Wonder of Wonders / Miracles of Miracles

My poor blog has been so neglected as of late.  There has been something big I've been wanting to blog about and have not felt ready to do so - so I just found I wasn't blogging about anything.  My life feels so surreal right now I'm not even sure how to write about it.

But I won't keep you in suspense any longer...


So without further adieu...


Drum roll please!!!


badabadabadabadabada...

That's right - I'm pregnant!

We are thrilled, excited, surprised, nervous, etc.  As most of you know we lost our third baby boy over 5 years ago.  Since then we've always hoped that we might be able to have another baby join our family.  After a miscarriage and years of trying I had pretty much given up hope.  But both Jason and I never quite felt like our family was complete yet.

I must admit I'm nervous about this pregnancy considering my history and age - but I also know I was meant to carry this baby no matter what happens.  This past week we had our 19 week ultrasound.  I was especially anxious for this appointment as it was during this ultrasound that the initial problems with Kenny were diagnosed.

As you may or may not know babies with Trisomy 18 have some outward signs - one sign is a clenched hand.  Leading up to this week I prayed so hard that I would see open hands in the ultrasound.  Shortly after the exam started I saw a little hand lift up with 5 open little fingers.  It was all I could do to not start crying right then.  The rest of the ultrasound went great and as far as we can tell so far so good!

Introducing Baby Atwood - due to arrive April 2014

The boys are so excited!  When we told them Ashton burst into tears and kept saying over and over "I'm so happy, I'm so happy!!"  They've had fun thinking about sharing a room when the baby comes, and giving us their ideas for baby names.  They have both adamantly informed me that they will not be changing diapers however.

We pray that everything will continue to go well and are beyond grateful for this miracle of miracles!!

Stir Crazy

Last weekend Jason's work held their annual kids Christmas Party.  This year it was at "Stir Crazy", a games and activity place for kids.  They boys had so much fun.  They fed us, and the boys played in the bouncy houses, the arcade room and a big obstacle play area.

No Christmas party is complete without a visit from Santa.

Santa told Ashton he was brave to be wearing an Oiler's Jersey in Calgary!

They were both really happy with their presents.

Even Jason and I had a visit from Santa

The boys decided before we left they wanted to try one of the little kid rides.  Silly boys!

We had a fun family day!

Grandma's Birthday Weekend

This past weekend the entire Puzey clan headed to Edmonton to celebrate Grandma's birthday.  We pulled the boys from school and after a quick trip to the barber shop for haircuts we headed on our way Thursday morning.  We arrived in Edmonton around 4:00 p.m. checked into our hotel and then went over to the West Edmonton Mall.

After a bit of shopping we met everyone at the Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner.  We had a great meal together with all 19 of us at the same table.

After having a yummy breakfast at the hotel Friday morning we headed back to the West Edmonton Mall and spent the entire day at the Waterpark. The boys had so much fun with their cousins.  They swam in the wave pool and rode the slides all day.  Bowen was so adventurous and went on lots of slides he had never been on before.

Bowen, Ashton and Jason also decided to try the new zipline that goes the entire length of the park.  I couldn't believe Bowen agreed.  He told me he was nervous but still wanted to do it.  He ended up thinking it was awesome.  Ashton of course wasn't hesitant at all to go as he is our daredevil.

After they kicked us out of the waterpark we got a bite to eat and went back to the hotel.  The boys were pretty quick to fall asleep.

Saturday started with breakfast again at the hotel and then we went back to the mall to spend the day at Galaxyland.  Again I was so proud of Bowen he tried so many new rides.

The boys even tried one call Space Shot that shoots you 130 ft in the air at 3G's.  Bowen didn't like this one very much, but Ashton went on it 3 more times.

You can see the difference between my boys in this picture.  One in sheer joy, the other sheer panic!!

We opened and closed galaxyland as well as the waterpark the day before.  We went to Earl's for dinner and then back to the hotel.  Straight to bed again for all of us.  We were all tuckered out.  We headed home on Sunday and were very fortunate to have good roads to travel on.  We had such a great time with everyone.  Mom was pleased to have her whole family together for her birthday!  We'll have to do it again in a few years.

Pulled a Fast One

Many mornings Ashton gets up before me.  This morning he got up around 6:00 a.m., had a shower, and made his lunch.  When I came downstairs at 7:00 a.m. he was getting himself some breakfast and was dressed and even had his snowpants on already.

Later this afternoon I got an email from Ashton's teacher.  Included was a note - "Wanted to send you this picture.  Thought you might get a kick out of what Ashton has on under his snowpants today!".

What a stinker!  But I've got to hand it to him, he pulled one over on me!

Halloween 2013

Our Halloween celebrations started the night before with the carving of pumpkins.  My boys and Jason love carving pumpkins but got started a bit late as they didn't begin until after bishopric meeting and cubs.

The finished products - a couple of classic designs.  Bowen carved the one on the right all by himself!

A quick bat that Jason and Bowen carved.

A wolf that Ashton carved completely by himself - he wanted me to make sure I told you all that!  He was pretty proud of himself!

Halloween day the boys were having little parties at school and I had volunteered to bring in cookies.

I thought they turned out cute!  I took Hobnobs, piped frosting on top and stuck a hershey kiss on top to complete the little witch hats!

Of course after school it was time to get ready to go trick or treating.  Bowen dressed as a Jedi.

Ashton dressed as Darth Maul.

The boys had lots of fun trick or treating with their cousin Dane!

Another successful halloween!!