Keeping Up With the Joneses

Good Bye Blog!

2010-01-19T19:32:00.000-08:00

I've decided to stop posting on this blog, I'm sure most of you know I blog everyday at House to Your Home and with facebook and twitter I don't really see the point of this blog anymore, I feel like I'm on information overload trying to keep up! Thanks everyone for reading but rest assure you'll still be hearing lots from me!

Out with the Old and in with the New

2009-12-30T07:01:00.000-08:00

We've been busy at the Jones house this month. Lots of baking and cooking and Drew's been traveling quite a bit. It was a good month and we've been enjoying Sloan's break by sleeping in, shopping, sleep overs and more eating! Here are a few pics of the month!

We had a wonderful holiday and are looking forward to ending 2009 and making 2010 the best year yet!

All our love to our family and friends and wishing you all a joyous New Year!!

Santa

2009-12-15T12:36:00.000-08:00

I was talking to my friend Dawn the other day about Santa and about whether her daughter Emerson went and saw him and it made me remember one of my favorite photos of Sloan.

Sloan was going through a "phase" at the time when she would get upset at people and decide she wasn't going to talk to them. We called it her "I'm Not Talking" face. I put a note on the back of this photo so I'd always remember and it reads, Sloan Danielle, 2 1/2 years old. ("I'm Not Talking!") Sloan loved Santa but did not like the lady taking her photo. She wouldn't smile because the lady kept talking to her and was being sugary sweet in order to get the photo and Sloan was having none of it! Little Miss Stubborn!

Even at 2 she was already so much like her momma!!

My Basketball Player

2009-12-04T09:13:00.000-08:00

Sloan's coach recently posted photos on Facebook of the team and I thought I'd share them with everyone. Sloan's team did great this year and her coach did an awesome job. Sloan starts volleyball next week which means my little break of not running around is over! I'm ready for the volleyball season to start again though, its my favorite one to watch!

Harper & Nora

2009-11-19T21:12:00.000-08:00

Today is my girls due date and we're doing something special today to remember the day. It's been a rough few months and I think things should be looking up for all of us as we put this day behind us and make something positive of it. Thanks to all my friends and family that have been so great! We really are lucky to have you!

Happy Veteran's Day!

2009-11-11T08:46:00.000-08:00

In honor of Veteran's Day I wanted to post this photo of Drew. This is while he was serving in the Marines. He was only 20 years old and looks like a baby! Its hard to believe men this age serve our country, but I'm very thankful that they do!!

Busy Weekend

2009-11-09T10:53:00.003-08:00

We had another busy weekend which I suppose isn't out of the norm for us, it seems once school starts Sloan keeps us pretty busy. We actually stayed home on Friday and I made a really nice meal (meaning nothing was microwaved) and we just watched some movies.

On Saturday we went to Sloan's basketball tournament. It was a good game but unfortunately the girls lost the game. They played great this year though and ended up placing 3rd in the regular season.

On Sunday we surprised Sloan by taking her to the Colts game. It was her first Colts game and she was super excited and had lots of fun. We took her to a tailgate some of Drew's friends were having to give her the full football experience. Drew's friends were really nice and we pigged out on steak fajitas! They cook according to what team they are playing, so Houston is fajitas, New Orleans, gumbo, etc.! Regardless it was better then any Mexican restaurant I've ever been to!

The Colts won the game (barely) and it was a nail biter for sure. We had a great time and can't wait to do it again!

6th Grader

2009-11-02T10:26:00.000-08:00

Sloan got her school pictures back recently and I couldn't believe how much she's changed in just a year. When they are babies you get how much they grow but as they get older you sorta forget. I have a photo frame that has 2 sides to it and I always have the year before and the current year's school picture in it. Sloan of course likes to look at herself and analyze how fabulous she's become! The photo above is from 5th grade and the one below is her I'm so cool 6th grade photo!

She gets mad at me but I usually make her wear a black blouse every year because I have too many wacky photos of me in the '70's in some incredibly horrible clothes but I let her chose her hairstyle and she went for the whole Lauren Conrad from The Hills look.

I'd have to agree with Sloan, she is pretty darn fabulous!! Although where did my little girl go???

Student Council

2009-10-28T13:08:00.000-07:00

Sloan has student council elections tomorrow and she and I were talking about it in the car on the way home today and she was telling me they had to give speeches and come up with campaign slogans. I thought her friend Nick's slogan was the best!

Vote for Nick because I have a mustache!

Gotta love 6th graders!

Giggle

2009-10-27T17:53:00.000-07:00

This image is floating around on the internet and I had to post it. I know its not very politically correct but it's still pretty funny!

Happy Halloween

2009-10-22T00:44:00.000-07:00

I wanted to share a poem Sloan entered for the Irvington Halloween Festival poetry contest. I know I'm her mom but I think its pretty darn good!

It's Halloween night,
Are you ready for a fright?

Ghost and ghouls roam the street,
leaves rustling beneath their feet.

Witches and monsters cackle and growl,
hear the eerie night owl?

The kids howl, shout, and greet,
waiting for their Halloween treat!

Those kids don't worry about those things in the dark.
For they are not real, those things in the park.

Or are they??

Happy Halloween!

Shakamak

2009-10-12T20:06:00.000-07:00

Sloan had an awesome time at Shakamak and talked about a mile a minute when she got home yesterday. It was her grade that came up with the theme "The 80's" and of course it was the best year ever!!! Unfortunately Sloan came home with more then just good memories, she also came back with a nasty cough and a cold.

Here is a photo of all the girls that were painted and I have to admit it turned out pretty darn cute!

Sloan is LIKE TOTALLY AWESOME!

2009-10-08T18:39:00.000-07:00

We finished up Sloan's costume for Shakamak today. I won't even talk about how much more expensive it is to dress 80's in 2009 ! I think her costume turned out awesome and she loves it. She told me she doesn't think she'll be able to sleep tonight because she's so excited for this weekend!

I can't wait until she comes home on Sunday to let me know how the trip went!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

2009-10-06T12:40:00.001-07:00

Sloan's getting ready to go to Camp Shakamak this weekend and her grade is hosting the weekend. They picked an '80's theme and are calling it Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.

The girls will be dressing and dancing to the music of the '80's and will try and guess whose mom is who by looking at their mom's 80's photograph, painting pet rocks and having a fashion show and having a MTV or Shak TV talent show!

This is one of the girls we painted for the weekend. There are 5 of them and someone else is going to paint the signs the girls are holding and the will say, Girls Just Want To Have Fun and will be placed in front of the camp entrance so everyone can see them when they drive in.

Our girl is a "bigger" girl but you gotta admit she's totally tubular!! I hope Sloan has a great weekend!

Sloan's First Concert

2009-09-27T21:03:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in my last post Sloan and I were going to see Kings of Leon on Friday night. We had so much fun. It was great to be able to experience Sloan's first concert with her. She started to get excited as we got closer to the concert. I don't think she had any idea how big it was going to be or how many people were going to be there. And since I have been listening to their CD's over and over again for the last 2 years she knew every one of the songs probably better then I did.

We had fun with the girls behind us who thought Sloan was cool for knowing all the songs and told Sloan how cool her mom was (duh) for taking her to see KOL. We also had fun making fun of the boys in front of us for yapping like girls and not listening to the concert. Sloan also got her first whiff of pot and I'm hoping she didn't get high and that I'm not getting her taken away from me, because truth be told it was pretty darn strong!

After the concert I got her the must have t-shirt every girl has to have to remember her first concert with, even if it did cost me $35.00. I think it will be money well spent though because she's worn it 3 days in a row and is planning on wearing it to gym class this week.

Then on our way home we listened to their last 2 CDS while belting out every tune and I couldn't help but think how I remembered how excited I was to do that very same thing many, many years ago at my first concert!

Day to Day Happenings

2009-09-24T16:34:00.000-07:00

Not much has been happening on the Jones front lately which I guess is a good thing because it seems like for a long time only bad things seem to be happening to us. Although, maybe I'm speaking too soon because while Drew was away at Chicago last weekend someone hit the back of his car. (The one we just had fixed) Of course the person didn't leave a note so now our newly fixed car has a scratch on the right side.

Sloan has finished up kickball and has gone directly to basketball. Today I dropped her off at school at 6:45 in the morning for before school band practice (she plays the guitar) and did not pick her up until 4:45 when basketball practice ended. She's also been a little bit sick lately and I can't help but wonder if she's sick or just plain exhausted!

She has a pre-season basketball tournament on Saturday which I hope won't eat into our entire Saturday but I'm letting her skip practice tomorrow to take her to her first official concert and we're both super excited. We're going to see Kings of Leon. It's not as great as my first concert (Corey Hart) but I'm sure we'll still have a great time!

Glass Starting To Look Half Full....Almost

2009-09-10T08:51:00.000-07:00

I took Sloan to guitar lessons last week and had to go in with her this time because she needed new strings. While we were waiting for the strings to be put on her guitar I started talking to Hans her guitar teacher. Let me tell you about Hans, first of all his name is Hans, its like his parents knew he was going to play guitar! He is awesome and even I think he is cool and truth be told Sloan probably has a bit of a crush on him. He is the type of person who you just like being around and you can tell he really enjoys teaching kids. In fact most of the kids in Irvington take guitar lessons from him and if you talk to any of the parents they say I'm not sure if my kid likes playing the guitar or hanging out with Hans!

In the middle of our conversation he told me that he and his wife were just heart-broken about us losing our girls and he wanted me to know they were still thinking about us. Then he told me they were not able to have children of their own and that is why he felt so bad for our loss and why they have puppies and why he teaches kids.

My heart sunk for he and his wife and I instantly thought as bad as my story is, here are these two really great people who deserve children and they can't even experience the bad thing I had happen to me. For the first time in a long time instead of saying why me I thought why them?

I know there is always someone that has it worse then you do but this was one of those moments and perhaps I was ready to get the lesson that everyone has their own sadness to deal with and sometimes the pain is alot worse.

Of course my glass emptied a bit after all this though because the next day the hospital where I delivered the girls called me to remind me my tour of the maternity ward was that day in which I replied to them, umm yea I sorta had the big tour last month. It was while I was saying the words the person on the other line must have pulled up something to see she'd made a horrible mistake and as bad as she felt I didn't feel so bad she felt bad. So rest assure I've still got that bit of negativity in me that you've all grown to love!!

Are You Digital or Paper?

