, Lutie & Dudie