Baby Greta, Welcome

She is three months now.. but here's her story:)

It was a Monday at around 6:30AM when I felt the first dull contraction while lying in bed. By 9, they were consistent at 7 minutes apart. We told the girls that they might have a new baby sister today! They ran and told mom who had arrived just the week before. We brought the girls to school and then Dave and I walked to Tiffany & Ryan's for a quick visit and then to Panera for lunch. The contractions are still 7 minutes apart. 

By 3, we were all back home, and Dave and I figured we probably should pack! Finally around 4PM the contractions progressed to 5 minutes apart. I mistakenly answered a work call around this time- if they only knew why I had to cut it short! Things starting picking up quickly at this point. I packed, showered, ate some soup and before I knew it, the contractions were becoming pretty intense and I started thinking we might not make it.

On the way to the hospital I asked Dave to call Jen and Tiffany (who were going to act as my advocates- we termed them my faux-doulas) to let them know it was time! We arrived at Mercy hospital at 7PM and had to go through the admission process and then triage. In triage I was 7cm and my water broke all over the floor! They quickly walked me to my room, and though it was only minutes later, I was now 10cm and ready to go. I refused the strap-on monitor since I did not want to lie down so I had a nurse pressing a stethoscope with what seemed to be all her strength on my abdomen (probably the worst part of the whole thing!). My fave OB was on call and she let me choose my position, surprise! I only pushed for 10 minutes or so (of course it felt like an hour) but soon met my beautiful baby girl!

Everything went so fast once we were in the hospital that when Tiffany came they told her I was still in triage, but the next time she asked, I had already delivered!

Greta Marie Treiber was born on Monday October 20, 2014 at 8:21PM, 8lbs 4oz, 19 3/4 inches.

Here she is today at 3 months old, 11lbs 10 oz!! Time flies!

April Celebrations I: My Annual Celebration

I am obviously still trying to catch up with my posts… My birthday this year was the first one that the girls understood what was going on. It was neat to see them so excited that it was my birthday; and it seemed genuine, not just ecstasy over their own ingestion of cake. There was a slight disruption during gift opening time though when Lucy barged right into almost tearing the first one open (note to my mom: the princess wrapping paper probably didn't help).

When my sister or I had a birthday, my mom would often get the other one of us a small gift to decrease the chances of a sibling meltdown. While naturally I will not have to worry about this on L & S’s birthday, the thought did cross my mind to get them something small on my day. I changed my mind. And it worked just fine. It might be different if there was another sibling in the mix however, especially if she had to watch both her sisters open gifts on the same day.

I started the day walking the girls down to the coffee shop so I could get my birthday drink and goodies. We met Dave down by the harbor around lunch. We did, one of my faves, Indian takeout, and then all had a hand in the creation of my birthday cake. It was a coconut white cake, which had a ‘fancy’ frosting that took about 25 minutes to whip. It was worth it!

Thanks Fam for a great day!

Belated Birthday (Post)

Of course I cannot believe my little girls are already THREE. But we all know and have been told
my many many other parents about how quickly time flies with children. But... I also know that I never really understood it until it happened to me. I still don't understand how time works. When I was a kid time seemed to drag on and on. It seemed to take forever for my birthday to arrive and the same for Christmas. It seemed like the school day would never end, the weekend would never come, I would never become a teenager, and it took centuries to get my drivers license.

My theory was that with so much change, time seemed to spread out because there were so many turning points, so many milestones. But even as a kid, summers still flew by, as did vacations, and holidays... I guess it made sense: summers, vacations, and holidays were glorious, magical times that just made everything extra special and we didn't want them to end.

But how can one life event feel like it happened so long ago but at the same time feel like it was only yesterday?  It seems so long ago that Lucy and Stella were teeny babies, but not that long ago that they were born. My only conclusion is that, as adults, (especially with kids), we are experiencing these things simultaneously. We are experiencing so much change within our children- so many turning points, so many milestones- that can potentially make time seem longer... but there are also so many precious moments that you want to hang on to, whether its an actual vacation or holiday or just a lazy afternoon (the kind that you may not have appreciated when you were young).

Birthday lunch, poolside
next to their private cabana

As we age, as we grow, we learn to appreciate the simple things, the relatively insignificant things... we learn to appreciate these things as the truly glorious, magical times that make life extra special. These things happen every day, all day. It's those lazy afternoons; its those victories whether its potty training or empathy; its a funny joke, its a funny face; its seeing someone else smile; it's feeling wonder; it's fresh air; it's picking tomatoes; it's real vanilla ice cream with a cherry on top...And we don't want these things to end, because we know now that these are the things that are our life. Our beautiful life.

So it makes sense that maybe life can seem like its flying by at times; but while we may never want our personal precious moments to end... if we can have the ability to find magic in our every day- make our own daily turning points, our own daily milestones. Then maybe that, will provide us with enough change every day to make our lives feel a little longer, and if that doesn't work, at least our lives will be that much better as we take note of our surroundings and dig in to enjoy that ice cream.