2009-09-04T05:33:00.000-07:00

I'm actually a digital and paper gal. Drew has tried to convince me to go completely digital but I just can't. I think it might be because I was a paralegal for 15 years and when you work in a law firm it was all about your attorney and your calendar. For years I had a work calendar and a personal calendar. When I started school again I chose to use a paper calendar. Its the whole seeing everything there in front of you that I like but what I really like is crossing off things I have accomplished. I'm a list maker and there is nothing better then crossing off your list, its just not the same to delete it.

The photo you see posted is strictly Sloan's calendar with every thing I need to remember. I also have another paper calendar for to do's and my appointments and in addition I have a calendar on my iPhone and my computer that I usually use for a back up that beeps at me to remind me not to miss an appointment.

I have lots of calendars and it drives Drew crazy but for some reason my system works. I don't like my to-do's to be mixed up, that's why I have more then one calendar. (Hello, I get it I'm a freak!) So I ask you what sort of calendar do you keep?

The Best of Both Worlds

2009-09-02T06:18:00.000-07:00

The dunes at Lake Michigan and Chicago, my 2 favorite places!

Why My Daughter Will Never Play Kickball Professionally

2009-09-01T11:06:00.000-07:00

I was sitting on the bleachers yesterday waiting for Sloan to be done with kickball practice, their team was scrimmaging against another team and were about to wrap up their practice. Another team was playing a game later that evening and had started making its way over to the field.

The coach who was playing that night (who will remain nameless) called over to one of the other coaches and said, "Can I have the field?" The other coach said, "Sure, just one more out." Then the coach whose game was yesterday said as snotty as can be in front of about 30 girls and 5 or 6 parents, "Whatever, you'd think the team that was playing would have dibs on the field first but HEEEYYY that's just me!"

Unfortunately I made eye contact with the coach while this was said and I was asked, "Oh my God don't you agree?" My reply, "Ummmmm, it's kickball, not one of the things I tend to get too fired up about." Then I realized even though I was being asked a question, my response was not what the coach was looking for because by the time I finished my reply the coach had walked away.

These are the times where I dislike being a parent the most, interacting with parents I would never probably speak to if I didn't have a child that went to the same school. Its hard for me to be nice, hard for me not to be a smart ass but here's the thing, I am nice and I do suck it up because my daughter goes to school there and I think if I can put on my big girl pants and act appropriate for my child's sake I would hope a coach who is coaching our children in a CYO league could too.

Or maybe I'm just not cut throat enough to take kickball seriously enough and maybe that's why Sloan won't get that scholarship to Notre Dame to play kickball. Oh well, there's always that scholarship for four-square or dodgeball.

Where I Draw The Line

2009-08-31T17:36:00.000-07:00

I'm all about what's new for the season in fashion and am the first to say what the heck, I'll wear a maxi dress or sure I'll give it a go with some gladiator sandals but a jean purse! No! No! No! I'm sorry denim bags weren't cool in the '80's and they are certainly not cool now. I don't care if Marc Jacobs or Miu Miu attach their logos in diamonds across it, its so bad!

What do you think would you carry a denim hobo bag?

Good News Bad News?!

2009-08-30T18:26:00.001-07:00

I went to the doctor's for my follow up visit last week and as I expected the doctor told me that all my parts were back where they were supposed to be and physically I appear to be doing great.

We talked about why things might of happened and there are really no clear answers to why it happened. The girls were in perfect health and she believed the sac just broke which can happen when carrying multiples. She believes when the sac broke it caused the placenta to become infected which is why things ultimately went bad.

We talked about the possibility of us conceiving again and she told me there was some good news and bad news.

The good news is I was cleared for sexy time now. (Good news???)

More good news we could try having a baby in approximately 6 weeks. (The verdict is still out but yes good news.)

The bad news is if we conceived again we couldn't have "sexy time" for the entire time I was pregnant. (Bad news?)

She told me because I was a by the book pregnant woman that the next time around she was taking everything off the table that could possible cause anything to go bad (hence the no "sexy time" rule) and reassured me that the chances of what happened is less then the 1% chance of it happening in the first place.

On the emotional front, I feel like I'm feeling a bit better everyday, although there are times I break down for no apparent reason, it seems to come from left field, like a punch to the head. I'm heart broken about losing my girls but I'm trying very hard to look toward the future and concentrate and the many things I have to be thankful for, mainly my family and friends.

Anyways, if you try to get ahold of me in the next 6 weeks and you can't it probably means I have told Drew about the doctor's good news and bad news and he has locked me in our bedroom to take full advantage of what he thinks is bad news!

Getting Good At His Job As Husband

2009-08-25T07:24:00.000-07:00

I have not had my hair cut or colored since May. The cut part I can deal with the color part, not so much. I had an appointment in July but had to cancel the appointment because I was in the hospital. Thankfully I have an appointment tomorrow. Of course then comes the uncomfortable moment, one I hadn't thought of until I went for a pedicure yesterday.

I sat down yesterday for my pedicure and the lady asked me in her unbroken english, "oh you have baby already?" It didn't even dawn on me that I would have to explain the situation to people because I just assumed everyone knew. Talk about making someone feel awful, I think I felt more bad for the girl who asked me the question and I know I'll have to face that akward conversation tomorrow.

Anyways, I told Drew how excited I was to get my hair done tomorrow and he replied...

Drew: Laurie, I thought you were letting your hair grow long again?

Laurie: I am, but I have to get it trimmed but more important I have to get rid of all these gray hairs.

Drew: (Smirking) Oh, I thought those were highlights, I thought they looked good!

Laurie: Good answer smart ass but we still can't have sex for a couple more weeks!

Good-Bye 1980's

2009-08-24T08:15:00.000-07:00

This fireplace has stressed me out (ok everything stresses me out) since I moved into this house over 4 years ago (I know I've lived somewhere over 2 years) and finally it no longer looks like I need a hunter green camel back sofa with burgundy curtains with gold tiebacks in the room. I hated these black shiny bathroom tiles on the fireplace and its finally been re-finished with the slate tile I've been longing for since moving in.

Stay tuned my creepy Silence of the Lambs bathroom downstairs is almost done too! Its really like Christmas in August for me!!

6th Grade Begins

2009-08-24T07:46:00.000-07:00

Today Sloan starts the 6th grade and I am like every other parent when I say where has the time gone? I can't believe my girl is in the 6th grade when I was just in 6th grade myself! Sloan has been ready to go back to school for a few weeks now but last night she "developed" a stomach ache and this morning she got a little teary eyed and told me she was nervous. I'm not sure why she would be other then she's my daughter, but honestly she's been going to school with the same group of kids for years now. (Maybe she thought picking the while uniform polo with 4 buttons was a mistake)

I know tonight at dinner I'll hear what shoes and backpacks all her friends had because at Catholic schools its all about the shoes and backpack. I'm sure its no surprise that Sloan picked out a peace signed messenger bag and a pair of Converse to wear today.

I'm a bit bummed today, its one of my milestone days in my head, the one when Sloan goes back to school I'll be 7 months pregnant milestone. On the last day of school last year I pictured me walking Sloan into class proudly displaying my belly and saying hello to the teachers. Instead I elected to drop Sloan off at the front door and go for a 4 mile walk by myself and cry while I listened to the Into the Wild soundtrack. Sweat and tears is almost as good as a bottle of wine I have to admit!

I'm feeling better now and anxious to hear about how Sloan's first day at school and kickball practice goes and whether she got embarrassed by the card I put into her lunch box telling her how much I love her!!

As you see I posted a photo I found of Sloan and I on her first day of preschool, I posted one of her by herself at preschool last year but this is one of Sloan's favorite photos that she keeps in her room. The other two photos are of her today, one taken for me so I can send to grandparents and the other one for Sloan's collection of peace-signed poses!

TGFD (Thank God for Drew)

2009-08-21T08:05:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I had to drive to Zionsville and pick Drew up from the Progressive office because he was dropping the Acura off to have fixed. (Goodbye $500.00 deductible) I was close to running late because it was one of those mornings where truly everything goes wrong. I'm trying to get Sloan ready for school and get her all her books and appointments taken care of and with each phone call I make it requires me to make 4 more phone calls.

I had to get Drew at 2:00 and noticed it was close to 1:30 so I stopped what I was doing and jumped in the Jeep. Dammit, I'd forgotten I wanted to get to the dump in the morning. My jeep was filled with an old door and a ton of cardboard boxes that were from our bathroom renovation. Why do we have garbage in the jeep do you ask? Oh heaven's sake people, our garbage men don't collect that kind of garbage they only take 7 BAGS of garbage a week. (Another job I'm thinking of applying for if I don't get on the police force!)

So there I am in my Jeep, loaded up with garbage and as I'm driving I hear the wind blowing quite strongly through my car. I look and notice the back window is down so I push the automatic window to close it and what do you know, the window doesn't go up!! (The back window power window is broke!)

Ok..so now I'm driving to Zionsville with the wind whipping through the car loaded up with garbage, Yee haw!! I get to Zionsville and am about 2 blocks from the Progressive office and I notice my jeep is swaying to the right and then all of a sudden my jeep gets the familiar bumping feeling when you have a flat tire. (Here's the part when I want to kill someone.) As I'm trying to turn into the gas station I have 3 cars slow down and mouth to me and point to my tire and say, "You have a flat tire!" (Really???!!!!! Is that why my car was vibrating across the road with sparks flying, seriously does anyone really need to be told they have a flat tire!!)

At this point really I'm just done I have thrown up my hands and have truly just given up. I call Drew and tell him what has happened and he said he'd be right over. As I'm sitting at the gas station looking across the street at the Super Target in front of me it dawns on me, I'm in Zionsville, the city I should be living in if it wasn't for the crazy lady who decided to sue me this year a day after we put a $5,000.00 deposit down on our home lot and ended up not getting the house for fear we'd lose our current house in the lawsuit and then paying over $10,000 in lawyer fees and a settlement. If I wasn't done 5 minutes ago before realizing this now I'm really done and about ready to start crying right there at the gas station. 2009 has sucked ass!

Drew luckily gets there before I hold up the gas station or highjack someone's car and he has decided to just bite the bullet and got a rental car. He changes my tire and the whole time he is cracking jokes and takes the attitude at this point Laurie we just have to laugh at ourselves because this crap doesn't happen to anyone else. He proceeds to change the tire but not without getting grease all over his hands and shirt. When he is done he tells me to take the rental and he'll take the jeep and head over to the dump to get rid of the garbage.

He gets into the jeep filled with garbage with the broken window with the grease all over his hands, shirt and now face and winks at me and says in his best Nascar twang, "Baby, I bet you've never wanted me so badly!"

Funny thing, he's absolutely right!

