Easter Weekend - Part I

Easter Weekend was packed with family and fun!  Starting off with Saturday.  Lee volunteered to make BBQ (pork and chicken) and cole slaw for the cookout at the Pfleckl's house.  So, he set the alarm and got up at 5AM to get the smoker started!  I know, crazy right?  While I was sleeping, I could smell the charcoal and smoke coming in our bedroom window from the deck below.  Definitely crazy, but definitely worth it!  He got the pork and chicken on the smoker around 5:30 and they just smoked away for the rest of the day.  We headed over around 3:30 with all the food in tow.  Everybody was hungry!  Good thing too!  That was a lot of meat! 

The weather was absolutely spectacular on Saturday and the kids (and adults) took advantage of the back yard and played every type of "ball" sport there is!  I think everyone was pretty tired by the end of the day!  Here are a few pictures from the day!

Visit with the Glessners

This past weekend wasn't the nicest of weekends.  We had a lot of rain and not-so-warm temperatures.  Andrew's baseball practice was canceled on Saturday so Lee took advantage of having the whole day and went to Wegmans first thing in the morning to buy groceries and MEAT to smoke!!  He spent the day out on the deck (it was warm when the sun was out) smoking a brisket and some ribs.  This was our first experience with brisket, both cooking it and eating it.  We weren't totally impressed, but Lee will do some research to figure out the best way to prepare it.  I spent the day doing more organizing around the house and more importantly, getting rest! 

Sunday morning Lee got up and headed out to Fountainhead Regional Park to shoot another EX2 Adventures Backyard Burn running race.  There is one more of these left in the series and that will be on April 11th.  He is working with Swim Bike Run Photography and having a blast!  After he got home, we headed over to Stefany and John's for the afternoon!  I have known Stefany since middle school and within the past 2 years we have gotten close again.  She has been SO generous with baby things and baby advice since we found out we were pregnant.  She and John enjoy photography and have a lovely home in Great Falls where they see a lot of wildlife.  They want to be able to capture those perfect moments on camera and asked if Lee would come by and work with them on some of the settings and techniques with their camera.  While outside, Lee snapped a bunch of photos of their dog Raven, their son Ethan, Andrew and me.  Take a look!

Stefany with her camera

Raven (yes, named after the NFL team - Stefany was a cheerleader for the Ravens)

Awwwww

Yowsa!  37 weeks!

Lee has also started a photography blog!  You can check it out at http://blog.leediehrphotography.com/!

Ella's 1st Birthday

I've known my friend Leslie since 8th grade when we cheered on the Broncos together!  Yep, those were the days.  We became good friends that year and in high school.  2 years ago, we began planning our "13" year reunion from PVHS!  We had a great time catching up on all the years we had missed and have become good friends again.  Leslie's daughter Ella turned 1 on March 19th and they had a "Pretty Pink Princess" party for her on the 21st.  Lee and I headed over (I wore pink.....Lee did not) and had a great time!  They had TONS of food and a gorgeous cake that one of Leslie's friends made for the occasion!  Meanwhile, Lee was trigger happy with the camera and got some pretty fun shots of all the kids that were there!  And trust me, there were a LOT of them!

Awesome Princess Cake!

Leslie and the birthday princess Ella!

Stefany's daughter Sarah

Lots o' babies!!!

Lee snapped this one of me on our way out...36 weeks in this shot!

The Office Baby Shower

**Photos posted**

Today, our office folks threw a shower for Lee and me.  It was so nice!!  Since both of us work here, my department and his department got together to plan and put it all together.  The snacks consisted of various types of chips with dip, strawberries, grapes, chocolate chip cookies and a pretty cake!!  Lee and I were front and center in the auditorium to open the gifts.  Talk about being the center of attention!  Both groups got together and got us the wonderful bedding for Baby Girl's crib and our video monitor for her room.  One of our co-workers put together a wonderful diaper cake and gave us the leftover diapers in a bag with some bath items!  Baby Girl made out with a few handmade blankets, a lot of onesies and sleepers, outfits and some stuffed animals.  She is one lucky girl!!  Because the party was for us, Lee didn't get the opportunity to take pictures, but one of my co-workers snapped a few shots.  I will post those at a later time!! 

We are lucky to have such wonderful co-workers!!!!

I stole this idea......

My good friend Leah just wrote a blog on how to pronounce her name.  Check this out here.  I thought this was very clever, so I'm going to do something similar.  Of course, anyone reading my blog would already know this information, but writing it down makes me feel better.