Stella eating a dirt pie on her Birthday!!

And on another note, we had a bug-themed party for them this year as they are pretty fascinated by these little creatures (I am trying my best to not freak out when there is a creepy crawly). We had plastic bugs everywhere along with bug catcher nets, make-your-own bug boxes, and grandma came with homemade bug skirts (before she even knew about the bug theme), pretty cool!

I can't believe they are TWO!

Everyone says time flies with kids, and I know they are only two, but it feels like it has whizzed by! Of course the weird thing about time is that it also feels like the day they were born was so long ago... how does that work?

We planned a birthday celebration in just a few days and I think we pulled it off. I went park hunting a few days before the big event (on July 22) with the girls in tow. We were looking for a place where we could have a BBQ, that was easy to get to, and had a playground (doesn't sound too hard right?). Well, it was a little more complicated with all the summer festivals and fun-runs going on, translating to neighborhoods and streets blocked off; to top it off I94 was shut down for several miles as well.

Needless to say we made it work. We decided on Minnehaha Falls Park. The Wabun picnic area had everything we wanted and more. There were picnic tables amidst tall trees- not one but two playgrounds right next to each other, and as a bonus, there was a great wading pool with a fountain to boot!

The next challenge we had to conquer was how to make sure we got one of the two picnic areas that I had my heart set on. So... even though the party didn't start until 12, I woke up, got a latte, and headed over to the park at 8:30AM. I got the spot. It's a good thing I did, as about 15 minutes later someone came over and respectfully said she was bummed out because she was aiming for the same place.

I set everything up with table clothes, balloons, flowers, set out the bowls and plastic ware, set up the toy area- then it started to rain. Of course:) I succeeded in getting everything to a dry place and then Dave came to take over the "watching of the table". I went back, got the ladies, and we arrived around 11:30.

Our spot in the park-- I think Luna might be dipping into the cake early!

Stella and Lucy with their birthday boas getting ready to party!

Lucy having her cake and eating it too.

Stella and the huge balloon

The five ladies... kickin' it in the 2 inch deep water at the wading pool

We had a great time! We had a good number of folks that were able to make it- which was great on such short notice:) Thank you to our family and friends, and family friends who came to help us celebrate the big number TWO x2!!

The Big Birthday Surprise

It was Dave's 30th birthday this year... and I have been thinking about it, well, basically since his last birthday. I wanted to do something big for this milestone.

We had several friends turn 30 this year, and several of them had surprise parties. So I thought, why not be unoriginal... and throw a surprise 30th birthday party for Dave?! I started thinking about it in October... started talking about it in November... Dave's dad and brother secured their tickets... I sent out save the date emails.

I didn't know where it was going to be yet, but I knew it couldn't be at our home... being that I definitely could not keep that hidden. And, I thought no kids was probably the way to go as well; as least no Treiber kids- we love em' but if they were there, everyone but us would be 'partyin'. So the research began: do I know anyone who would let us use their house? What about having it at a bar/ restaurant? Renting out space at a hotel? Well, I didn't want the liability of doing it at a friend's house; hotel/ bar/ restaurant would be extremely pricey... and we would have to eat/ drink their food and we would be constrained to their time table. So I started thinking, and since Dave's family was flying in as a surprise too- why not rent a house where they could stay and could double as the party spot? Done.

It was less than a mile away from our home and we had it for Friday and Saturday night. This way, I was able to drop off all the supplies on Friday, cook/ setup etc. on Saturday afternoon. I "fake" worked both days so Dave wouldn't start getting suspicious.

On Friday evening (after my fake work and really picking folks up from the airport) we went to Peter's Inn for a late dinner. We had it all planned out so 10 minutes into our cocktails, a couple of gentlemen walked in- that just happened to be Dave's dad and brother! Surprise #1= success.

That night I was trying to convince Dave to relax and said I would drive the family back to their "hotel". We didn't want Dave to know about the rental house just yet, because that would ruin the surprise for the next day. Unfortunately it was snowing, and there was no convincing Dave... so he drove them back to the hotel we said they were staying at (The Radisson downtown Baltimore). By then it was after 1AM, and his Dad and Bro had to find a cab to bring them back to their true lodging place- I guess it took almost an hour due to the weather etc (sorry guys!).

The big party day- Saturday. So I went off to "work" again at a made-up Financial Literacy Festival. I came up with a speaker that I thought my mom would like to hear... so I could have her come for part of the afternoon to help out. I had a few friends come early to help with food and decorations.
I got home "from work" around 7PM. I was picking up all the guys to go to a design show first then off to another party (which was actually going on, and Dave even bought special beer to bring to). We hop in the car, miraculously found parking in the busy neighborhood and approached the door. It was locked. LOL. So I snuck around to the window and started making faces to try to get the awaiting 'surprisers' to open up without Dave seeing anyone. It was a close call, but it worked. We walked in to a lot of noise and a big "Surprise!". We had 25+ who showed up despite the icy weather- we had a great time! Surprise #2= success- Welcome to your 30s Dave!