Introducing......

My Videographer........

MRS. KIMBERLY ROWE WASHER! :)

I think this picture is precious and I was there for it so I thought it was fitting!

Kimberly has just recently picked up videography and man is she just amazing. I met her through my sister. And I just thought she was the absolute sweetest person ever. And on her wedding day, that I need to add was outside, it started pouring down raining and she kept a smile the entire time....I don't know if I could've been that strong but she did and she made the whole day fun regardless of the rain! She is an amazing woman and I am so excited that she will be doing my video. A wise woman once told me that the one thing she regretted not having at her wedding was a professional videographer, so I took her advice and Kimberly was just the girl I wanted. I couldn't be more excited that Kimberly will be at my wedding much less that she will be there to document each moment. :)

Have I mentioned that I am so excited about marrying my man? :)

Janet and Laurie's Surgery Day 5: We're Heading Home! (well half of us:()

Well Day 5 held some ups and downs for us! Laurie and I were awaken by 3 Dr's and a nurse at 5:40 AM for them to talk to her and tell her they were going to discharge her today. I was so excited for Laurie until about 7:00 AM when she told me she was really feeling bad. She had gone all night without any pain medicine or nausea medicine. Well that proved to not work very well for us. So after they left we called the nurse in there and boy she was amazing!! She immediately brought Laurie some nausea medicine and pain medicine. Laurie had to wait for a little bit to take the pain medicine til she could eat but ultimately she got the pain medicine through the IV and got a good nap til about noon. After that things seemed to pick up for us. Laurie started feeling better and ate something and took her pain medicine and before long she was up and walking around and talking to Janet again :) So about 4:00 PM we finally got everything together and got to walk, or roll out for Laurie, of the hospital! We were stoked! So the caravan loaded everything up...the caravan being Laurie and I in her car, Louise and mom in Louise's car, and Seth in his truck! :) We got home about 6:45 PM. Laurie is now in bed and settled. She did so good today even though she felt so bad and I couldn't be any prouder of her and everything she has done and given through all this. So bring on the visitors! :)

Janet woke up this morning in some pain also. She was having some cramps so I told her to buzz that nurse button and get some pain medicine....so she did! :) She got to feeling better a little bit but it's been a rough day for Janet. But she is strong and pushes through it! Janet and Chuck both have been amazing to us and I still covet your prayers for her and the next couple weeks as she will have to stay in Birmingham for the next couple of weeks!

Here is Laurie and Janet visiting today :)

Look at her go!!! She is gettin it! :)
Louise and Dad were helping her on her walk....or supporting her :)

Louise and I got a little bored while Laurie was napping.....I can't imagine why they were probably ready for us to leave! (Side story to the wheel chair....this is what we pushed mom around in since UAB is so so big and well you had to hold a bar down to push it....and well this was Louise trying to let go of the bar and the brakes catching and throwing me out! :) Isn't she so loving!)

And again.....I was very nervous!!! Look at my face! :)

This is one of our favorite Dr.'s!! She was so nice!! Only 26 years old but oh so nice! She really made us feel good!

This was our nurse Bert....she was absolutely GREAT today!! She was so super nice to Laurie and that made all the difference in the world!! :)

Well it's hard to believe that it's over. Well at least the surgery part....feels like we have been trying to schedule this for FOREVER! :) And now it's here and gone and we are at home. I get to sleep in my own bed! I go back to work tomorrow. Mom is here for the week to take care of Laurie. Tomorrow is going to be a long day. Please continue to pray for Laurie and Janet and both of their recoveries! :) They have both been so strong and amazing! I am so proud to know each one of them and I love them oh so much! :)

Janet and Laurie's Surgery Day 2: Going from 2 kidneys to 1 and 2 kidneys to 3!

Well here we are at the close of day 2: Surgery Day, Friday the 13th. I don't think any of us would have ever said it but I think we were all a little nervous today. I didn't sleep a wink last night and i know Laurie was tossing and turning too. Luckily she has exhaustion on her side so even though she may have been nervous she couldn't hold her eyes open. The nurses came in about every 3 hours to take her vitals and the last time at 3:30 am they took blood. I cannot explain what a trooper Laurie has been through all of this. She has been strong when all the rest of us could do was cry. i was beginning to worry about her. :) But about 4:30 am my alarm clock went off and Laurie and I called Mom, Dad, and Louise so we could all go over together. Louise, Mom and Dad were all dressed and in a hurry I just ran out the room without even changing....or putting on things that are necessary when going out in public if you get my drift. :) So after we saw where we were going to be Dad and I came back and let me change and get fresh for the day. Boy I wasn't prepared for the emotional roller coaster that we were all about to experience.

