Carolinas

OHHHhhh Carolinas...how we love thee!! We will see you tomorrow very very late! We will post some pictures after we get back.

The school was nice enough to give Mike's class a day off....he already has Mondays off since classes are now over, and they decided to give them Tuesday off of Clinical...so we have decided to take advantage of our long weekend and head home to the Carolinas. We havent been outside of Tennessee since Christmas, so this trip is LONG overdue. It will be a nice getaway for us and a chance for all the family to meet our little Zoey. (sigh) shopping, hot tub, and pool time....HERE WE COME!!

Nic's Mission Call

So Nicholas got his MISSION CALL!! He is headed to the Tuscon, Arizona (English Speaking) Mission. We are more than thrilled for him and are so proud! CONGRATS NIC!!

11 Days Old

Zoey is 11 days old, and I love her to pieces. She has been such a good baby. She sleeps for most of the night with us feeding her around 11:30ish, she wakes up around 3:00am, eats, and then doesnt wake up until around 6:30ish. We are very blessed. She has brought so much joy into our family and we are more than thrilled that she is here! She is already changing! Goodness, it goes by fast! Her face already looks different and she is already growing....but of course we are soaking up every minute of it that we can.

It's a miracle that we even got Addie to LOOK at the camera.

Addison has handled her little sister very well. She loves giving her kisses and hugs, and doesnt complain when Mommy makes her throw away Zoey's diapers. Life with 2 has been as good as expected....but then again, I wonder if I will feel this way after my Mom leaves us tomorrow night. It has been so GREAT having her here to help us out. Addison isnt going know what to do with herself after "Nana Sally" leaves....she has gotten more attention the past 11 days than she ever has, I'm sure. Nana or NO Nana...I love my girls and life is going to be awesome with the both of them in it.

I have said this before and I will say it again...its moments like these that makes all the pain and insanity worth it! I love my girls!

Where's He Going??

So my little brother Nic has put in his mission papers ( I KNOW! Little Nicholas going on a mission!! We can hardly believe it ourselves) anyways...he is expecting to hear back any time now. We thought it would be fun to post a poll to see where he is going...the poll are obviously general parts of the world...when we hear back to where he is going, we will let everyone know! Please vote, should be fun!!

Happy Mother's Day

This Mother's Day has been an extra special one for me. This past week has been such an exciting and eventful one. As I have previously posted and what most of y'all already know, is we were able to bring our second little girl, Zoey into our world. She came just a week ago and just in time for Mother's Day. What an amazing blessing and gift. I am so blessed to have 2 of the most beautiful girls in my life. I never thought I would be a mother so soon in my life, but I must say...I LOVE IT!



We have also been so fortunate to have my own mother in town to help us out in getting adjusted at home with having 2 kids. My mom has been a great blessing in my life and we are so grateful for her willingness to come out and help us for 2 weeks. We are so glad that she was able to spend Mother's Day here with us and with her grand-babies. Thank you mom for all you do. You have no idea the example you have been in my life and the example that you will be in our kids' life. Thank you so much for being the strong-willed person that you are. We love you so much... and HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all the moms out there. Where would the world be without the extraordinary women that are out there. Again, HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

She's Here!!

***CAUTION: LONG LONG post, but a memorable one***

Introducing you to Miss Zoey Turok....she finally is here!! And we couldnt be happier. This past weekend was quite the wild ride to get our little Zoey here. First, my mom was able to fly in Thursday night (4/29) to come and help us out for 2 weeks. We drove to Memphis to pick her up and got back that night. We are forever grateful that she was able to come and help us with Addison and little Zoey.

Friday, Mike and I woke up about 4:30am, got ready and headed to the Hospital. We got admitted by 5:30 that morning and started being prepped for my C-Section to bring out little Zoey into our world.

(me and my excitement of being cut open)

Just shortly after 7:30am, I was wheeled back into the Operating Room where we got started...at 8:18am, our little Zoey was born. She came out with very dark hair and a screaming. The doc said that she was not ready to come out, he kind of struggled to get her out b/c she was putting up a fight...she came out a squirming and a screaming. But I told the doc that he better get her out b/c I am so over pregnancy...