Reasons I Could Hurt Someone With A Steel Bat

2009-08-19T13:34:00.001-07:00

Sloan and I were on our way to get her 6th grade immunizations today. We were sitting at a red light at 21st and Arlington, which I will add, not the safest place in Indianapolis, when a car slammed on its brakes and hit us extremely hard from behind. (Sloan is fine, and I just have a headache) As quickly as the man hit me was as about as quick as he was backing up and heading the opposite direction.

I called the police and told them about the accident and waited until they came. Once they got there I told them the man was in his mid 30's, medium built, wearing a white t-shirt, was black and was driving a green '93-'94 SHO Taurus and his last 4 digits of his Indiana license plate was 2964.

After finishing up his report I asked him if they were going to look into finding the man that did this to me by running the plate number. You would of thought I'd had just asked him the most ridiculous question in the world. He told me they weren't going to do anything and that's why I should be observant when I am hit so I'd be able to give the police more information next time if something like this happens again.

Seriously, are you kidding me, was I supposed to get the guy's social security number and his mother's maiden name? How is it that the person who is hit is the person whose made to feel they've done something wrong? Also, if all you have to do as a police officer is fill out a police report and not do anything else but make innocent people feel like crap, then sign me up, I can so do that!

(On a side note to God, come on give me a break already!)

Sloan-ism

2009-08-19T13:30:00.000-07:00

Sloan went with me to drop off Drew's dry-cleaning today and since we've been playing catch up around the house I dropped off over 15 shirts. Sloan couldn't believe how many shirts I was dropping off and said to me very seriously and caring...

Sloan: Mom, that really is the downside to being married to a professional.

How Am I Feeling?

2009-08-18T07:25:00.000-07:00

I get that question alot these days and rightfully so, I am blessed to have great friends and a wonderful family that cares about me. Hell, I can't get mad at people for asking, I ask myself everyday how am I feeling!

Years ago my best friend lost her beautiful son shortly after giving birth and I remember at the time how incredibly sad I was for her, but people are right you don't really get it until you go through it yourself and even then you don't really know what they've gone through because everyone is different. I asked her recently how did you get through it and she said, what I have learned from other bad things that I've been through that time helps but the wow moment came when she said, Laurie you are getting through it and she's right, I'm getting through this regardless if I want to or not.

Every morning I wake up, I shower, I get dressed, I eat, I hug Sloan and Drew and tell them I love them and then get through the day. Am I sad? Yes, I am more sad then I probably ever been in my life and I cry alot too, and it comes from nowhere and at no particular time. Everything is still a constant reminder of my girls being gone. My body is starting to feel normal again but for weeks as my body was still recovering I had to be constantly reminded that my girls were gone. As much as I wanted to feel better again I knew once I did it would be another end to what had happened.

Endings are hard, after giving birth, after the memorial, after friends have left the house, after Drew goes back to work, etc., again reminders life goes on regardless if you want it to.

Then there are little things, like Sloan going back to school next week, in my mind I had thought of this time and I would've been 7 months pregnant, or when the fall festival was going on I would've been ready to pop or when Sloan went on her girl scout camping trip I'd have to stay home because it was on the bubble of me giving birth or the fact we were going to stay home and have Christmas alone because we didn't want to travel with the girls yet. I know as those events happen its going to be hard for me.

Its also extremely hard for me to go out, everywhere I look there are pregnant women or people walking with strollers and I can't help but feel sorry for myself and think why not us, why aren't they here? The worse so far was going to the fair last night getting stuck behind a couple with identical twin baby girls and then 10 minutes later not being able to get away from a baby that wouldn't stop crying. Lets just say my body or (boobs) were responding pretty heavily to this crying baby and again its just another kick to the gut.

Everytime a card comes to our house or someone sends flowers its a reminder of the loss. Hospital and doctor bills the size of a mortgage (yes a mortgage that could buy a beautiful house in Zionsville) with nothing to show for is a reminder. The reminders never seem to end.

I am sad and then get angry and I go from 0-100 in a matter of minutes. I can't help but think at least 100 times a day I should still be pregnant, I should still be feeling the babies kick and move, I should still be bitching about heartburn and swollen feet and my family should still be excited about how great its going to be to have 2 little girls in our lives. What about all the pretty clothes in their closets (that I can't bear to look at) and late night feedings and fights over whose going to change their diapers? What about our plans to buy a new swing set or playtime in the blow up pool? What about their first day of preschool and Christmas programs and what about worrying about how we're going to pay for them to go to college?

I thought it be easier, I didn't have time to know them like I know Sloan but its just as hard, I knew them, I carried them, I loved them and I had the same hopes and dreams for them. Can we have another baby, of course but they won't be Harper and Nora. Am I grateful for Sloan, yes, I always have been, but I'm still sad about our loss. I know I'm still basically the same person now as I was prior to this, if you're my friend and I know in my heart you're my friend if you ask me how I'm doing I'll tell you, but if you knew me in 3rd grade and haven't talked to me since but asked me on facebook how I'm doing I'll delete my account and become that more private, that's nothing new. Will I get what needs to get done and be a good mom and wife, hell yes, but will I scream at you out of the blue when I've held it in for too long, of course, I am still basically the same person I have always been all my life. I'm stubborn and if you expect me to act a certain way I will probably act the opposite way just in spite of you, but will need you even more if I have always cared about you, but you gotta let me do it my way. (I'm a pain in the ass remember)

So how I am feeling? I'm getting through this but its going to take time, how much, I don't know, but I do know this, as much as I am the same person, the old Laurie will probably never come back, I already know I've changed because of this, and can only hope everyone accepts the new Laurie.

Not What We Hoped For

2009-08-01T18:02:00.000-07:00

Our girls, Nora Kristine and Harper Elizabeth did not make it and I gave birth to them on July 30th after a long and hard labor. The girls were very tiny and very beautiful. I'm not really ready to talk about things yet but I do want to thank our family and friends for being so incredibly supportive. I am also very thankful to my doctor who was beyond amazing and the nurses who took such good care of my family and myself. Most of all I want to thank Sloan and especially Drew for helping me get through this and am blessed to say we've only become closer because of this tragedy.

Sometimes saying hello and good-bye in the same day is worth the sorrow.

22 Weeks

2009-07-28T19:28:00.001-07:00

Today was pretty uneventful and stable which is a good thing in my situation. The babies heartbeats were strong, Baby A's was 160 and Baby B's was 140. You can visibly see the girls kicking my stomach which is pretty great. I slept pretty good and perhaps I'm just getting used to being at the hospital. I actually slept in until 8:30 a.m., after falling asleep around 11:30. The nice thing about last night was no one woke me up until 6:00 a.m.

Once I woke up I learned from my nurse that my doctor came in and checked on me at around 7:30 a.m. but decided to let me sleep. All I could think is the 20 different people who work at the hospital have no problem waking me up and here my doctor the one person I'd welcome waking me up let me sleep.

My doctor came back in the afternoon and it was nice because she just took some time out of her day just to chat with me and even told me a little bit about her life. She truly is a great person and doctor. She did tell me that each week they would do a CBC which is a blood test and what they were most focused on was my white blood count. I had my test this evening and everything was within normal limits and they were happy with the results because alot of times just being pregnant will result in a higher test result.

I'd have to say the most anxious time of the day comes everyday when they take my temperture to check for a fever which can be a sign for infection. I don't know about anyone else but my temp fluctuates anywhere from 98.3 to 98.9 throughout the course of the day. Lets just say I'm in a great mood for the next four hours its 98.3 and not so great when it gets to 98.9.

I also have a new found respect for nurses. I've never really been sick and have never stayed the night in the hospital before other then when I gave birth to Sloan. My nurses are amazing and upbeat and are taking such good care of me. Honestly the only people that work in the hospital that I like seeing is my nurses, a resident and my doctor.

As I get ready to go to bed, I would have to say all in all it was a very good day and one day closer.

Day 8

2009-07-27T07:40:00.000-07:00

My doctor came to see me at about 9:00 this morning. I don't think I was ever so glad to see someone. I feel very lucky that I like my doctor so much, she has a way of making me feel a bit calmer and she has a great bedside manner. I really appreciated the fact that she spent 45 minutes with me answering my many questions.

She advised me that the fluid around both of the girls looks very good and it is her opinion that we should proceed with the pregnancy and her motto is to let nature take its course. She also told me what I already knew that really its in God's hands and there is no way of predicting anything because everyone's body is different but she has seen medical miracles happen everyday. Although I understand this concept I have a hard time wrapping my mind around it because I'm wired to want to know all the facts and to need to know the final outcome. (Another lesson to learn perhaps?)

They will do a blood count this week and will do another ultrasound in a couple weeks. On the downside, I can't take my wheelchair rides anymore because she'd rather have me in bed for the next 2 weeks. She told me there was no need to seek any high risk medical help at this time but they are right here if we need them.

Twenty four weeks seems to be the magic number though, its when I'll be able to get the steroids to help the babies develop their lungs and its when I can get medication to stop labor if it happens. I am 21 weeks and 6 days today and she also suggested a small party every week, something to look forward to. (I wonder if I can celebrate with pina coladas?)

I also learned that Methodist Hospital and Riley Hospital work very close together when it comes to my type of case and once the babies are born there would be no reason to transfer them to Riley's unless they have a heart condition. Methodist is known to have the best NICU unit in Indiana.

I learned that losing a small amount of fluid each day wasn't something to be terribly concerned with and many women lose fluid throughout their entire pregnancy. I took my last round of antibiotics today and now we just wait and pray I do not get any sort of infection. At this point infection is really the main focus and if I come down with a fever they will start the antibiotics again. Infection is obviously bad because it can hurt the babies but also can make me very sick.

Today I learned this whole ordeal is pretty serious because all the doctors and nurses that were off this weekend came into my room and smiled and said, "Oh, you don't know how glad I am to see you!" (Trust me I know its not because of my sparkling personality!)

Every morning my nurse checks the babies heartbeats and today Baby A's heartbeat was 120 and Baby B's was 140. A milestone happened today though, my nurse felt Baby A kick. This is the first time someone besides me felt one of the babies. (Sorry Drew) Some of you have asked about the heartbeats and I wanted you to know that their heartbeats will fluctuate greatly from 100-160 depending on if they are sleeping, moving, burping, etc.

My doctor said I need to concentrate on keeping my mind active and these next 2 weeks will be hard, so if anyone has any suggestions on a fun project or craft let me know. I've never been much of a crafter but I guess Martha Stewart better look out now!!

(This is what I have to look at everyday, its like Chinese water torture watching that flippin' clock!)

