HaPpY 1st BiRtHdAy ZoEy!!!!!!

One year ago, in an "okay" of a town called Jackson, Tennessee. At 8:18am in the morning, a beautiful baby girl was born via C-Section at the Regional Hospital of Jackson. This beautiful baby girl came into our world weighing in at 6 lbs 12oz and was 19 inches long. Her parents had taken almost the whole pregnancy to come up with a name for her, when they finally and randomly decided to call her "Zoey". We were all so excited for her arrival--especially her mommy since she was done being pregnant (no offense, kid, but I was over it).

Zoey has been such a blessing to our family. She is one of the happiest babies you will ever meet, except when she is hungry. She is always smiling and always wants to be in on the fun. This year has flown by for us and we are excited and sad at the same time that she has grown to be a year old now. She has been officially off of bottles for over a month now, hasnt been on formula for over a week. She is SO SO close to walking, she can walk along furniture, with her walker-lion thingy, and she has even taken a few steps on her own but is still just trying to get the concept of walking. Zoey LOVES her sister and is a little chatter box. She can officially say "Hi, Mamma, Dada" She currently is trying to say "bye-bye" and is pretty close. She can blow kisses and wave hello and goodbye. She is such a joy in our lives and honestly, we dont think we could live without her. Happy Birthday, Big Girl!! We Love You!!!!

Pictures from the past year.......

I am a little embarrassed to post this one, but its all part of the time line---me at 9 months preggos with our ZoZo

just born

Zoey Turok
6 lbs 12 oz
19 inches
April 30, 2010
8:18am

Its so fun to look back at all these pictures and see how she has grown. You dont realize how fast they grow until you look back at the pictures within the past year. We love you Zoey, Happy Birthday!!!!!!

You can see Zoey's Birth Story Here:

http://www.turok-ml.blogspot.com/2010/05/shes-here.html

We Survived!!

So I am sure that pretty much all of you have heard all the stories on the news about the horrific weather the South has been having. My heart goes out to those in Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, and even those here in our home state of Tennessee. There have been deaths in all these states due to the tornado activity that has been going on these past few days bringing the death toll over 250 people. Horrible for these people and families that have to go through this.

I am counting my blessings this week knowing that those same storms that hit Mississippi and Alabama were the same storms that they were predicting to head up a little North and pass through our area of Tennessee. While my heart goes out to those in Alabama, I am ever so grateful that those storms stayed South of us.

Monday night was the worse night for us....Monday day a tornado touched down about 10 miles North of where we live. Monday night some horrific winds came through our area where me and the girls got to spend the night in the bathtub b/c it was THAT scary. Our town suffered quite a bit of damage with downed trees and power lines every where. The main road to our neighborhood has been closed for 2 days b/c of trees and power lines. We woke up Tuesday morning to shingles all over our yard, pieces of siding off of houses, a big ole' metal pole, and a big wooden box which appeared to be some kind of toolbox--all found in our yard--and we were LUCKY! That was nothing compared to other people!!

Some houses down the road from our neighborhood had BIG trees toppled onto their houses....it was not a pretty site for much of the city. The river has been spilling over causing a lot of flooding. Tuesday night Mike flew back into Memphis coming back from a job interview, but I was unable to get him b/c of the severe weather and tornado warnings with tornadoes hitting all around the Memphis area and heading our way, so he ended up spending the night in the airport on a bench where I had to go get him the next morning. We had 2 long sleepless nights and I am so grateful that this week is OVER! Of course, they are calling for some more severe weather this weekend--just great!!

--a special thanks to my neighbors the Heslop's for allowing me to sleep over at their house Tuesday night while Mike was away and I was by myself with the girls...b/c after our SCARY experience Monday night, I did not want to experience that alone, again! So we got to have a sleepover at the Heslop's--

Again, we are grateful we were kept safe from these horrific storms.....and can I just say that the sound of a tornado siren is the most annoying, scariest, creepiest sound ever??!! I sure think so!! But I am glad we have them even though I am SO over hearing them. Hope everyone stays safe and pray that we dont have much more of this severe weather even though it is now just the beginning of the Tornado season! Bring it on!!


Here are some pictures from around our town...this is was happened throughout the town to a lot of people......

Why I HATE West Tennessee

MONDAY'S FORECAST:







TUESDAY'S FORECAST:




Need I to say more????? Bring on the Weather Radio and the Tornado Sirens going OFF all day and night....Pray for us and Bring It On!!!!!!!!!!!

Rainforest Cafe + Beach = A Good Day

Our last day during our visit to Texas, we were able to head down to Galveston where for lunch we got to eat at the Rainforest Cafe. Now for those of you who have never been, it is a really cool atmosphere, great for kids, and pretty decent food. The inside is all "rainforesty" (hence the name) and every so often the animals come to life all around the restaurant...its pretty cool. It was also our brother Nic's 20th Birthday....lets just say he had a pretty good day!!