Before we left the room Janet came down to tell Laurie bye....there are pictures below to show the beginning of our emotional day. Laurie got back into surgery about 8:00 am....and was back there for about 3 hours. Dr. Hannaway came out about 11:00 am and told us she was in recovery now and doing great. She has done great through the surgery and now they wanted to get her pain level down so they could get her medicines regulated. About 1:00 pm Janet's Dr. came out and told Chuck that Janet had done great through the surgery and the kidney was actually already working. So as Janet was heading into recovery, Laurie was heading to her room. We got back and Laurie was in a good amount of pain but that was to be expected. So after a couple of hours they got Laurie's pain level regulated and she has been in and out of sleep and visiting with all of the visitors. I know there are alot of pictures but just bear with me. :)

This is the signature pose for them! Both still have 2 kidneys!! This the beginning of an emotional day!

Me, Laurie and Louise before surgery!
All the family before surgery!

All the family plus part of our new addition! The Roberts! Janet! :)

It was an emotional goodbye! Janet has such an amazing heart!

Laurie's last picture with both kidneys!!! :)

Janet was so grateful to Laurie....what an amazing story for all of us to tell! :) They both are amazing people!!

Laurie getting ready to head back! :)

Laurie and Joanna fist-bumping! Joanna is GREAT!! We have loved her! Really all the staff here at UAB has been amazing!

And here is the parade to to the pre-op waiting area! :)

This was an emotional mother/daughter goodbye!! :) Mom has been a little on edge about everything and well we had to say goodbye!

Laurie looks great here!! This is where they are in the holding area before surgery and we got to go back and see her til they took her back....and well when they took her back I just broke down...as did everyone else in my family. This is the perfect picture of an amazing strong beautiful Christian woman!

What faith and courage this woman has had over the past year!! She has been amazingly strong and boy how she has changed our lives forever!

Laurie saying bye to Ellie before they took her back!

This was part of our "little" waiting room group! We are so blessed with such an amazing support group! (From Left to right: Andrea Best, David Alvarez, and
Tiffany Johnson)

More waiting room friends..... Jamie Horn, Chuck Roberts, and Aunt Betty Jones.

Susanne Pope, Betty (Chuck's mom), and Adrienne Bell.

They were all so great!!! :)

Michelle and Morgan showed up and surprised us!!! We absolutely love them! They have been amazing to us and we are so grateful for such amazing friends!!

Morgan was learning the "good stuff" at an early age. Aurie's morphine pump!! (Aurie is what Morgan calls Laurie :))

This girl absolutely makes my heart smile. She makes me happy and is just great!! She really makes my whole family so happy. She is like one of our own!

Michelle, Morgan and Laurie. Have I mentioned what great friends we have?!?!?

Brint and Shanon also showed up and Laurie was moved to tears by them showing up! They have been such good friends to Laurie and just such a blessing!! They came bearing lots of goodies for us to snack on! :) We love them!

Gracie Kate, Karen and Laurie. Gracie Kate and Karen Clifton showed up to see us too! They are such amazing people! We are so incredibly blessed with an amazing church family and people that love us so much! And this family is one of them! And we love them to pieces!

Gracie Kate giving Laurie some loving! :)

Seth came with Michelle and Morgan!! We love him too lots! Seth, Louise and I decided to walk Michelle and Morgan down to their car because well UAB is pretty big and trying to navigate with an 18 month old is pretty hard! Se we went along to help! :)

Seth having fun while pushing Louise and Morgan is just a sipping away on her ice water! :)

Me and Little Mo before they left. I. Love. This. Child. She. Makes. My. Heart. Happy. :)

Well Laurie is sleeping and finally getting settled down. Janet is doing great and the kidney is still working amazingly!!! What a testament of faith this whole process has been and I know it has changed the lives of so many people! Please keep Janet and Laurie in your prayers still and pray for their rest and re cooperation! We are so thankful for all the prayers, thoughts, text, cards, food, and just caring! We are so thankful for all the kind words and encouragement. What an amazing story this and I want to personally thank everyone for their kindness. God is so good! Thanks again! And I will report again tomorrow!!

