September 9th, 2008
So I have been on a blogging vacation lately. I use to post monthly updates with pictures and all. I have been a bit lax to say the least.
So what has been going on… lots. We went on vacation to Kaylea’s family home in the Pocono’s, then to her father’s house. From there we went took Patrick to his first real amusment park (Dutch Wonderland), and his first ride on a steam train (Strousburg Railroad). We relaxed, and had a great time.
I am now teaching at CCAC on Thursday evenings. I was hired right after we got back from Vacation to teach Intro to Programming at the West Mifflin Campus. In addition I am still working at my full time job, and working on smaller projects with friends.
Earlier this summer we saw Dinosaurses at the Carneige Museaum, and visited with family. I have posted a small sample of our pictures below. You can see the rest at http://bsimbeck.smugmug.com.
Posted in Family, Travels, Updates | 2 Comments »
June 4th, 2008
Okay so lets talk for a few minutes about the last few days. First Kaylea was sick, so sick that she needed to go to the hospital for two days of IV antibiotics. She is home. It wasn’t anything serious but just major enough to annoy everyone. But, before that the drain to the kitchen sink broke. Now that was fixed before Kaylea came home from the hospital. Then last night at 11pm while I was filling the water pitcher and Kaylea was rinsing off some dished, I find another small river coming from underneath my kitchen sink. Now my cold water line was spraying all over the underside of my kitchen sink! Oh and for today… 2 to 3 inches of rain in the Pittsburgh Area, GAHHHHH!
Posted in Apartment, Problems, Rants | 2 Comments »
April 6th, 2008
Well Kaylea and I spend a few days going though photos from 2007 and we have put together a photo album. You can purchase it from LuLu which is my self-publisher of choice. You can puchase the album here for approx. $36 US.
http://www.lulu.com/content/2306335
We will also link to it on the left.
Posted in Family, Pictures | No Comments »
March 12th, 2008
We had Patrick’s 18 month appointment yesterday, and all is well. As a matter of fact they told us that he is at 2 to 2 1/2 year old from a developmental perspective. So here are the vital stats and some pictures:
32 inches long
22.14 pounds
As always more photos are available here.
Posted in Branden, Family, Patrick | No Comments »
February 29th, 2008
Well, we have a new look! Look for more frequent updates in the future, too.
Things have been very hecktic around the Simbeck Household over the last few months. In Novemeber we all partipated in the Greater Philidelphia Chapter of the ALS Association’s Walk to D’Feet ALS. Our team PopPop’s Patrol raised over $5,000. We also had a bit of tragity in November as well. On November 21st Kaylea’s Grandfather lost his battle with ALS, as one might expect it cast a bit shadow over the holiday season, however we did our best and pulled through.
Patrick had a wonderful Christmas away from home. We spent Christmas with Kaylea’s family, and while it is always a lot of running, we all had a great time, and got lots of great gifts.
The new year brought about many new things for all of us. My company has moved from just outside of Pittsburgh, to just inside the city. This puts me about 10 minutes closer to Kaylea’s work and Patrick’s daycare.
Kaylea has just started into a new position at her work, which hasn’t been without its challenges. And all of this then comes with a new schedule which is working out well for us.
The last big change this year is that I have been elected President of the Board for Project PCOS. Project PCOS is a non-profit organsation that I help found last year with my friends Ashley Tabeling, Linda Harvey, Tarra Hartl and Tammy Dolak. We also have an old friend from another PCOS organsation we use to work with on our board too Stephine Crites.
There are many exciting things going on, keeping us busy so we will do our best to keep you updated. I have posted some pictures of the holidays as well as some more recent ones below. As always you can find all of our pictures in our photo gallery
Posted in Branden, Family, Health, Kaylea, Patrick, Updates | 1 Comment »
September 12th, 2007
Well we are finally here Patrick is one year old. He had is 1 year check-up last night and got three vacinations. Here are is vital statistics.
Height: 30 inches
Weight: 21lb 5 oz
He had is birthday picture on the TV Tuesday morning, you can click here to see the video.
There was a little celebration at school during the day Kaylea took some great pictures you can below, the rest are here. After the doctors appoint (and some guilt about torturing the poor child with shots at the doctor’s office on his birthday) we went to Eat n Park for dinner and finally home for another little celebration. Again pictures are available below and here.
He has his party on Saturday so watch for more pictures!
Posted in Birthday, Patrick | No Comments »
August 22nd, 2007
For as long as I can remember, I have been ready for a nap after lunch. In many cases I could nap for hours and still sleep through the night. Working afternoon and evening shifts didn’t really help things, neither did having a baby (that is another story). Finally when Kaylea went in for her routine physical for work, our family doctor said we should both have sleep studies done because we are large people.
I had my first study done in April, and went to a pulmonologist following the study (apparently pulmonologists handle sleep problems) and was diagnosised with RLS or restless leg syndrome. This means that at night my leg muscles twitch which wakes me up. I didn’t really notice it because I was just pulled out REM or dream sleep. I took the meds they gave me for one month and then had a follow-up.
At that follow-up, they decided I need another sleep study, because I still wasn’t sleeping well. I went to that study which was right after we got back from vacation. They diagnosised me with OSA or obstructive sleep apnea, which means that I stop breathing in my sleep because my tongue laps back over my airway. So I got a CPAP machine, but I keep taking my mask off in my sleep and it scares Patrick.
That leads me to today, I went back to the lab and got a new nasal mask, and I am going to see if that works better.
Now dispite all of the trouble I have had so far, have I noticed an improvment in my sleep, and I highly recommend it to anyone who has OSA.
Posted in Branden, Health | No Comments »
August 7th, 2007
This weekend, Kaylea’s cousin Jen got married at Kaylea’s moms. For a quickly planned wedding (Kaylea and Jen’s grandfather has ALS and is deteriorating) it was a very nice wedding and Joy’s house and backyard were well suited for this joyous event.
Kaylea performed a reading and Patrick really enjoyed himself right up to the very end where there was an unfortunate event involving the destruction of some cauliflower from the veggie tray….but we won’t talk about that. 
Of course as with all of our trips lately there was some drama, like a flat tire, torrential downpours and one freaked out baby at a turnpike rest stop but such is life.
Hopefully some pictures soon.
Posted in Family, Travels | No Comments »
May 16th, 2007
Patrick is 8 months old, and doing well! He has two teeth, on the bottom. However, it seems as though there may be more coming in on the bottom. I thought they generally came in a few on the bottom, and then a few on top? Oh well! Anyway, he is still trying to crawl. He has the backward thing working for him, but forward, yeah, not so much. He loves anything that makes noise, lights up, or moves! He is very talkative, and can even say a few words! Patrick can now say: “Daddy” “Ba-Ba” “Ma-Ma” All done” (this one sounds more like Aw-duh), and even “More” (which comes out muh)! He is such a cutie! You can find some of the most recent pictures below. The rest are in the photo gallery.
Can’t wait to see all of you out east!
Posted in Baby, Family, Kaylea, Patrick, Pictures | No Comments »