Day 7

2009-07-26T18:13:00.000-07:00

I can't believe a week ago I was walking in the house after being gone on vacation. I never imagined 7 hours later I'd end up being in the hospital. I miss my house, our day to day routine and even though it maybe hard to believe I miss Lilly. Drew also reminded me that we've only slept in the same bed together for 5 hours in the last 17 days!

Today was pretty uneventful, there have been no changes to report. I don't know how but I'm pretty tired today but I suspect its just from being so worried. I did have my IV removed today and they are going to keep it out for the time being as long as things stay the same. I'm also still going on my wheelchair rides with Drew and Sloan.

I am hoping that once my nerves calm down a bit I can read some of my magazines and books that everyone has brought for me. I think my main problem is that I worry about every little ache and pain and I keep forgetting I'm pregnant and I'm going to have pregnancy symptoms.

Drew has brought me dinner the last two nights. The food isn't too horrible in the hospital but for some reason it all has a hospital smell to it that is already starting to get to me.

My doctor will be in tomorrow and hopefully I'll have some new information to report.

Day 6

2009-07-25T08:22:00.001-07:00

As most of you know I've been in the hospital since 4:00 a.m. Monday night. I finally got internet at the hospital so I will try and update daily so my family and friends can be kept on top of how the babies, Sloan, Drew and I are doing.

I returned from vacation last Sunday night about 9:00 p.m. I was very happy to be home because I was extremely tired and I missed Drew very much. The pregnancy hormones have made me an incredible mushball. Looking back I haven't felt myself for a couple weeks but I kept chalking it up to the fact that I was having twins and that I am 39 years old. I try not to think about being 39, and I've only been 39 for a little over a month but I've never in my life been told how old I am this many times.

I had a trip to the E/R while I was on vacation. I woke up one morning and my feet were incredibly swollen and I was having a hard time catching my breath. They ran a series of tests, EKG, blood test and a CT scan and my diagnosis was I was 39 and having twins.

Drew and I went to bed around 11:00 p.m. on Sunday and I woke up around 3:15 for my usual bathroom break. While walking up the stairs I felt a little discomfort but thought I was probably tired and pregnant. I laid back down and after about 2 minutes it felt like I was actually peeing the bed! I thought, oh come on, this cannot be happening and this cannot be right. I got up and went to the bathroom and I knew I wasn't going to the bathroom because I was completely unable to control myself. I woke Drew up and called my doctor and they told me to get to the E/R.

After a series of test they confirmed my suspicions and indeed my water had ruptured. This condition is called PPROM. I was admitted to the hospital and was told this was very serious and there would be a good chance that I would lose the babies and it could be that day. They took an ultrasound and found the tear was in Baby B's sac but the good news was there was still fluid in the sac. The ultrasound also revealed I was probably around 21 weeks and not 22 weeks pregnant and the girls both weighed close to a pound.

For a week I have been treated with antibiotics by IV and orally and they check my vitals every 2 hours to make sure I do not come down with a fever or infection and they make sure I am not leaking. So far I've been lucky, no temp and no leaking and my body is responding well to the antibiotics. Physically I have actually felt better then I have in about 3 weeks. The downside is I've been on the internet a little too much and even though I have always given my friends and family the advice not to look on the internet when they are sick I have done exactly that. That damn internet has made it nearly impossible for me to fall asleep at night and has made me feel completely helpless.

For the most parts my spirits are pretty good but late at night seems to be worse for me. I can't help but think why me, I don't drink, smoke, I don't drink caffeine, I eat healthy, I take my prenatal vitamins and visit my doctor and then you see women who hurt their bodies and have a perfectly healthy babies. It doesn't help that they are checking my vitals at midnight, two, four and the doctors make their rounds at six. Another downside to all this is my doctor has been out of the country this week and doesn't return until Monday. I have seen many doctors and each one has a different take on the matter so I feel like I really need to put this in God's hands and know at the end of the day I've done the best that I can do for these babies.

A timeline of what is to come next is I see my doctor on Monday and she will decide how much longer I will be on my antibiotics, once I am off them I will lay here and they will monitor me like they always have, at 24 weeks I will receive steroids for the babies to help develop their lungs, 25 weeks is a good milestone for the babies and they are able to do more if I were to go into labor early. I try hard to focus on today but I can't help but wish these next few weeks away.

Lastly, I want to thank Drew who is the most amazing husband ever who keeps me strong and looks at only the positive, Sloan for being here for me everyday and making me laugh and for crying with me and being my best nurse ever, my mom for rushing to Indy to help us and the rest of my family and friends who have prayed and visited and kept in contact with us during this hard time. I feel blessed to have you all in our lives!

Keep the prayers and positive thoughts coming our way!

Embarrassing Sloan

2009-07-09T20:42:00.000-07:00

I took this photo a few weeks ago when we stayed with Ya Ya Kris. Since I can't sleep, I'm up early and what do I end up doing?
I stared at Sloan while she slept. Creepy?? Probably, but as a mom I don't think its something you ever get tired of. No matter how much they drive you crazy, I guarantee if you go in their room while they are sleeping I guarantee your heart will melt and you will think your child is the most perfect creation on this earth!

Week 20

2009-07-06T20:32:00.001-07:00

I'm now in my 5th month of pregnancy and finally starting to look pregnant and not like a blobby fat tree stump. I am still feeling really great or at least I think I feel great until I try and do anything for longer then 20 minutes at a time. My appetite is still not great but I have managed to finish a few meals this month and today was actually the first time that I sorta snacked all day. My mother-in-law, Kris, totally caught onto my moving my food around my plate and placing a napkin over my barely eaten meals while we were visiting and Drew and Sloan have both threatened to tattle to my doctor about not eating enough.

The last week or so the pain in my stomach has become pretty noticeable and by the end of the night I am wiped out and it literally feels like my uterus is going to fall out. I doubt that will happen though because my doctor and my ultrasound tech told me what a great uterus I had. Which leads me to this question, how does one respond to that? Oh thank you, I've been working out?

Sleeping is another thing that has changed, I'm usually in bed early and I'm up even earlier, I rarely sleep past 7:30 a.m. Rolling over in bed is pretty funny too, I should charge admission to watch the walrus roll over, because that's seriously how I feel. I have also noticed that if I lay too long on one side my side really aches as if to tell me, just how much weight do you think one hip can support?

This all leads me to the most obvious observation, I'm only 20 weeks pregnant! A part of me wants my pregnancy to last and I want to enjoy every moment because this will be the last time I am pregnant, the last summer with Sloan and the last time I can have free time just for me for the next 10 years or so but I can't help but wonder how bad is this all going to get?

As always though, I feel blessed to have two healthy girls in my belly and I am really enjoying the fluttering around they're doing. Another perk is watching Sloan talk to the babies everyday and kissing my belly twice. All in all its really been pretty great!

Update: Ok after looking at my picture, maybe I still look like a tree stump!

Sloan Is A Big Sister To....

2009-07-02T10:01:00.000-07:00

Unless you dress your boys in purple then the answer is baby girls!!! I could not be more excited, I secretly or maybe not so secretly wanted and prayed for girls. I wanted boys for Drew but I really, really, really wanted girls for me. Everytime I'm out shopping the girls section pulls me to it and the boys sections make me frown and be grumpy. I will also admit to this little secret, I can't even begin to picture me with boys, well at least not picturing me in a mental hospital for a few months.

Drew and I planned on getting pregnant and the news of twins was a shock but I thought, hmmm...perhaps a boy and a girl that would be nice. Then we went to our next ultrasound and we learned that the babies were identical which ruled out the boy and girl factor and the thought of two boys sent my heart racing and not in a good way. I know these babies are going to give me a run for my money but knowing I've been down the girl road before helps me ease my nerves a bit. Don't get me wrong I think boys are awesome, in fact, I married one but I don't know how I'd cope with one more unknown and this is seriously only because of my how my little OCD mind works.

Sloan is so excited she can't even stand it, she says she can't wait for them all to be best friends and to play dress up and to be each other's bridesmaids at each others weddings. I'm so excited that she'll have sisters to tell secrets to and to even bitch about me behind my back to!

As much as Drew wanted boys he is thrilled to death after seeing the ultrasound this morning. Baby A weighs in at 9 ounces and Baby B weighs in at 7 ounces. The doctor asked us if we'd be ok hearing the news that he only sees 2 perfect little girls in which we happily replied YES!

Notice the photo I posted, Sloan came to my appointment prepared, she wore a pink and blue striped polo so she could root for whatever team it ended up. We picked up these shirts on the way home because Drew saw them a few months ago and got a kick out of them, but please note, these shirts will be the only matching outfits these girls will wear, I will not be one of those mom's who put their kids in matching outfits, which probably gives you the next clue that the girls names won't rhyme and will not start with the same letter!

Our next ultrasound is in 4 weeks and will get more frequent after that, as I have mentioned before they want to keep a close eye on the weight gain of both girls to make sure they are both developing at the same rate but for today I have to say I'm about as excited as a girl can get!

11th Trip to New Buffalo With My Best Girl

2009-07-01T08:09:00.000-07:00

This marks my 11th year taking Sloan to one of my most favorite places, New Buffalo, Michigan. Its a bit bittersweet because its my last year with just her before the twins are here. We always do the same thing, eat cheeseburgers at Redamak's, go shopping on the boardwalk, go antique shopping at Da Barn (next to Redamaks/they don't have a website) and relaxing on Lake Michigan. The downside I couldn't drink a Rolling Rock with my burger, the upside I actually finished a meal for the first time in a century. The weekend could not of been more perfect, good food, a good book, good shopping, perfect weather and more memories with my best girl!

NOT to be Included In My Design Portfolio

2009-06-23T07:46:00.001-07:00

One of my to do's this summer is to put my photos into some sort of order and I'm finding some embarrassing things! These photos are of my very first apartment way back in 1991 when I was only 21 years old. I loved my place and was so proud of it and it was all mine! I was finishing up college at the time and working at Schoop's Hamburgers as a waitress and also at Fieldcrest Cannon as a salesperson. Basically, I was broke but looking back I have to admit it was one of the happiest times of my life.

My apartment was tiny and my decorating budget was small but because I worked at Fieldcrest Cannon I had Ralph Lauren and Royal Velvet Towels and 310 thread count sheets! I personally love my cow-themed kitchen but I think the piece that will probably be showcased in Dwell Magazine next month is that fancy headboard of mine in the bedroom!

I'd like to think my style has evolved a bit since these photos but I haven't gotten to the photos of my previous houses yet. Stay tuned...