First off, my name is Kathleen.  Not KATHY, not Katherine, not Katie (although my parents were calling me this for a few days when I was born....obviously, didn't stick).  It happens SO often at work when I meet people.  I clearly introduce myself as Kathleen and I am pretty confident in my enunciation skills that I'm sure they hear me, however they clearly aren't listening or they just don't care.  5 mintues after meeting with people I'll get an email "Dear Kathy - it was great meeting you today....."  Really?  If you really thought it was great meeting me, you may have decided to catch my name!  I make a point to correct people even if it is in a round-about way.  See, my signature block for my email says "Kathleen R. Diehr" but sometimes I feel the need to close with "Thanks, Kathleen" just to let them know.  This, however, does not work.  I have actually written back and said "Thanks for the note, however, my name is Kathleen".  It does depend on the person who sent the email though.  I'm not writing that to one of our high up consultants who works with our CEO!  I can undersand the reverse of this though.  If I were to write an email to Lee for the first time and I looked him up in our company directory, I may address the email to Robert because that is his legal first name.  This would not be incorrect.  However, after I did this, if he wrote back and closed with Lee, I would have to make a note that this is his preferred "call sign".  But, if somebody sees Robert and decides, "what the hell"  I'll just call him Bob.  Well, that's just wrong.  Don't assume people have nicknames!!!

On to my last name.  Growing up, Greeley was just TOO hard for people to handle.  I've seen it spelled a billion different ways, Greeky beeing my favorite.  But why do people insist on putting an "n" in there?  It's not GreeNley!!!  So, as much of a pain that was, try being a Diehr and being called Dear all the time!  Where that is a nice gesture, I know that people are just mispronouncing my name and it not just a form of flattery!  I definitely understand this one is a little tough, but to clear it up for those of you who may not know or are afraid to simply ask, it's "Die Er".  Hope this helps! 

So, thanks Leah for giving me the idea because otherwise, I wouldn't know when my next post would come!!!

Thanks,
Kathleen

Baby Shower with Friends and Family

Saturday was my "Family & Friends" baby shower.  The day started off a little rough however.  Mom, Dad and Rosemary all woke up sick on Saturday.  And when I say sick, I mean sick.  Dad was better off than Mom and Rosemary and was able to make it downstairs to say a quick hello and head down to the "man cave" to enjoy some sports with Jerry (Cousin Jackie's husband).  So, needless to say, I had a rough morning knowing my own mother would not be able to attend my baby shower.  I had a minor breakdown, but had to pull it together because I knew the shower would still be fabulous, and boy was I right!!! 

I first had to go to the salon to get my hair cut.  The last time my hair was cut was when I had 10" chopped off the first weekend of August!!!  So, I obviously needed a little something done!  After my hair appointment, I headed back home and got ready so Lee could drop me off for my big party!!!  We got there and Maureen walked me around to show me all the decor!  I didn't know the theme of my shower until I got there!  It was a "Storybook Shower".  What a fantastic idea!!!  All the food was named after different storybooks.

The menu:

"1 fish, 2 fish, Red fish, Blue fish" punch 

"Peter Rabbit's" garden veggie Platter

"Madeleine in Paris" baked brie

"Jack and the Beanstalk" salad

"Green Eggs..." (mini-quiches)"...and Ham" (make your own ham sammies)

"Chicken Little" tarts

"Old MacDonald and Cheese" 

"The Very Hungry Caterpillar" fruit kabobs

"The Velveteen Rabbit" cake

"If you give a Mouse a Cookie" chocolate chip cookies

The food was fabulous and everyone seemed to really enjoy it!!  After everyone filled their bellies with all the wonderful food, it was time for presents!!!  Maureen went upstairs to check on mom to see if she might be able to at least watch me open my gifts from upstairs, but she was just so sick.  But, as they say, "The Show Must Go On".....so it did! 

I am so thankful for such wonderful family and friends.  The amount of gifts this little girl got on Saturday is just so unbelievable!  I don't even know how to thank everyone!!!  Here are just a few of the pictures of the gift opening extravaganza!!!!!

It was so much fun opening all the fabulous gifts from everyone who attended!  I can't believe how many books Baby Girl will get to read!!  Lee is thinking up a plan for bookshelves as I type!  Since all the guests were asked so bring a book in lieu of a card, Baby Girl ended up with a TON of books.  Some people brought more than one!  I can't wait to start reading them all to her!!  And for favors, Ami put together some beautiful bookmarks for everyone to take home with them!

It was wonderful catching up with old and new friends!!

Work Peeps!

The PVHS Class of '95 Clan!

The only two things missing from this fantastic party were Mom and Rosemary.  I was so sad they couldn't be there, but the shower was still a wonderful success!!

Thanks to Mom, Maureen, Ami, Jackie and Anne!  XOXO!

33 weeks and this and that.....

As of today, I am 33 weeks and 5 days along......seems like yesterday we were having to keep our little girl a secret!  Now, she'll be here in a month and a half!  Unreal!!  Things are definitely starting to come together at the house.  Lee put the crib together a few weeks ago and he will paint this weekend!!  Meanwhile, we've been doing a lot of organizing in the house so her nursery will be all set when she gets here! 

She has been moving around like crazy.  There is no question she will be a restless little one!  Although, all her movements are during the day, so I think she has her nights and days figured out!  Yay!! 