Janet and Laurie's Surgery Day One: Check-in and Check-ups

Well today started out amazing! I got up and started getting ready about 5:15 am, Laurie had just walked in and we started getting ready for the day ahead. Our first part of the day was getting breakfast, and Laurie wanted to go eat at the Farmer's Market downtown. So we met Louise and Nathan there for breakfast at 7:00 am. It was soooo good and Phil and JoAnn Norton, who own it, also go to church with us and have been so good to us throughout this whole process, sat down at the table with us and just talked. It was a nice relaxing way to start the day!! They are some of the nicest people I know. I am so thankful for people like them. Down home just all around nice caring Christian people. We are blessed.

Leaving from a high of being there Laurie and I get on the road, Nate went to work and Louise was heading to Birmingham after work. I get about 2 miles out of Montgomery and blue lights come flashing behind me....in the midst of Laurie and I talking I had missed that the speed dropped from 70 mph to 50 mph.....needless to say I was speeding. The state trooper was a complete JERK....let me insert here that I don't like to give cops a hard time, I was speeding and I know that but you do NOT have to show your tail just because you are a trooper. So after about a 15 minute cry session we decided that wasn't going to start our day off bad. So we kept on trucking it to Birmingham.

We got here and checked in and got Laurie and Janet both admitted and settled into rooms. To our surprise we already had one visitor waiting on us. Brother Barry Buford was here ready to pray with Laurie and Janet and it was so very nice. That was just the beginning. From then on out we had people in Laurie's room checking all of Laurie's vitals and taking blood and giving IV's. Laurie was a champ she did amazing through all of it and all the nurses and Dr.s just love her and think she is amazing....just like the rest of us. I know tomorrow is going to be great. Laurie and Janet both have already impacted this hospital and I know it's just the start of whats going to happen. God is so good and he has blessed us so much with this surgery.

Below are some snapshots I took of Laurie and Janet...since I got my new camera I VOWED I would definitely be documenting everything from here on out! So far I have stayed true to that. Hope you all enjoy! Sorry they all aren't in order! (Also Louise got here later and we didn't get one picture with her or Ellie :) But we will get many more tomorrow!)

Chuck, Janet and Rachel before going to bed :)

Janet and Rachel :) How cute are they??
Me and Laurie looking at the afghan that Aunt Shirley sent and made for Laurie :)

Me and Laurie enjoying our show....didn't work out so well for us...we will be re-watching Rookie Blue on Monday :)

Janet and all her visitors...from Left to right: Aunt Betty, David, her brother, Janet, Chuck, and Chuck's mom.

Mom and Dad got here about 6:45 pm and this is her and mom enjoying her down time. :)

Laurie and her music therapist.....Laurie REALLY enjoyed her!!!! :) She sang us some Beatles songs and she was REALLY good!!

Laurie and Cora....Cora.....she is a character. She sang and danced around and said the Holy Spirit was moving her and she was praying for Laurie! :) It brought tears to Laurie's eyes when she started singing to her.

Laurie and Janet first thing this morning!! :)

Chuck trying to help out a friend! :) He is a great supporter!

Janet resting right after she got to her room!! It is FREEZING in this hospital....but don't worry I can prepared! Blankets and sweatshirts :)

Laurie and MaryAnn....she is amazing and I am so glad we got her for Laurie's transplant coordinator! I am going to send her a card with this picture in it! :)

Well that is all for tonight. I will update more tomorrow night! :) Goodnight blog world!! Keep Laurie and Janet in your prayers!

July 4th and Such!

Well July is here....all 4 of the teeth that had to be pulled in my mouth are pulled and I am happy to report I am feeling good! :) July 14th I have my braces put on and I am nervous (I know Louise what am I not nervous about these days!?! :)) about that! That weekend is not only my quarter of a century birthday but it's Laurie's 10 year anniversary of her 20th Birthday and Louise, Michelle and I have planned a weekend of fun for her!! SO I can not let my teeth get in the way of all that fun! :) So that is the latest on the teeth situation!

This past weekend was 4th of July and I can honestly say it was the best 4th of July ever! We had so much food and so much fun!!! The party consisted of the following people: Laurie, Nathan, Mr. Terry, Mrs. Jacki, Taylor Lane, Justin, Michelle, Morgan, Kristen McCants, Louise (And Baby Ellie :)), Dustin, Kesia, Steve, and Devin. We had a full house and we loved every minute of it! Laurie and I, or should I say Laurie woke up first and quietly came in and woke me up saying this was going to be the best day of the year....and SHE WAS RIGHT!! We both got up and got ready and she started cooking while i was in the shower and after that we loaded up and headed to get Morgan so she could run some last minute errands with us and let Michelle clean, cook and get ready. So we went to Old Navy and bought the party favors for the girls :), and then to winn dixie to get a few things we had forgotten!

