A day in the life of...

Codename "Peanut"...

2008-04-23T21:53:00.005-05:00

Our new addition to the family is coming real soon. Lisa is scheduled to go in on May 2nd at 7:15am. Everyone is excited, especially Bryce. He's been wanting a little brother for a while now. We appreciate all the gifts we've received and will be using everything we received.

Bryce started the "Peanut" codename after Lisa came home from one of her appointments with ultrasound pictures. Bryce asked how big the new baby is...and Lisa said, "about the size of a peanut". Bryce started to call little guy "Peanut" and it stuck.

Bryce is starting T-Ball this spring. He and I have been practicing in the backyard. Lisa and I bought him a glove and T-Ball set for his birthday and he can finally use it.

We wish everyone the best and hope to have pictures soon.

Slacker...

2008-04-13T21:34:00.003-05:00

Slacking on blogging isn't anything new, especially for me. I've updated the photos as I noticed we didn't even have Christmas out there. I've also included Lisa's recent baby shower, Easter, etc. I'll try and be more proactive, yet life keeps you busy. We're anticipating the new addition and excitement is building every day.

Blogging, Twitter and hip kids...

2008-04-03T00:54:00.003-05:00

So, I setup another blog for techie coding crap at minibs.com. I signed up for Twitter per my pal Dustin, who I found out today has a blog at dustinbrooks.com. What's with all this plugged-in digital-age, gee-whiz-bang stuff? Do I have time for all this, work, gaming, reading, learning, playing with my son, talking with my wife, seeing movies and hanging out with friends? Yes, life has priorities and balance, for sure.

Halloween...new family photo...and fun...

2007-11-06T22:13:00.000-06:00

Reminder: Keep checking the pictures section for updates!

Halloween was fun. Bryce and I went door to door with his buddy Sam and my friend Shawn. The boys got a boatload of candy and were hyped on sugar the entire night. We chowed on pizza ahead of the hunt and walked it off. Bryce was Raphael (the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle) and Sam was Spiderman. We carved pumpkins at my mother's house with the family and the Atz family. It's become a yearly tradition. Pictures are in the Halloween 2007 section.

Lisa had another appointment and the baby is doing well and so is she. She's now thirteen weeks along and feeling good overall. She's past the first trimester and it seems we may be having a boy. The ultrasound showed a boy according to the doctor's office. It's still to early to be sure, but we're just excited and want the little one to be healthy, regardless of the sex.

Bryce is still doing well in school and has fun hanging out at Grandma Swiger's during the day. He's into his Transformers, Lincoln Logs, Legos and now Star Wars...because his buddy across the street, Quinten, is big into Star Wars.

Spice is still her sleepy self. She sleeps in our bed on Sunday mornings as a treat. She's been getting stiff, walking around...because of the cold weather. She doesn't like winter just like her mother.

The new addition...

2007-10-16T00:38:00.000-05:00

We have exciting family news. Lisa is pregnant with our second child. She's due in May of 2008. I've uploaded the first ultrasound pictures. Her next appointment is October 30th and we're getting more ultrasound pictures this time around. They also have the new 3D color ultrasound machine now, so we'll get some slick shots of the little one. Watch this site for updates on the little one's progress!

Making the move...

2007-10-12T22:36:00.000-05:00

First, my surgery went very well and I'm healing up just fine. Life has been going well and I've been busy keeping up...

Second, I've moved on from Ancillary Care Management to an advanced opportunity with Sogeti. This is my first time consulting, yet I feel it is a great opportunity and I look forward to the challenges ahead. I've experienced a few projects already since I've been in the position for two weeks. I've met lots of new people and am feeling confident about my decision to make a move at this point in my life.

Lisa is busy with work and has been doing well. She has excelled quickly in her position and enjoys working at First Data.

Bryce is having fun in preschool and enjoys soccer and gymnastics. He's learning and growing quickly. He's a very good kid and I'm very proud of his achievements. We have fun watching Ben 10, Avatar and SpongeBob cartoons together. He's getting to the age where he is able to play action figures with Dad...and that's always a fun time. We've had to buy him a second set of toy bins because of his expanding collection. He's now a big four and we love him very much.

Spice is harassing Ellie as usual. She is still sleeping a lot and gets her weekly baths. She has fun during the day playing at my mother's house. She comes home and just sleeps...so she must be tired for all the playing during the day, I guess.

We're looking forward to Halloween. So far, Bryce is going to be a Ninja Turtle. He's big into the Ninja Turtles with the new movie coming out this year and of course, the multitude of actions figures he's obtained.

Today is the day...

2007-09-05T06:57:00.000-05:00

Today is the day of my laparoscopic cholecystectomy. It's a common procedure to remove the gallbladder. My understanding is that it has been causing me abdominal pains and other digestive issues. I sure hope this fixes a lot of things.

I'll be going to the hospital at 9am and going into the operating room around 10:30am. I should be out in about two hours depending on what occurs during surgery.

I'm nervous but confident in my surgeon and staff at UNMC. I have had prior surgery there and was really surprised and appreciative of the care and explanations the staff provided for the procedure. I will be out of work for a week recovering and will probably use that time to study for my MCPD.

Wish me luck...

Time to go wake up my son and get him dressed for pre-school.

Update: Thursday, September 6, 2007, 11:41 am : I survived and am doing well. I'm very sore and can barely walk. I'm at home recovering and checking email and sleeping. I am looking to work from home or head back to work next Wednesday. The procedure was only a half hour and my doctor and nurses were great. Dr. James Scott and his staff did a wonderful job and were highly appreciated. I think my percocet and ibuprofen is helping with the pain.

My Dog, Spice

2007-09-02T01:24:00.000-05:00

Spice Joe Swiger (miniature pinscher) was born December 1, 1999. She has been our original baby before we had Bryce in 2003. She is a great dog and member of our family. Having a dog is a great experience, as every dog owner knows. Spice is our special puppy that brings great fun and character to our family.

Likes: Walks, sun beams, treats, petted, outdoors, napping, bugging her buddy Ellie

Dis-likes: Baths, back feet touched, Bryce chasing her, vacuum cleaners, slick floors

Finally, to tie it back to software development (what I do for a living), it reminds me of polymorphism, a fundamental concept in object-oriented programming.

Dog extends Animal
Animal is a superclass of Dog
Dog is a subclass of Animal
Dog inherits from Animal
Dog overrides the play() method
Dog adds one new method, bark()

Adventure In Kansas City

2007-08-28T18:17:00.000-05:00

We ventured out to the Great Wolf Lodge on the 22nd for two days. Bryce had a great time and loves swimming. He's attended swim lessons over the summer and is a great swimmer. We all had fun on the water slides and rafts. We also headed to Legends and ate at the T-Rex restaurant. Bryce enjoyed the food and fun, so we ended up at the restaurant the second night as well.

Of course, we took several pictures of the fun. Enjoy!

About me...

2007-08-27T13:33:00.000-05:00

Name: Brian Swiger
Location: Nebraska
Status: Married (to my beautiful wife, Lisa)
Children: One, almost 4 year old (my boy, Bryce)
Occupation: Software Engineer/Architect (government, healthcare, financial, engineering/architecture)
Hobbies: Bowling, pool, computer/console gaming, networking/computers
Passion: Life. Developing solid, maintainable, solutions that are value-add to a business. It's my job to be a technology solution provider by understanding the business and utilizing the right technology to solve a real-world business problem. Always striving to learn new technologies, languages, hardware, etc.