Nic, the Birthday Boy with our "ever so sweet' Addison who is more than happy to be getting her picture taken..(she really does have issues with that, but we still love her)

The Birthday Boy....Nic is one of the funniest people you will ever meet, the goofball stole this hat off of the display table at the front of the restaurant--in his words "I wanted a Birthday Hat to wear today and this one was just lying there, so I took it"....Oh Nic!! I think he ended up leaving the restaurant with the hat as well without them knowing....OH well, it can only be worth all but 0.30 cents (I hope)!!

Addie and Macey in front of one of the fountains inside the restaurant.

Zoey wearing Nic's stolen Birthday Hat

The front of the restaurant...and once again, Addie being ever so happy to be getting her picture taken distracting Zoey at the same time

Mike and Zoey in front of the restaurant...with Heather and Christian on both sides Not looking.


And after our lovely meal, we were Off to the Beach...I must say, I was not all that impressed with the beaches of Texas. They seemed very dirty, but HEY--it was a beach, and a beach is a beach so we just went with it. It still ended up being a pretty fun day and the water wasnt all that freezing either.

All the grandkids....at least the babies were smiling!
Macey, Zoey, Will, Addison, Sunny

Zoey and Will

Zoey and Will...they are buddies--they are all but 2 1/2 months a part in age.

Zoey, Addison, and Daddy building a sand castle

2 of the most adorable girls there playing in the sand

Zoey really enjoyed playing in the sand....actually is was more of Eating the sand, rather than playing in it....oh well, a little sand never hurt anyone

Proof of her Eating it

Mommy and Zoey in the Gulf of Mexico...look at me rockin' the Farmer's Tan--- You know you like it!!

Daddy and Zoey catching some of the waves....notice all the seaweed behind them lying on the beach--yeah it was pretty gross trucking through that stuff.

Addison was in HEAVEN!! This girl was born to be in the water...she loves it and wasnt too happy when it was time to leave.

Another shot of the lovely seaweed....And Addison not very happy with it being time to leave.

"The Mickey Show"

During our visit in Houston, we got the opportunity to go to "The Mickey Show" (the words of Addison)---also known as Disney On Ice...(THANKS Grandpa Ladd and THANKS to Emily and Brad for getting the tickets). This particular shows was Toy Story 3 and I personally thought that they did a fantastic show, but we are one bias family when it comes to Disney. We LOVE our Disney, now. Anyways, here are some pictures from our night--some of them turned out blurry b/c our camera basically sucks. But its all we have so just go with it....

The girls walking into the show, they were so excited

The gang...and what Nic is doing---we know not, we just dont ask

Heather, Will, and Addie in their own picture since we couldnt fit them into the big group picture...I of course was not pictured at all being the photographer and all

A few pictures from the show....didnt turn out the best, but again, its what we got...

The aliens and the claw above

Again, good times with Disney!!!! We love our DISNEY!

Zoo-per Fun!!

Alright, now that the Birthday Festivities had to come to an end, we are now back to our Houston Trip. During our visit there, we were able to head on over to the Houston Zoo....which happens to be pretty nice. As always, we enjoyed our time at the zoo and Addison was in HEAVEN--that girl LOVES going to the zoo and talks about what animals she saw non-stop. As the title reads: It was Zoo-per Fun! (corny I know, but just go with it)

**I am warning you know, there is a major picture overload but I had to record all the fun/good moments...

Macey and Addison attempting to pose for us at the Zoo entrance

Just hanging off the Rhino

For whatever reason, Addison LOVES Meerkats--I dont know where she learned what Meerkats were, but every time we tell her we are going to the zoo, the first animal she usually mentions is the Meerkat and how she wants to see the Meerkats. Its quite funny, she is definitely our unique child....most kids would say the tigers or elephants or something normal--but NOT Addie, she wants to see the MEERKATS! (gotta love it)

Addie pictured with her Meerkats

I want YOU to get the camera out of my face...

I wuv my bruver, Alex

Zoey pictured inside the "turtle tent" in the words of Addison. Reality: They were African Huts

I told Addison to get behind the mask for a picture, so she pulled herself up to do so, I was quite impressed with her upper body strength, there..

Alex and Addison and Brad's behind

They had these cool congo drum thingys, so all the kids did their beating on them...including the Russians (I think they enjoyed it just as much, if not more than the little girls did)

Christian, Addison, and Sunny beating away

I think they fit right in...dont you???
(in case you cant see the wording behind them, it says "Chimpanzee Family Tree"

Addison and Alex pictured in front of the cardboard Rhinos

Now this picture is 1 in a million....Addie and Macey are making the SAME FACE at the SAME TIME...talk about Good Timing for a photo-op eh??!! I thought it was funny...

Cant go to the zoo without riding the Carousel...Thanks Grandpa Ladd!!

I think Cameron was enjoying it more than the Grandkids..........(he's the one in the yellow shirt waving)

Sunny, Addison, Macey
Heaven forbid they smile!! Macey was almost there...

All four of the Grand-Girls...Zoey, Sunny, Addison, Macey

Addison, Cameron, and Sunny climbing on the giraffe

Way to go Christian!! You made it the 2 feet to the top!!

Nic and the monkey....Nic was mimicking this Monkey, and if you all know Nic, it was FUNNY.


Thanks for the good time, Houston Zoo! We had fun!!