My first shower is on Saturday and I can't wait!!  Lots of friends and family will be there and it will be fabulous!!  I'll be sure to have somebody take a ton of pictures so I can do a blog about my shower before Maureen does!!  To hold you over, Lee took a picture of me at 32 weeks, so here it is!

This weekend, I'm hoping to have more photos taken so I can update my belly "bump/mountain" pictures!!

Valentine's Day

Here is a little insight into why Lee and I don't celebrate Valentine's Day.  First, we tell each other every day that we love each other, so it's not like we need a day to prompt us!!

Year 1 - February 14, 2001 - Dinner Cruise

This was our first V-day together, so Lee was so sweet and bought tickets for us to go on a dinner cruise on the Spirit of Washington.  Trust me, I was very excited and thought this was so great!!  We got dressed up and headed downtown to get on the boat.  It was FREEZING outside, so we definitely had to stay inside the boat.  Which would normally be fine because the boat is basically one big window.  So, seeing DC at night wouldn't be a problem!  Or would it???  The windows were so fogged up because of the warmth inside and the frigid temps outside, so we couldn't see anything!  We decided to go up on the deck so we could at least take in the sights.....uh, it was so windy and cold, forget about it!!  We came back in and got seated for dinner.  We felt like we were in a cafeteria.....packed in right next to another couple on one side and another on the other side.  Basically, it was a dinner for 400, not 2.  The food was horrible as well.  Not that we really were expecting something spectacular, but at least edible would've been nice!  Then the dancing began.....we felt like we were at a really bad wedding where nobody would get started dancing and it took a conga line to get people up (not these two people!!).  It ended up being like Dance Party USA with horrible techno music and really raunchy dancing.  I thought we were on a romantic dinner cruise?  Guess not.  But I digress.....the best part of the night came when the ship's chef came out and demonstrated how to make Bananas Foster. 

Looks great huh??  Well, this is what it looked like when the chef made it!!  We were so excited to bite into this delectable delight!  Then, the waiter came by and brought us this: 

Yes, that's right.....a piece of banana bread.  Um, what??  Needless to say, we were none too pleased.  Don't get me wrong, banana bread can be very tasty (this one was not) but when you were expecting to have wonderfully prepared Bananas Foster, this was a huge let down.  All in all, the dinner cruise was quite a disaster and neither one of us was too thrilled about it.  It was a wonderful thought, but just didn't work out.

Year 2 - February 14, 2002 - Basketball

Where Lee isn't the biggest basketball fan, he has always had much respect and admiration for Michael Jordan.  When MJ returned to the NBA (again) as a Washington Wizard, I decided it would be a great idea to buy tickets for Lee to see him in action!  So, I got online and found tickets to a home game right around Valentine's Day.  A few days before the game we would be attending, MJ got hurt.  Yep, messed up his knee.  We got to the game and watched him warm up with the team, but really, the only thing we got to see during the game was him conditioning his knee on the sidelines on an exercise bike!  Awesome!  Strike 2!

Year 3 - February 14, 2003 - Japanese Steakhouse

A great Japanese Steakhouse in Gainsville opened up this year and Lee made reservations for us to enjoy a great meal.  We got there that night only to find out that even though we had a reservation, we still had to wait for a table to open up.  They told us there was a 1 1/2 to 2 hour wait!  Um, are we in a Seinfeld episode here??  So, with enough arguing about the fact we had a reservation for a specific time, they sat us.  They sat us alright!!!  Right on top of the people next to us.  We were crammed into an already full table.  Awesome!  But, where else would we go?  It was Valentine's Day and no restaurant would be open unless we felt like Subway or something!  So, we stuck it out.  And, the food wasn't even good!  SWEET!

Year 4 - February 14, 2004 - Jeffrey Gaines

Jeffrey Gaines quickly became one of our favorite artists when he opened for Tracy Chapman at Wolf Trap.  His voice was just amazing so we began following him and learning when he would play locally again.  Turned out, he would be playing in February at the Barns at Wolf Trap.  We were so excited because the Barns is a really small indoor concert hall over at Wolf Trap where you get wonderful acoustics and are so close to the stage.  Well, as luck would have it, a snow storm blew into town and the concert was canceled because Jeffrey was stuck in Baltimore and couldn't get there.  Rock on!

Year 5 - February 14, 2005 - The final straw

We decided that we were no longer going to make any kind of plans because as you can see, they didn't exactly work out for us!  So, I decided I would just make it simple and get Lee a card.  I was at Wegmans doing some grocery shopping and picked up a card for him.  As you know, they always put greeting cards in their own little bag so that they don't get ruined, so when I went outside to put my groceries in the car, I picked up a bag of groceries and the wind picked up the card that was being held down by that particular bag and carried it clear across the parking lot!  Ok, I'm done!  It is just NOT meant to happen!!!!!

So, therein lies the reason we do not celebrate Valentine's Day!!!  You shouldn't have to put so much effort into telling your loved one how much they mean to you.  So, we just say it every day and we both know how much we mean to each other!!!