Thankfully, she came out strong and healthy. She came out weighing in at 6 lbs 12 oz and was just over 19 inches long.

After they finished up the surgery, they wheeled me back into our room where we got to have some nice, alone time with our new little one. She was just as precious as can be and we are so excited that she is here.

Later that day, Nana Sally and Addison finally made it to the hospital...where Addie got to meet her little sister for the first time. She seemed to love her. She wanted to hold her without any help and gave her plenty of kisses. It was moments like that, that makes pregnancy and labor so worth it. It was a great moment to watch Addison and Zoey bond with one another for the first time and we will remember it always.

Overall this C-Section went very well...the recovery has been painful, but I cant complain, I am overall having a very nice recovery, of course the drugs are helping with that. THANK YOU for pain meds.

It was a long weekend being in the hospital, not only was I trying to recover, but we had the extra stress added on to us when some HUGE storm systems came rolling through Tennessee. Friday night the first one hit, where Tornado sirens were going off all night, and knowing that my mom and Addison were at the house alone kind of freaked Mike and I out. We had Tornado Warnings going off all around the Jackson area...they were scary enough that our first night in the hospital, about 2:30am, the nurses came into our room and said that we are under a "Code Black", they grabbed my IV pump, unlocked the bed, and rolled me out into the hallway with all the other patients on the floor to keep us away from the windows in case a tornado touches down. We spent about 2 1/2 of those wee morning hours camping out in the hallway...it was a very long night, especially it being not even 24 hours after my surgery.

We then called up my mom to warn her...Addison and my mom spent about 2 hours hiding out in our bathroom. My mom made a little bed for Addison in the tub and there they stayed until my mom finally had, had it and told herself that if the tornado was meant to hit them, then it would hit them...she then proceeded back to the couch to go back to bed. It was a long night for most of West Tennessee.

Saturday there wasnt much relief from the storms...more rain came through and more warnings were going off. That night, thankfully we didnt have to camp out in the hallway, but there were still tornado sirens and warnings going off all around the area. More stress was put on me worrying about my mom and Addison at home. Of course I knew they were fine, but the worry was still there. Lets just say I didnt get too much sleep those 2 nights.

Sunday morning came and the rain finally lightened. I dont know the final count but over the weekend, I think about 7 people died from all the surrounding tornadoes in West Tennessee. In Jackson alone, we got just over 15 inches of rain. Most of the town was underwater and many people were being rescued by boat.

My doctor wasnt even able to make it to the hospital and there was the question of whether I was even going to be able to get home or not. Luckily the doc called the hospital and gave some verbal orders to the nurse and was given permission to discharge me (THANK GOODNESS). So Sunday afternoon we were released and were able to bring Zoey home. Today was also Mike's birthday, so it was a very nice present to him to be able to go home and celebrate his Birthday at HOME.

Zoey definitley made her entrance into this world. It is a weekend that we will never forget and that most West Tennesseeians wont forget either. It was a weekend full of exciting, wild, crazy, and scary things. We are so blessed that the area we live in was not horribly flooded or damaged by the horrific storms that came through. We are so grateful that everything went so smoothly with the operation and the birth of Zoey...especially where my doctor was not able to make it into the hospital b/c of flooded and closed roads.

Zoey in her going home outfit from the hospital...

Poor Zoey was getting swallowed up by her carseat....leaving the hospital she was weighing in at 6 lbs 1 oz

We have been home for over 24 hours now and life is good. We have already made trips to Target, Walmart, and TGI Fridays...I am swollen up with fat lady "cankles", but life is good...as I said before, THANK GOODNESS for pain meds. Addison is handling life with Sister relatively well. She wants to help with Zoey and gives her plenty of kisses and hugs. Zoey has been a dream baby waking up only twice through the night. We are so grateful for her and so glad to finally have her a part of our family.

Happy Birthday, Michael!

So this past Sunday, Mike had his 34th birthday. We celebrated by getting to come HOME from the hospital....I didnt think we were gonna be able to come home, but luckily we were able to. We came home to a decorated home by my mom and Addison, and to one of Mike's favorites, a Cookie Cake...Mike loves himself some cookies now. It was so nice to be able to be home to celebrate. Happy Birthday, Mike...I love you! And I am so glad that you were born on this glorious day!