5 down, a lifetime to go!

It's hard to imagine that 5 short years ago, I was preparing myself to walk down the aisle, to meet PC at the alter, to exchange our vows, seal them with a kiss, and start a new chapter together - creating a lifetime of memories.

We are 5 years in today... and I wouldn't change a thing. Honestly... I remember when PC proposed to me and I really thought I was the luckiest person in the world. Now... I still feel unbelievably lucky... we have created a family and are about to expand it a little further, but when I look at E, and my growing belly, I see what 5 years of happiness between the two of us has created.

Life might not be all sunshine and lollipops all the time, but I have to admit that looking back on the past five years there has been a lot of sunshine in our lives, and a heck of a lot of lollipops. I don't know if we are like the average married couple or not - what I can tell you is that we are different people, but together, we are better people. We keep each other honest and sincere, we support each other, and most of all - at the end of the day, even if PC didn't pick up his dishes, or I didn't properly seal the freezer door - we still love each other, no matter what.

I am excited for the next years of our marriage, I know there will be challenges and many sleepless nights ahead, but I think what makes it so exciting is knowing I have a partner in crime to get through it all. PC really brings out the best in me... I admire and respect him, and as we celebrate 5 years today, I want to thank him for always being by my side no matter what and for being a great Dad to E and a loving husband to me too!

Love you PC!
Thanks for a great 5 years... looking forward to many more!

Terrific Twos (with a hint of sarcasm!)

Let's talk Terrific Twos.

My baby boy is two weeks away from the glorious celebration, and in the last three weeks he has shown me that he's changing from a sweet little innocent boy to an independent yet dependent and stubborn, but cute, toddler boy.

While I want to fight and defy all the changes he is going through, I know it will just be easier if I accept them, deal with them, and move on.

Since we returned from a great two week vacation at the cottage, things have just been out of whack for E. While I feel we've gotten our household back into a regular routine, that regular routine for E has been filled with tears, stubbornness, NOs, and more tears.

He returned to daycare on the day the girls were heading back to school. Not only were the three girls in school, all day everyday, his best buddy Riley, was also starting kindergarten and no longer was at daycare. In addition to those changes, he has a new buddy at a daycare, a younger boy who isn't quite as active (yet) as Riley was, and it all seems to be a little overwhelming for him.

For the first time in a year of dropping him off, I received a measuring cup full of tears, with the arms out, and the sobbing 'Momma' as I leave him there for the day and head off to work. Talk about break my (pregnant) heart (although I am getting over it now that we are on day 14 of this routine!).

He goes from crying and sobbing in the mornings, to the complete opposite display of 'I don't want to come home' when we pick him up at night. Its frustrating, yet par for the course, I know.

At home... we've gone from an independent boy who is fine to play on his own, to the 'Mom, Mom, MOM' until you can give your full attention to him. It's the 'you gotta see this' type beckoning that he is into, but when you provide your attention, all you get is a smile and the batting of the 'I'm so cute, I love you' eyes. Its the same when Daddy's in the room too.

The terrific twos also include the 'want what I want ... and NOW' display of emotion. If you tell him NO for any reason - like 'No E, we don't have ice cream cones for breakfast or lunch, its a treat, not a meal'. A mountain of tears ensue, and you swear he was just sentenced to life in prison without parole. You have to spend the next 10 minutes of your time either listening to him get over it, or talking to him about a completely different subject that you know makes him happy, but that doesn't remind him that he wanted a 'cone'.

Listening is also part of the terrific twos, as in, 'I only hear you Mom when you are offering me something I want or allowing me access that I can't otherwise obtain by myself'. The 'stop right there', 'don't do that', and 'your gonna hurt yourself' all receive the same type of 'I can't hear you' looks.

Let's see, what else is so terrific about turning two...?!

I am sure there are many parents out there who have experienced what I am talking about - and probably worse. I also recognize that its probably just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the daily battles of raising a two-year old, but I guess the biggest thing I am trying to get over is that my once sweet little boy is now beginning his decent from babyhood to toddlerhood. And with all the tears and NOs that this transition entails, its just hard to believe this all happened right under my nose.