Thank God For Sloan!

2009-06-21T16:34:00.000-07:00

We just got home from being gone for almost 10 days, the last 5 days were spent in Chicago and I think I may have overdid it with the walking because I haven't left my bedroom today. All of a sudden my belly feels like it weighs 100 pounds and although I hate to admit defeat it sorta hurts!

Sloan sucked it up and kept me company today and watched bad lifetime movies with me. We had some pretzels and cheese for a snack in the afternoon and I'll replay the conversation for you.

Sloan: Mom...is that 2 pretzels under your boobs?

Laurie: Hmmmm....(reaching but not seeing anything) yes it is! Thank you!

Is it sad that I'm losing food because my boobs and tummy are too big? Thank goodness Sloan's looking out for me!

Happy Birthday Sloan!

2009-06-15T15:51:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to wish my best girl Sloan a very happy birthday. She turned 11 years old today and I can't believe how fast time has flown by. It seems like just yesterday she was learning to feed herself oatmeal! I am truly blessed and thank God for her everyday. She has been a joy from the get go and probably the easiest child to ever raise. She and I have been through alot through the years and we've gotten through it together and are closer and happier because of it. She still makes me smile when I see her sleeping and can make me laugh like no one else can. I wish her all the happiness and joy in the world and I hope she knows her mommy will always love her and will always be there for her. She was the best birthday gift I ever got or will ever receive!

Happy Birthday Sloan!!!

A Post to Our Neighbors

2009-06-09T09:15:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Drew, Sloan and I cleaned our garage out and it seems like whenever we are outside a neighbor will come by to see what we are up to. We've been in the house for about 4 years and during this time our neighbors have seen at least 5 dumpsters in our driveway and countless tradesmen van's parked next to it.

None of my neighbors read my blog but I need to spout off a bit. If I have to hear one more time how much the previous owners cared about this house and how they were always working on it and how it was so cute when they lived here I am going to scream! I'm not exaggerating I think we have heard this comment at least 20 times! Ok I admit the house was cute when Drew moved in if you like 1980's country cute! Here's my biggest problem, we have replaced the roof, some windows, the plumbing, the plaster, the entire kitchen, the entire bathroom, the electrical and currently we are fixing the sewage problem, the doors, sealing the leaks in the basement floors and keeping up with the termites the previous homeowners left us to deal with.

So excuse me if I don't think the previous owners were all that but its a little hard to swallow especially when everyone who reads my blog knows about my legal trouble when I sold my home that was in fact beautiful and well taken care of!

16 WEEKS

2009-06-08T06:50:00.000-07:00

I LOVE BEING PREGNANT! As you can see I've reached my 2nd trimester and they don't call it the babymoon for nothing! I really feel great and have for the last few weeks. I have my energy back and even though I'm not super hungry I can almost finish a meal now. I have also felt the babies fluttering about when I go to bed at night and it seems one is moving a bit more then the other. The shock of having twins is starting to fade a bit and is being replaced by excitement but I know that will change when it gets closer to delivery time.

I receive weekly updates on the babies growth progress and this week I learned they are the size of an apple and approximately 4 inches. I can deal with 2 apples right? Here's what freaks me out a bit. We cleaned our garage this last weekend and went through boxes and Sloan rediscovered her bitty baby from American Girl. Bitty baby is about 2 pounds and is about 16 inches long. Sloan put the baby across my stomach and I thought those babies are going to weigh more and will be longer, how in the world are those things going to fit in there? Maybe that explains the pulling I feel in my stomach when I go for walks in the evening.

Another thing that is on my mind is my weight gain, I lost about 6 or 7 pounds the first trimester with Sloan and only gained about 18-19 pounds with her for the entire pregnancy. I'm 16 weeks and I have gained 6 pounds so far and I eat waaaaayyyy healthier this time around then I did with Sloan. I am convinced your body is going to gain and do what it needs to do regardless of what you put in your body!

I have a doctor's appointment next week and another ultrasound on July 2nd which is the big day we find out what Baby A and Baby B are and then finally I get to do some REAL shopping, because I'm getting really bored buying white onesies and white booties!!!

Rant Too Long To Tweet

2009-06-03T10:32:00.000-07:00

I've been done with school for about 3 weeks and since it seems to rain everyday I find myself watching more television then normal. I tend to get fixated on shows and I will watch them and only them. In the evening Sloan and I watch, "What I Like About You" on the N. During the day when its just me I usually watch Snapped, which is a show that basically profiles a woman that has snapped.

My two favorite shows are Dress My Nest and Clean House. Here's my big complaint though, why is that only people with bad taste and are big fat sloppy slobs get brand new designer rooms? I'm thinking I need to become a way bigger slacker in the hopes of getting brand new pretty things!!

Whew Sloan Passed 5th Grade!

2009-05-29T08:22:00.000-07:00

Today was Sloan's last day of 5th grade. As you can see by the title, she passed and she's officially a 6th grader now, I know you were all probably as worried as I was! She did an awesome job this year. I know you are all saying she has always done great but this year I'm especially proud, there was more homework, more projects and I barely helped her at all. She has proven herself way more responsible then I ever was at that age. I have caught her up at midnight working on homework and she's also gotten up early by herself to study just a bit more for a test. With each year my heart swells a little more at her accomplishments!

I did feel bad for her during mass this morning, the principal handed out certificates and when she named high honors for both semesters Sloan's name was not mentioned and instead she was presented with a high honors and an honors certificate. Most would be proud of these two certificates, honors means A's and B's and high honors is a GPA above 95%. Sloan's eyes teared up and my heart broke for her and I couldn't help but wonder what had happened this semester because her progress report this semester was the highest it ever had been. Well needless to say when we got her report card I looked over her grades her GPA was a 97% so we went back into school and Mrs. C felt horrible for the mistake. I told her it was fine but Mrs. C is wired like Sloan and I because she said no it's not right I would've been miffed if I didn't get recognized in front of the school! Talk about a bunch of overachievers!

In the end justice prevailed and Sloan was awarded her deserved certificate! Good thing, because we don't want that getting in the way of her entrance to Notre Dame in 6 years!!

(The first photo is Sloan's first day of 5th grade, the second photo is Sloan's last day of 5th grade and the 3rd photo is Sloan throwing away all her white uniform polos)

Being Sweet to the Wife????

2009-05-27T05:42:00.000-07:00

Drew, Sloan and I went to dinner last night and afterwards went grocery shopping at Marsh. When we got there we noticed a few Expectant Mom parking spaces and Drew and Sloan got totally excited and proceeded to park in one of the spots. I told them there was no need to park there and I was perfectly capable of walking an extra 10 feet. But noooooo they wouldn't have anything to do with that! Personally, I think these spots are going to come in handy once I have 2 babies to cart around!

So I ask you, good husband and daughter or lazy husband and daughter????

How Many Tests Can You Do on A Pregnant Gal?

2009-05-19T09:37:00.000-07:00

Today I had multiple doctor appointments, one with a doctor who does prenatal screening and the other with my regular doctor. I was at my prenatal doctor for longer then I expected because they had to do 4 ultrasounds. They checked the fluid behind the babies necks and also checked the nasal bone and I am happy to report that all the test came back super and the chances for down's is quite low. From what I was able to decipher they look great. Baby B has turned since my last visit and both babies are laying the same way and when I looked at the ultrasound image it looked like a mirror image. I also got to hear the babies heart beat, and oh what a lovely sound!

Back to the reason they had to do four ultrasounds, get this, not only am I having twins, I'm having identical twins. The babies share a placenta. My only concern is the risk is a bit higher when this occurs and both doctors assured me they believe I have nothing to worry about and all that means at the moment is that they'll do an ultrasound at each visit to monitor the growth of the babies to make sure one is not taking away from another. Oh darn I have to see my babies at every visit!!

So I guess this rules out my crazy pregnant dreams of having a boy and a girl, I guess we're looking at either a Harry and Lloyd or Thelma and Louise! (Real names to be given out at a much later date!!)

Biz Town Is A Hit

2009-05-16T09:17:00.001-07:00

Sloan's class went to Junior Achievement Biz Town yesterday for a field trip. All the students received a job with tasks and a checkbook to take care of. They learned about taxes being taken out of their checks and having to put money into a savings account, paying for insurance and were given the opportunity to spend their hard earn cash on various products, which then taught them about supply and demand. The kids were very busy and sometimes it was clear they were stressed out. They were given 2 breaks and during that time they had to buy stamps to mail packages, go to the bank to cash their checks, buy goods and have a snack and eat lunch.

At the end of the day the counselor asked them if they were stressed out and all the kids immediately said, "YES!" Then the counselor taught them the biggest lesson of the day, she said, just think now you can go home, make dinner, clean the dishes, pick up the kids from practice, do a load of laundry, pay some bills, help the kids with homework and get the kids to bed! Just remember kids, give your parents a break cause now you have just a tiny bit of a clue of what they do for you and how much they love you!

Bump Watch-Week 12

2009-05-13T06:21:00.000-07:00

I've finally hit week 12 on Monday, and isn't it funny how you just seem to breathe a little easier once you hit that milestone? I'm still pretty tired but the fatigue is improving, I'm proud to report that I've only taken 1 nap this week. Of course I'm still in bed by 9:00 p.m. every night and last night I was actually too tired to pick up the phone to say good night to Drew, who is in Chicago. Sadly, I sent my husband a good night txt last night! I'm so happy that I haven't suffered from any morning sickness but I seem to be very particular about what I want to eat and it changes day to day. Last night I had to have a salad, the day before I had to have lobster ravioli. For the most part nothing sounds good and if I do eat by the third bite it feels like I just finished up a whole box of Oreos. Sloan and Drew are constantly telling me to finish my meal.

What is funny about having twins is my doctor has told me to stop my normal exercise routine at the Y and to only walk and after my little scare last week she said no sex for 2 weeks and finally she told me to not go crazy and eat unhealthy but its terribly important that I eat, eat, eat!! You'd think this be every woman's dream but I'm wired to want to do the opposite of what people tell me and as I mentioned before I get full so quickly it just feels wrong to finish all my food, I mean haven't we always been told to stop eating when we feel full?

I seriously can't complain a bit though, my family and friends have been so amazing and all the positive and nice things everyone has said makes me excited I get to share this time with them. I am truly blessed!

Note: The bump in the back is obviously still bigger then the bump in the front!!

Babies Already Costing Us Too Much Money!