After running our errands we got back to the house and my friend April was waiting at the house to visit with me for a couple hours and eat! It was so nice to be able to visit with her and catch up! She is a really great friend and she always brings back good memories and I love her life stories! :) Then Nate came over with his parents and brought the grill and they got everything set up and ready. It was the beginning of a great day! We proceeded to make most of the following stuff in the picture! It was so so so good and so much fun!! Again like I stated before it was the best 4th I can remember! :) Even if we did miss the fireworks bc the waitress at O'Charley's was SLOW AS MOLASSES! But we proceeded to have our own fireworks with some sparklers! :)

This next weekend will be fun too! It is Louise's 1st baby shower! We are excited and look forward to her having MANY MANY MORE! :)

Things happening....

So this is just going to be one of those random blogs to update about everything that is going on in my life....it's been busy around here for the past couple weeks so it has been hard to blog alot! Let's see where to start.....

• 2 Sunday's ago I went to the zoo with Morgan, Michelle, and Justin! It was so much fun! Morgan really had a good time I think! She was alert and loved looking at all the animals! And I had never been through the whole zoo before so it was my first time really ever going through the whole zoo! I am pretty proud of the Montgomery Zoo! Never knew they had that many animals!
• We are working on nailing down dates for Louise's baby showers! I know I say this alot but I am so excited about Baby Ellie! I sometimes just imagine what she will really look like...I feel like she is going to come out with this dark brown ringlet hair....ok I know she wont come out with it but I can imagine her at a year old with that hair! She has already made such an impact on our family! I just can't wait till I can actually hold her!
• I am working on a secret project for Louise and Baby Ellie! I just know they will both love it! :)
• I am thinking alot about my life and making decisions that will change my life in every way. I covet your prayers on those. I know to most people my decisions don't affect them and really never will but for me these are HUGE deals in my life and I just pray I make the right decisions and am able to glorify God with everyone.
• It was graduation this past weekend and all of my dad's side of the family was in town! It was so great to spend time with them! I really miss them. Crazy how after you grow up and move away how much you grow to miss the little things like seeing them everyday or GCS ball games....it's funny how much I miss Dasher sometimes.

Well I think that really sums it up. the next 4 months are going to be crazy and I feel like alot is going to be happening! I will keep you updated!

My playdate with Morgan and Nate :)

So yesterday Nate and I got to watch Morgan while Michelle was working and Justin was doing school work! I was so excited! I hadn't seen her in a couple of days so I needed my Mo fix! :) I went with Michelle to pick her up, went to my house to pick up her Easter basket, or as I would like to call it her "14th Month Birthday Basket", then to drop off Michelle back at work. She wasn't really sure about leaving mommy at first but I turned on some music and we started dancing and all was good in the world of Mo again! :) 1st thing we did was go get some McDonald's. WE picked up dinner and headed to Nate's so we could "help" him wash the cars! Needless to say me and Morgan ate and watched Nate wash the cars! It was fun! Louise and Dirt stopped by on their way home to see her too! The photos below were captured throughout the night....I will narrate where needed :)

She loves helping drive Nate's truck!

Next step was to help wash it! She wasn't a big fan at first but she warmed up to it. But she kept getting distracted by Charlie, Taylor's dog. (Who is quite a bit bigger than Sadie and Splatt so she REALLY wasn't sure about him :))

She was fascinated with the suds in the water....I think she thought they were pretty.

Next we took a field trip to see Laurie and take her some food while she was in class. Morgan liked being able to get out and she knew who was supposed to be in that building...DADDY!

So to entertain Laurie and Morgan played chase around the columns :)

She liked playing with Laurie. Burned some energy.

Riding on Laurie's shoulders are always fun!

Michelle called called back as soon as we were heading over there so we need to pacify little Mo a little longer so we let her drive us around campus! She loved it!!

She was so proud of herself!

That is the little cup I brought her back from Disney World! She loved it! The little part in the middle turns and she really likes the straw!

She was beginning to wear down....

But she was so happy to see mommy!! :)

Thanks for letting us watch her Michelle!! She is so much fun!! I just love her to pieces and so does Nate. :)