Where has the time gone?!

AKON Baby Mama Drama!

I had to chuckle at this... a colleague of mine Google'd my name and sent me the link to the top hit of search results! Apparently Sara Coleman caused some major Baby Mama Drama for singer AKON back in 2009. A year later, its still a top hit! The sad part is E was born around the same time at the baby in this story!

Wonder if I am entitled to the royalties from his hit song!

I just imagine how the conversation would go at home.

Me: We just hit the jackpot.
PC: Really? Whadda mean?
Me: E's real dad is AKON, and we're entitled to 50% of his earnings.
PC: Sweet - let's go to Vegas baby!

Okay... some maybe I'd have some 'splain'n to do, but you know in the end it would be happily ever after for The Coleman's living on AKON's money!

To have and to hold... with or without the rings!

You may recall my last pregnancy... I had a post called 'And the rings come off' - well its that time of the pregnancy again - but this time my rings were officially stuck on my finger as of last night.

What an ordeal taking, budging, ripping my rings off. My poor poor POOR finger.

I wore my rings to the cottage but didn't really wear them while I was there... I may have had them on the first two days, but with swimming and applying suntan lotion all. the. time. I just put them in my purse and forgot about them until the final day. When I was packing up, I remembered them and tried to put them on but with little success. I commented that, its that time again - bye bye rings.

However, come Tuesday morning, out of habit, I tried them on again, and while they didn't slide right on, I was able to use a little a lot of force to get them on. And ON they stayed... as the day heated up, so did my body temperature. When I got home from work, I looked down and my rings looked like they were forced on an overweight marshmallow. Not cool. I tried to take them off, but with no such luck.

I had a little meltdown... okay, I cried a little, and swore A LOT - then I pulled myself together and did the logical thing - Google'd 'How to get rings off a swollen finger'.

Luckily there are TONS of options, none of which really work, but a couple which I was willing to try - including taping my swollen finger up for an hour on ice... using saran wrap and windex (don't ask)... and going between heat and ice for 30 minutes.

Finally, last night, I used a combo of baby oil and soap and warm water and 35 minutes later I managed to get my engagement ring off. I did a little happy dance... until I looked down at my poor little finger and saw my wedding band still on there, and I remembered that my other band was a half size smaller than my engagement ring.

Can you say '#$%@ @#$%, &%#@, !@#$, &%#$"

Ya... I did.

I thought... just calm down, give it a half hour and try again, but an hour later, my finger was throbbing, and tingling. By the time PC got in from hockey, I said to him 'Would you be mad if I got my wedding band cut off?'

His immediate reaction was 'You can't, its platinum'.

Apparently, platinum is hard to cut or dangerous as you can lose your finger - either way, I am thinking, I am going to lose my finger if I don't get this sucker off.

I questioned PC a little more 'Are you sure you went with platinum and not white gold' to which he assured me, as per the insurance appraisal that IT IS PLATINUM.

So, I decided to ice it for a bit, wrap my finger up with tape as per Google's advice... and sleep on it. During the night, I woke up about 3 times with my finger tingling, and my arm half asleep. This morning, the swelling was down, but the ring still would not budge. I showered and moved the ring a bit, but not enough to get over my hippo knuckle.

I starting praying ... 'please lord, let me have a SKINNY day... PLEASE'.

However, after consulting a friend who consulted a friend of hers, she told me to drink a lot of water to bring the retention down, so I went to town chugging water all morning, and when I got home today my finger seemed skinnier! I ran warm water ... used the old baby oil and a lot of soap and after another 20 minutes of cursing and forcing the ring, I finally got it off.

You can only imagine the celebration that follow... WHOOO-HOOO!

What a relief... I honestly thought I was going to lose my finger.

The lesson... and my advice to all pregnant women out there is if you force the rings on.... its gonna take double the force and few hell mary's to get those puppies off. Bottom line, its not worth the pain and agony - trust me!

Any one else out there ever have to force your rings off due to pregnancy or any other reason? Do you have any secret solutions for any one suffering from swollen ring-gers!!!