2009-05-09T08:17:00.000-07:00

Drew and I both woke up very early this morning and neither of us could go back to sleep so we decided to go out and get some breakfast. After breakfast we wanted to go to PetSmart but they weren't open yet (I told you we got up early) so we decided to look at SUV's because there's no way the babies and Sloan will fit in the Acura or the Jeep. We stopped at the Chevy dealer to look at Tahoe's and soon found out there were three rows of seating but there was no room for a double stroller or even a couple bags of groceries in the back of the vehicle. It looks like we'll have to get a Suburban, or let's face it a small bus, cause as you all know I refuse to buy a minivan.

As we walked into the salesperson's office so he could get some information from us we passed the new Camaro and sadly my husband fell in love with it. He said I have to get it and I'm like ummm I don't think so, I don't remember us living in a trailer park and I'm pretty sure you're not 17 years old. He immediately explains to me that he needs one because he thinks he is about to have a mid-life crisis in which I responded, HAVE AN AFFAIR THEN!!!!

Crazy Pregnancy Dreams

2009-05-08T05:34:00.000-07:00

I have been having the most bizarre dreams since I've become pregnant, they are so vivid and seem so real. Last night beats them all though. The dream takes place in Chicago at a mall and I was sitting there with my ex and we were at coffee/jewelry store. He was quizzing me on the gifts Drew has given me and everytime I'd say something he'd reply...TACKY and I'd get all defensive. Then while we were throwing jabs back and forth all of a sudden Chuckee Cheese comes by on a float and my ex puffs up his chest and says, yea we have those where I live, do you have them??? I'm all like hello, he's right here of course we have them!!

I did not get any part of that dream nor can I explain the meaning of the dream. The only part of the dream I thought could remotely be linked to something was when I was leaving the coffee/jewelry store I was able to pick out a pair of earrings and I picked out a pair of silver earrings that was a side portrait of a child and one of the earrings had a pink stone and the other one had a blue stone. Perhaps I'm having a boy and a girl!!

I Would Have Never Guessed This!

2009-05-05T14:43:00.001-07:00

I was going to wait until I was at least 12 weeks to officially announce the news of baby bean but what's a week early right? I have been extremely tired these last few weeks and although its probably TMI, yesterday when I was getting ready to pick Sloan up from school I noticed I was spotting. Me being me freaked out and called my doctor to explain what was going on. She reassured me there was probably nothing to worry about but she wanted me to come in on Tuesday for an ultrasound just to be safe. Needless to say I slept approximately 3 hours last night.

Once Drew and I got to the hospital this morning they got us in quickly and my ultrasound technician was a total sweetheart, very personable and very easy to talk to. I'm pretty sure my legs were shaking because I was so scared for bad news and to make things even worse she got very quiet. She suddenly looked up and smiled and said I don't want to freak you out but....

Anyone have any ideas what she said next? Hint: There's nothing remotely wrong with me!

Unproductive Sunday

2009-04-20T08:58:00.000-07:00

This picture of Lilly playing with a ballon was probably the highlight of my day on Sunday. Drew was out of town and Sloan and I had a busy Saturday and I was wiped out on Sunday. I don't think I left my bedroom at all yesterday except for potty breaks, oh and to pay the pizza guy. Did I mention we had pizza for lunch and dinner? I should've been writing my contemporary art paper that is due on Tuesday but just could not get motivated to do it. So, as much as I was a lazy bum the weight of my school deadline did not let me fully appreciate my lazy day.

Looking forward to May when school is over for the year and I can get some guilt free lazy days! Who am I kidding, my list of do's for summer projects will take me well into winter!

Cutest Puppy Ever!

2009-04-14T18:48:00.000-07:00

Don't tell Lilly but I fell in love with another puppy! This is Robear my mom's teacup yorkie. We stayed at my mom's recently and Robear was my best buddy and even slept with me. The only thing was I didn't know he was sleeping with me and he's so little that when I noticed him smashed up next to me I could've sworn I smashed the dog in my sleep. Luckily I didn't. We had a fun time visiting my mom and my mom said her new puppy sat by the window after we left. We'll have to get back soon to get another puppy fix!

New Blog Name!

2009-03-31T13:25:00.000-07:00

As you can see I changed the name of my blog. (AGAIN) We are very close to having the real Metro-ology blog up and running but that will be strictly for design tips and design services. I hope you'll read both of my blogs!!

Tourist In Chicago

2009-03-28T13:43:00.001-07:00

Drew travels to Chicago a couple times a month for work and when Sloan and I can get away with him we jump at the opportunity. I miss Chicago and try to get back as much as possible. Sloan has basically grown up in Indianapolis so when we go to Chicago we go to the things I've seen a million times but she's never seen. When we head out to check out the city all that is missing are some sensible gym shoes and a fanny pack and I'm sorry that is where I draw the line.

For my sanity we did manage to check out Room and Board and Jonathan Adler's new store off Michigan Avenue but our big trips were to the Art Museum and ice skating in Millennium Park. Sloan's favorite artist is Edward Hopper but she also really loved one of my favorite pieces from back when I visited the museum for french club, George Seurat's, "Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grand Jatte. Sloan likes the piece because it was in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, the movie she's watched a million times because it was how her name came to be.

We had a great time as always and honestly everytime I drive into the city and see that skyline I think that site never gets old and that there is no better place and how much I love showing Sloan the best city ever!

Lilly 5 Months Old

2009-03-25T14:53:00.000-07:00

Happy 5 months to our Lilly! As you can see she's grown just a little bit since last month. Don't let her size fool you though, she is all puppy. She is very clumsy and trips over her paws all the time, she also is still chewing everything, especially anything wicker. Although I think Drew is teaching her to chew the wicker since Drew hates wicker. Lilly also prefers Sloan's teddy bears more then her own toys and spends most of the day bringing me Sloan's teddy bears. That brings up another point, Lilly is constantly under my feet, worse then a 2 year old I think. She loves to walk and she loves to run even more, we walk her around Ellenberger Park everyday. Lilly might be the reason I finally lose some weight!

We did have one scare with her a few days ago when she got into my purse and got my bottle of Aleve out, chewed off the child safety cap and ate the Aleve in the bottle. Luckily there were only 2 in the bottle and the vet said she'd throw up maybe once or twice (she threw up twice) and would be fine (which she is).

I'm sure at 6 months I'll have more to report and another story to tell! One thing for sure is we love her to death and she really is an awesome pup!

Urban Outfitters Rock

2009-03-17T19:34:00.000-07:00

The curtains in my dining room is actually a bedspread that was on the clearance shelf at Urban Outfitters. I simply cut it in half and did a quick sew job on the frayed edges. I'd say it was a great $15.00 spent!

Lilly 4 months Old

2009-02-28T14:10:00.000-08:00

Lilly $160.00
Rug in back entryway $ 20.00*
Sloan's rubber eraser $1.00*
Sloan's stuffed animal $20.00*
2 pairs of socks $ 7.00*
Dining room blind knob .50*
My purse $50.00 * (Yes, I have a purse that cheap, it was from Silver in the City and I loved it)
Lilly's chew toys $70.00
Lilly's leash and collar $75.00
Lilly's food $30.00*

Total $433.50

*Eaten by Lilly!
Obviously we haven't gotten much back on our Lilly investment in fact it looks like we're a bit in the hole and we've only had her a month. We don't mind though cause she's really pretty darn sweet and pays us with puppy dog kisses.

I'm A Magnet For Rude People

2009-02-23T06:31:00.000-08:00

Sloan and I were getting ready to leave the Circle Center mall on Saturday when I remembered I did not have any cash for parking. I ran to the ATM and took out a twenty. I gave the parking attendant my twenty and here's our conversation.

Lady: Do you have something smaller then a $20.00? (The parking was $1.50)

Me: No I'm sorry.

Lady: Silence....as she looks at me with disgust like I had just given her a hundred dollar bill covered in vomit.

Since I was with Sloan I made it a point to keep my mouth shut and thought maybe it was a good idea to look at Sloan because if I continued to look at this lady I knew I would ask her if there was a problem. The attendant takes a good 5 minutes to give me my $18.50 back. I'm pretty sure it probably took her that long to calculate what she actually had to give back to me. As she handed me my change she shook her head again with disgust with each dollar bill she gave me, not only did she shake her head she laughed at me to let me know she knew I was obviously pulling a fast one on her. Once she finished I looked at her and smiled and said thank you very much, have a great day.

As I pulled away and rolled my window up I looked over at Sloan and said:

Me: (In my most evil voice) BWAH HA HA HA, I have a $1.50 in my pocket and she will never know!!!!!

Stolen from Facebook and Dooce but Still Fun!

2009-02-19T11:08:00.000-08:00

My latest addiction has been facebook and one of the things people do is fill out silly questionnaires and post them. Another guilty pleasure of mine is a blog called Dooce and yesterday she answered the questionnaire that has been floating around on facebook but went into a little more detail so I thought I'd do the same thing because when Drew and I answered these questions the other night we seem to disagree on a few things and I thought my loyal readers (all 4 of you) could help me out!

What are your middle names?
MIne is Marie and Drew's is John. I guess I didn't have to tell you Marie was me and John was Drew, probably not too hard to figure out!

How long have you been together?
On and off and off and on and well you all know the drill...and apparently so does Drew because when I asked him this question he laughed and rolled his eyes at me, but its been almost 7 years. I know!

How long did you know each other before you started dating?
We met on a Saturday night and we went out on our first date 7 hours later, on Sunday.

Who asked whom out?
Drew asked me out but I picked him up at the bar on Saturday night with my smooth moves!

How old are each of you?
I'm 38 and holding on for dear life and Drew is 35, and I have no problem admitting that he looks way older then me!

Whose siblings do you see the most?
Well my sister passed away, so by default Drew's sister.

Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple?
Me, face it I'm complicated and brought a shit load of baggage into the relationship. Luckily, the longer we are together the easier everything gets, I think we are both extremely lucky to have one another, we're a great team. I'd like to think I only have a carry on bag at this point and of course a cute little Miu Miu bag!

Did you go to the same school?
No, he graduated from Valparaiso High School and I graduated from Hobart High School, he spent four years in the Marines and I went to Purdue University.

Are you from the same home town?
No but we lived close to one another, I grew up in Hobart, Indiana and he lived in Valparaiso, Indiana. I actually knew his sister for 4 years before even meeting Drew. She lived down the street from Sloan's grandma Kris. I never knew she had a brother.

Who is smarter?
I would have to say I'm more book smart although, I have to work super hard at school, Drew is smarter when it comes to the real world and the working world.

Who is the most sensitive?
Drew, I find him crying in the shower all the time. Ok, ok, maybe that's me! I try very hard to be a bad ass but I'm extremely sensitive and get my feelings hurt very easily. I'm not sure if Drew has feelings truth be told!

