Memoirs of a Mommy: January 2009

Monday, January 12, 2009

I remember the day you were born...

The story of my Chloebear starts on a Sunday afternoon. We were at our pastor's house for lunch after church. I was still a week before my due date but feeling like I couldn't go another day! My pastor's wife told me I should try castor oil. I had heard of women using castor oil to start labor...but I didn't really know what it was or how exactly it started the labor. After a few questions were answered we decided that I would try it that night. After we put Abigail and Joshua to bed I mixed the dreaded oil with orange juice and drank it. YUCK!!! It was terrible and what came next wasn't too fabulous either. After 4 hours of unpleasantries I realized I was having contractions. YIPPIE. At 1 am I woke Bob up and asked him if he was ready to meet his daughter. Our neighbor came right over and we were off to the hospital. When we got there they checked me out and even though I was dilated to 5cm and having contractions they told us to go walk around the hospital and come back in a few hours to see if I was really in labor. We walked down every hallway in that place and looked at what seemed to be thousands of inspirational posters. Finally we went back upstairs and they checked me again. Big surprise...they informed me I was indeed in labor. Hello!
I had done the labor thing twice with no drugs and thought it might be fun to see what the epidural was all about. So I got one. I was totally bummed when I could still feel my contractions on one side. Right at the end they gave me more drugs and it finally kicked in but it was a complete disappointment. When Chloe finally arrived the morning of Monday January 12 the umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck and it was too short for them to just unwrap. Chloe was a bit purple and they had to cut the cord right away. She didn't cry for what seemed to be forever...but it was probably just a minute. Bob had a worried look on his face and he started praying. Chloe started breathing and was totally fine. She was the smallest Baby Beek weighing in at 7 lbs 5 oz. She'll always be our happy little Chloebear. She always has a song to sing and loves to be the mommy to her baby dolls. We are so thankful for Chloe and can't wait to watch her develop and grow into a girl who loves God more than anything.

Happy 5th Birthday Chloebear!

Daddy-daughter birthday date. Chloe picked Macaroni Grill.

Here's Chloe trying to blow out the candles on her purple purse cake. :)

Overbeek New Year

New Year's Eve with our family always consists of games and fat balls. This year was no exception. As previously stated we've been really into Mexican Train Dominoes so we taught our friends how to play. And Bob would never allow a New Year to be rung in without the Olliebollen (fat balls). This is a Dutch tradition which he learned about when he was a boy. They are basically donuts covered in powdered sugar. We have a deep fryer which we only pull out once a year just for fat balls. Bob had fun making them and Luke and Justin really enjoyed eating them so everyone was happy. :)

Bob making the fat balls.

Here's what we all looked like after eating too many fat balls!

Clarence is still working on his fat ball face.

Here's my fat ball face...and NO I do not know how many Points a fat ball is for Weight Watchers. But was it ever good! :)
Happy New Year!! God Bless.

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

This always happens...I have the best intentions of blogging along the way but just can't seem to get it done. Then I do a massive catch-up post with way too many pictures...c'est-la-vie.
We were blessed to have my parents come for Christmas. It was so great to spend time with them just hanging out and playing games and doing fun things! Aside from us all passing the flu around it was most FABULOUS!