Where do you eat out most as a couple?
We really like to try new restaurants as much as possible so if I would have to pick one it would be a small little mexican joint by our house.

Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple?
Las Vegas, and hopefully Ireland in the near future.

Who has the craziest exes?
I win this one hands down no doubt about it. I usually love to win, not so much this time. This was another question Drew laughed and just looked at me as if to say, are you really asking me this question????

Who has the worst temper?
Again, I win, wait its not good to win this one either is it? It takes alot to push my buttons but once the buttons are pushed everyone should watch out. I try to warn Sloan of this and you frequently hear in our house, you are getting close Sloan, do you really want to push it? Drew amazingly rarely gets upset it must have something to do with him not having any emotions!

Who does the cooking?
Me. Drew cooks a few times a year and everything he has made has been great, its very cute to watch him cook he is all about following the recipe, which I find amusing because Drew rarely follows directions with anything else. Also, when he does cook it usually means I get a new cool gadget or pan, because see above when following a recipe if it says 6 inch skillet and we have a 5 inch skillet, he is buying a 6 inch skillet.

Who is the neat-freak?
Hands down me, its an unhealthy obsession breaking out in a sweat if Drew's dresser drawer isn't pushed in or the toliet seat has not been put down. It is a source of amusement for Sloan and Drew.

Who is more stubborn?
This is where we completely disagree but I'm sorry, Drew is way more stubborn. I admit I have very strong opinions about things but I always cave to make people happy or to keep the peace. Drew is honestly the most stubborn man I have ever met in my life. This is where you guys are more then welcome to comment on.

Who hogs the bed?
He says I do but really he just doesn't like when I put my cold feet on him. He doesn't understand why I giggle everytime I do it to him and I don't understand why he gets pissed everytime I do it! Maybe its actually our new king size bed that has made our relationship so great lately.

Who wakes up earlier?
Drew. I would sleep until noon if I could then take a nap at 2:00; 6:00 and go to bed at 10:00. I love to sleep, Drew thinks sleep is a waste of time.

Where was your first date?
The Signature Room in Chicago, probably the nicest restaurant I've ever been to, its been downhill ever since.

Who is more jealous?
Drew. (Sorry babe!) But who can blame him I am a hot piece of meat and he works in IT with geeks, so not much for me to worry about, that and Drew is the most loyal and honest guy I've ever met in my life.

How long did it take to get serious?
Drew knew from our first date we'd get married, I fought him every step of the way. Now, I'm glad he fought for me. Let me quote my 18 year old sister when I say, "he's amazing!"

Who eats more?
Drew but he claims he has more tummy to fill! But when it comes to dieting he has way more willpower than me.

Who does the laundry?
Me. I know I'm lucky.

Who's better with the computer?
LMAO! Its the only time Drew loses his patience with me. He should cut me some slack though cause he's pretty freaking brilliant when it comes to that darn thing! Asking him a question about my hard drive is like him asking me who is Jonathan Adler.

Who drives when you are together?
Drew, always unless we are driving home from Chicago and he has to catch up on work. I hate when he has to catch up on work. Drew driving lets me catch up on my decorating magazines and as I mentioned above my sleeping.

Can You Tell The Difference?

2009-02-16T12:45:00.000-08:00

Drew was very sweet and bought me the new 3G Iphone for Valentines Day. Nothing says I love you like technology. Truth be told, I'm a gadget dork, give me a fun new phone with lots of buttons to play with or a new Viking stove over sparkly earrings any day. Yes, I admit I am quite sad and even more dorky.

The first photo is Sloan and Lilly at Ellenberger park, its Lilly's first trip to the park near our house. The second photo is Sloan being all gangsta like, in her most done pose whenever I take a picture of her. I don't have the heart to tell her, being 10, white, sitting in the back of an Acura wearing a northface jacket doesn't really make you all that bad.

The post today is really if I can tell the difference between my two phones, because I hate to admit it I think the iPhone (the original one) takes crappy photos, regardless how cute the people in the photos are!

Update: Oh Drew is getting a big smooch, my new iPhone's camera rocks!

Sweet Bargain Hunting Skills

2009-02-13T09:45:00.001-08:00

I'm always excited when I run across a good sale at one of my favorite stores. Truth be told, I rarely ever pay full price for anything. My sweet new placemats from Pottery Barn are no exception, I picked these up for the low price of $1.99.

Too cute!

Thinking of Warmer Weather

2009-02-06T12:39:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd post a few photos Sloan took a few weeks ago when her girl scout troop visited the Garfield Park Conservatory. I let her borrow my camera that day and when I downloaded her pictures I was very surprised at how beautiful her photos turned out. Maybe I should ask her for some tips because my photos never seem to turn out this nice!

In some ways she is very much like her mom though, when I asked her how the event went she said, the flowers were really pretty but it was way too hot in there. I said geez, Sloan it's 15 degrees outside you'd think you'd love that it was warm in that place. I'm totally like her though, when its summer I want it to be cold and right now I'll I can think of is, man, I can't wait until its summer!

It's A Girl!

2009-02-02T16:39:00.000-08:00

Sloan had a volleyball game on Saturday and after the game it was still a little too early to go to lunch so I suggested to Drew that we go to the Humane Society, you know to just "look." Well two hours later we walked out with a new addition to our family, her name is Lilly Jones!

I'm learning very quickly how much puppies are like babies, so far though babies are easier in many ways. Face it, a baby poops in a diaper and as gross as that may be its all contained in one place, a puppy however poops in her crate and rolls all over it. The fun part in all that, is she can't get completely wet for another 3 days because she was fixed and her stitches haven't dissolved yet. So another thing a baby wins with is that, a baby smells way better then our Lilly does right now!

Regardless, she's as a sweet as can be and I'm so happy we got her! Stay tune I'm sure they'll be lots of stories to tell!

Which of My Friends Do I Love Most?

2009-01-23T13:34:00.001-08:00

Actually I love them all, so here's a sneak preview of what I'll be buying all of them for their birthday's this year. I'm hoping I can get a discount if I order in bulk!

Having Fun with Strangers

2009-01-18T20:53:00.000-08:00

I was at Target today buying groceries and I found the coolest pair of pj's for Sloan. Sloan collects snowglobes and I found a pair of pj's with snowglobes all over them, by Nick and Nora.

Sloan modeled them for Drew and I before she went to bed and didn't get the joke right away when Drew asked her to shake for us. Anyways, I might be weird but I use an account for our groceries and another account for Sloan's purchases, so I put the divider between the two separate transactions and informed the cashier. The cashier was more then happy to do this for me and lets face it I know I'm not the first person that has requested this. I mean come on, have you noticed at Target you can even use multiple credit cards for one purchase!

Apparently, the 70 year old prude behind me was a little upset that it was going to take another 2 minutes because of my outrageous request and gasped loud enough for the cashier to look at me and roll her eyes. Needless, to say she didn't know who was in front of her and I quickly grinned ear to ear and said...

That's funny you think I'm the type of person who is going to ignore how hilarious you just sounded!

She glared daggers at me and told her husband, "let's go to another aisle, we don't have all day"! The cashier replied to me, "Oh how I wish I could've been the one to say that to her, that was awesome!"

The cashier finished my second transaction before the bagger had even bagged my groceries and as I walked toward the exit, my new friend was in the check out lane 2 rows over, with 3 people ahead of her.

Apparently, she's one of those people who always seem to pick the wrong lane when she's in a hurry! Gosh, that's too bad!

Gotta Love Craigslist

2009-01-17T09:54:00.000-08:00

I have been a little obsessed with mid-century design for awhile and a great place to find these pieces is craigslist. I really love this table and think it would be great for our basement remodel. I think I like the design so much because my grandma had this type of furniture all over her house, of course back then it didn't seem too cool to me, but now when I see it I think about all the great times and memories I had at her house.

Orla Kiely Housewares for Target

2009-01-13T20:30:00.000-08:00

Its been in a million blogs I read but I'm still excited to see one of my favorite designers is coming to Target in February. I have been carrying one of her totes to school this year and I love it, too bad I didn't get it at a Target's price.

My name is all over the apron, you can wear an apron when you order take out right?

Less Then the Cost of a Purse

2009-01-12T12:48:00.000-08:00

I finished the new office space in the basement during my Christmas break and I'm pretty happy with the results, especially since it cost me less then $150.00. Drew was nice enough to paint the ceiling and walls for me. Most of everything in the office I had already. Sloan was proud of me re-purposing the large white shelf that the previous owners left in the basement, it now holds all my art supplies. The biggest steal was the orange office Steelcase chair I got for $3.00 at the Goodwill Store. The biggest expense was $60.00 for a screen to hide the hot water heater in the corner of the space.

Its going to be nice to not have to work on my large design boards in the dining room anymore but now I'm going to have to come up with another reason for us to order pizza and eat in the family room!

How Laurie's Mind Works

2009-01-06T20:10:00.000-08:00

This is the latest bag on my, I must have list, its from Anthropologie, and is called the Hot and Cold Bag and its a steal at $188.00. (Come on we all know that's a steal for me!)

The reason I love this purse so much besides it feeling like butter is because it matches perfectly with my teal fall jacket I got on clearance from Target for $18.00. I paid $18.00 for this jacket and I get a compliment on it everytime I go out. I figured since I saved so much on the jacket it totally justifies the purse purchase!

I'm Alive

2009-01-04T15:41:00.001-08:00

Its been awhile and in a week I'm back in school and I'm a bit anxious about this, on one hand I'm excited to get another semester under my belt but I'm also a bit freaked out about losing my life once again. Last semester, was a rough one for me, I have this problem of having to get an A on anything and if I don't, well I'm obviously a failure. Here's the things about A's and Laurie, I have to work really, really hard to get them, leaving no time for much else. Throw in being a mom and a wife well its the perfect ingredients for going a bit insane.

For 2009, I am going to attempt bringing things down a notch and letting go this need to do perfect in school and focus more on having fun, making memories with the people important to me and focusing more on my health and happiness.

This break has been great, I finished my office in our basement, stayed on top of the laundry, had some great one on one time with Sloan, had about the best Christmas in my life and brought in the New Year with the people I care about the most.

Sloan really had fun too, I think she may be a master ice skater at this point going ice skating at the park by our house as much as she possibly could.

The only problem is I'm still not back to normal human sleeping time yet, I still can't fall asleep before 3:00 a.m. That is on my list of to-do's for next week along with a trip to Ikea, cleaning my closet and Sloan's closet and room and getting a fun new haircut. The one thing I look most forward to is kicking Drew and Sloan out of the house and getting some alone time with Jennifer Lancaster and her books, I'm currently reading Bitter is the New Black and its hilarious.

So Happy 2009 to all and here's to remembering in the end everyone's lives can be summed up in a few sentences and with that said, its about time I stop sweating the small stuff.

The Final Countdown

2008-12-07T13:39:00.000-08:00

I'm going to give myself a little pat on the back because this last semester was pretty project packed and yet I still managed to stay on top of most of the chores around the house. Also, as most of you know I'm a bit of a scrooge when it comes to Christmas but I still took a break from everything yesterday and decorated both the inside and outside of the house, followed by a little Wii competition with Sloan and Drew.

With the end of any semester in less then four days, I must of course give a big I love you to Drew and Sloan for putting up with me, I have the greatest husband and daughter ever! Drew is slowly learning he can be right or he can be happy. Here's a little excerpt of Drew keeping our marriage rolling along smoothly.

Drew: (A bit flustered) Do you know where my jeans are that I put on the chaise?

Laurie: Well they were put down the laundry shoot and are downstairs.

Drew: (A bit more flustered) Have they been cleaned?

Laurie: What do you think?

Drew: (Pausing for a bit too long) Ummm clean?

Laurie: Good answer!

He's learning isn't he!

I LOVE THIS BRACELET

2008-12-04T18:57:00.000-08:00

Anyone who knows me knows that other then my wedding ring, I'm usually all about vintage jewlery, like the pearl and crystal necklace of my grandma's that I wore when I got married, or a fun piece from JCrew, or honestly cool cheap pieces from H&M, Forever 21 and my good old standby, Target.

So, I was thinking because I have saved Drew so much money in my prior jewelry purchases then to splurge on the Love bracelet from Cartier would be totally acceptable...right?

Tween Room Sets Records! (Ok Not Really)

2008-11-25T06:56:00.000-08:00

There's about 2 1/2 weeks until school is done for the semester and I'm busy with all my final projects but I thought I'd report that Sloan's bedroom has just past the 100,000 hits on Rate My Space on the HGTV site. I've actually gotten some nice feedback from the room which is surprising because the people on that site are brutally honest and retarded. People complain they can see a lamp cord or they don't think the brown curtains go with the beige countertops or they suggest you add a border to a bedroom. It seems the people that are the most critical are usually the ones who do not have any photos of their rooms on the site. Hmmm....big shocker!

Not Enough Hours in the Day

2008-11-17T15:48:00.000-08:00

We've been pretty busy lately and quite frankly I don't know if I'm coming or going. Drew, Sloan and I have all been sick. I've had strep since last week and Sloan has a fever of 102 that won't seem to go away or down. To make matters worse, school is so busy that its pretty darn laughable. If I have to hear one more professor talk about the real world I'm going to scream. I miss the real world, I miss going to work at 9 and coming home at 5 and most of all I miss my paycheck at the end of the week. Most of all I want to ask them why the need for 100 hour final projects in addition to the final comprehensive final? I keep looking at the cover of my book to see if its not anatomy or physics because surely this must be medical school, surely you don't need to do this much work in order to pick out some fabric do you?

The photo is a picture of the inside of a house called Samara that i visited for my furniture class. The house was built by Frank Lloyd Wright and is in West Lafayette. It is a amazing home and I appreciate Wright's talents on a whole new level. The inside of the house is not for everyone's taste but honestly I don't think anyone could come up with a bad thing to say about the exterior landscaping of the home, its absolutely beautiful. Although I wasn't thrilled about having to take this field trip on my day off of school, I'm really glad I had a chance to see it.

25 days and counting until the semester is over!

Week Two

2008-11-09T13:16:00.001-08:00

Nope, I'm not even joking, this is the space I'm turning into my design studio. Pretty isn't it! This space is the scary place in our basement. Like I have stated before I have a desk upstairs in our loft but with the large projects I work on they end up being in everyone's way. Not only is this space scary and ugly I'm also doing it on a budget.

In between class and homework and Sloan I managed to go through all of my office things and art supplies. I wonder how many architect rulers one can actually own? Everything has been processed, and organized and will be ready for the space once the space is ready for it.

While organizing I ran across one of Sloan's 2nd grade journals and thought I'd share it with everyone, it is entitled, "When We Went to the Relatives House." I've left in the grammatical errors for the full effect.

I love the holidays when relatives come. Now here's how the storie goes. It was a cold but sunny day and it was a good holiday....Thanksgiving!!!! A.K.A. my moms favorite holiday. Okay now back to this story. Okay well as you all know it was Thanksgiving and we were goint to my aunt and uncles house for the feast. I loved to go there. So me and my mom went shopping for some food to bring to the feast. After shopping we got ready and went to the Thanksgiving feast. When we got there everybody who was suposed be there was there. My grandma, her dauter, aunt, uncle, great granma and us. First the grown-ups drank some wine. Then we ate the turkey and stuffing. We ate everthing exsept the pumpkin pie. (my favorite pie) So we ate the marbouless (I think that's supposed to be marvelous) pie. After we ate the pie the grown ups talked for hours. Everytime I tried to talk to my mom she said, "in a minute." and would always forget when the minute was up. But is was so so so so so much fun!

Me talking too much and my family drinking wine???? I think Sloan is a big time story teller!!

So my tip for everyone is to clean that office and those files, you'll never know what you might find to make you smile!

Nice Try!

2008-11-04T05:43:00.000-08:00

It seems the older we get the more we eat at home. I never thought I'd say this but I actually enjoy staying home and having dinner with the family every night. The downside to eating at home every night is there are always dirty dishes and for some reason I am the only one who knows where the dishwasher is. It never fails the moment I get all the dishes put in the dishwasher or put away I look in the sink to find new dishes waiting for me.

This morning after getting out of the shower I discovered new dishes in the sink that weren't there 15 minutes before. I can't help but think where are this dishes coming from? Are they hiding them in the sock drawer? Enough is enough right? So before I left to drop Sloan off at school I left a note for Drew on the sink that read:

Please start putting your dishes in the big silver box next to the sink.

I arrived home before Drew saw the note and so I happened to be in the kitchen when he read it. This is our conversation after he read it.

Drew: Big silver box, what's that?

Laurie: Yea, I'm pretty sure I've never introduced you to this little machine but its amazing, it washes our dishes.

Drew: Yea, but you need to buy something or make something, afterall you're the interior designer to put on the dishwasher so I know if they are clean or dirty.

Laurie: Yes, you are right, I am the interior designer and that is the reason we're not going to put something on the dishwasher. How about this concept, open the dishwasher and look at the dishes. If they are dirty well its safe to put more dirty dishes in there.

Drew: (Grinning) Yea, I can never tell.

Laurie: Yea, right Drew, I'm thinking this is like how you ask me if you can cover a dish with aluminum foil and put it in the microwave everytime I ask you to help with dinner! Nice Try!!!

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T05:03:00.000-07:00

We had lots of fun last night carving pumpkins and in our household nothing is complete without a little competition. We need your help so tell us which pumpkin do you like best?

For the record, Kim, there was one done specifically with you in mind so I'm counting on your vote!

It Has To Start Somewhere-Week One

2008-10-29T18:20:00.003-07:00

When I design a new space this is how it usually starts out. I tend to buy a lot of decorating magazines and I also get a lot of catalogs in the mail. I'm not one for clutter so I usually go through the magazine quickly and tear out what I like and put it into a master book that I keep. The book comes in handy when I start a new space.

I'm currently working on redoing a very small space in my basement to be used as my office. I have a desk upstairs in our loft area but its not really working out for me because my projects tend to take up a lot of room.

I've given myself 10 weeks to finish the project so I hope you'll enjoy seeing how it all comes together!

Start a New Tradition

2008-10-28T17:52:00.000-07:00

Life gets crazy sometimes but its nice to have traditions. Our family tends to eat at home during the week but every other Sunday we try out a new recipe and take turns cooking. It doesn't have to be fancy just something we haven't tried before.

So get out the pretty china that you only save for special occasions, light some candles and try a new dish with the family. Its really a nice feeling to be celebrating nothing. I think the best memories are made at the dining room table.

The first recipe I'm going to share with you is a Turkey and Noodle Bake. Drew is a big fan of anything baked and well stuffed with meat! Hope you enjoy it! It was really yummy and a great fall dinner!

1 package of egg noodles cooked
3 cups of cubed white turkey meat
1 cup of chopped celery
1 medium red bell pepper
1/2 cup of chopped onion
3 tablespoons margarine or butter
2 cans of condensed cream of chicken soup
3 cups of skim milk
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
Fresh chopped parsley

Cook noodles. Preheat oven to 375. In medium saucepan over medium heat, cook celery, bell pepper and onion in margarine until tender. Stir in soup, milk and garlic salt; mix well. In a large bowl, combine soup mixture with cooked noodles and turkey. Spoon into a greased 15 x 9 inch backing dish and top with fresh parsley. Cover; bake 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

For dessert I made my famous sugar cookies. I used my Halloween cookie patterns and for fun we frosted and decorated our own cookies. Drew won for the ugliest cookie!

How It All Began

2008-10-26T09:36:00.001-07:00

My name is Laurie Jones. I am married to Drew and I have a 10 year old daughter named Sloan. I live about 10 minutes from downtown Indianapolis and really love living so close to the city. I was a paralegal for close to 15 years and I finally got to the point where it was either go to law school to get my law degree or go back to school and study interior design. This time, I followed my heart and not my head and I am currently in my 2nd year at IUPUI getting a degree in engineering and technology, which is really just a fancy way of saying interior design.

Looking back, I should of made the choice 20 years ago. As a little girl, I would actually get excited when I came home from school to see that my mom had rearranged the living room furniture. I spent hours in my own room drawing out sketches of my room and my future house. I would get yelled at for taking my mom’s Home magazine from her room and not putting it back where it belonged. While most kids hung pictures of Andy Gibb (yes I’m that old) on the wall I hung photos of rooms torn from my mom’s decorating magazines. I would look through the JcPenney’s catalog at the draperies and tell my mom about the perfect gold curtain for the living room!

I have lived in more houses then I care to admit to and its usually time to move when I have finished decorating it. I have a habit of selling everything and starting over again and my taste seems to change quite a bit. For the first time in my life I feel like things are falling into place.

I hope you enjoy my blog on my interior design studies and my home remodeling projects and who knows maybe some client's projects! I will warn you when I get stressed I use humor and sarcasm to get through it so be prepared for anything.