Since the last post, we have had some news and happenings as well as a trip to the ocean! The first bit of news we received came on the 6th. I had an ultrasound and amnio done to rule out the chance of Down's we had discovered on a previous blood test. Everything came back normal all around on the test and we found out we are having a GIRL! So we will have one of each and we are pretty excited! Alistair is even coming around on the idea of a baby. He will point to my stomach or pat it and say, "baby." We keep asking him about babies and if he wants one around and he keeps saying yes. We will see if that answer is the same next April! To lessen the chances of having a spontaneous miscarriage following an amnio, they suggest you do nothing or next to nothing for 24 hours after. Seth took Friday off and Seth's parents took Alistair for 2 nights. So we had some time to ourselves at home. It was a really nice break but I glad to see Alistair when we picked him up! David and Judy took him to a farm in Yelm. From the photos she sent, it looks like they had a grand old time! 
That weekend we headed off to Cape Disappointment State Park with my parents for 3 nights. We had a yurt and they parked their trailer on our site where there are hook-ups. It made it really convenient for eating as the rain was never hard until the day we left, but walking around with food from site to site in some kind of rain isn't fun. My parents brought a card table and chairs and we put it up in the yurt for a bit more space to eat and hang out. We drove to Astoria and Seaside on Sunday. We hit up the local outlet mall and then found lunch in downtown Seaside. It was a real Washington Coast day (ie soaking rain), so driving around and staying warm and dry was good. 
On Monday we got up to blue sky and sun. It was gorgeous that day. We drove out to Ocean City and browsed through Jack's Country Store which has just about anything you could need and then walked around Long Beach. We hiked up to Northhead Lighthouse and it was beautiful - no wind, sunny and dry. We spent the remainder of the day enjoying the weather and being able to sit outside in November. We got up Tuesday to a complete down pour, which is always fun to pack up in!
This past Monday (the 17th), Alistair he had his cardiology appointment. Everything looks the same, no changes. That is good, change would mean it was getting worse. Dr. Lewin wants to see him again in 6 months and if everything still is the same, he thinks we can go to yearly appointments instead of every 6 months. Alistair did really well this time and I think it was fun for Dr. Lewin to have the interactions with Alistair that he did. Then at the end of the week (this past Friday), we found out Alistair might have an Inguinal Hernia, which is a hernia in the groin area. It doesn't bother him, but he gets swollen on the right side. We are going to get in touch with a pediatric surgeon this week about a consult to see if that is indeed what he has. If he does, it will be an outpatient surgery, at least for most. For Alistair it could be inpatient because of having to be anesthetized for it - he may need to be observed over night because of his heart condition. We will see. We aren't overly worried about, but it is weird to think a 2 year old has a hernia!
Alistair is also showing signs of wanting to potty train. He has already sat on his potty chair or the big toilet a few times and gone. But it has to be his idea, although the past few days we have gotten him to do it after heavy suggestion. He has also tested the toilets at a co-worker of Seth's house, Children's Hospital and Lowe's. So obviously public bathrooms are not a concern for him. He isn't consistent about it yet. He will go days without doing it and then will want to do it a bunch. It might be a longer process, but I think doing it when he is ready is better for everyone, knowing his penchant for being stubborn! ;)
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Alistair also has taken a liking to eating, or attempting to eat, lemon and lime wedges. My brother got a good shot of his pucker when we were in Disneyland and I got a decent shot tonight of him with the lime wedge from my pregnancy-friendly cocktail. He always ends with a "blech!" and hands it back to me...but when he sees another, he wants to eat it. Glutton for punishment I guess! (:
My mom arranged for a van for round trip service so we didn't need to have a rental car. They greeted us outside security with a "Welcome Natalie" sign since it was her birthday!
Natalie thought Alistair's leash was pretty cool. I think she forgot Alistair wasn't a dog sometimes! He used it some, but was more content than I thought he would be to ride in his stroller. 
They say 6 people can fit in a tea cup. I am wondering what their definition of people is - maybe 2 adults and 4 kids? We did 4 adults and 1 kid - it was quite cozy. I had to stand on the seat to close the door before I could sit down. It was quite comical! We are the teacup in the background by the way...the pink one per Natalie's choice!
That night at the restaurant there was a guy making balloon objects. Miss Natalie got a birthday crown. She wore her birthday button all weekend and milked it for all it was worth! ;)
Alistair got a money in a tree with bananas. That was a favorite toy in the hotel room! 
For some reason Alistair likes to "eat" lemons. Jeff finally got a photo of his face while eating, he makes the best pucker faces.
We forgot to pack any kind of hat for Alistair. I wasn't thinking of sun protection since it was so cold and up here. So we swung by the World of Disney store in downtown Disney to get him a hat. If it were up to him, he would have bought the pink Minnie hat he is displaying above! 
Here we are having a good time on Neptune's Carousel. My mom and I took the kids while the big kids rode the roller coaster. Natalie rode a dolphin and Alistair was on a fish. 
Right before the roller coaster (California Screamin') takes off, it pulls out and stops for 30 seconds and then counts down. It is a good time to get a photo of the anticipation of the riders!
A glimpse of Alistair SMILING on a ride. The Bug's Life area was his speed completely and he had a good time!
After spending time at the Bug's Life area, we went back to the rooms to nap and then headed to Disneyland after dinner to get a seat for the parade. We sat for over an hour to save our front row seats on Main Street USA for a 20 minute parade. The things you do at Disneyland - it truly is a magical place! ;) Natalie brought her Snow White dress my mom made for her and wore it for the parade. 
Mickey and Minnie were at the end of the parade in their dress whites. 
Sleeping Beauty's Castle
Our last activity for the evening before departing the park was riding the carousel one more time. We spent more time on carousels this trip than I think I have ever have in my lifetime! I am sure I am in store for many more trips around the carousel. But between Disneyland and CA Adventure, we probably rode 6-7 times!
Saturday morning we went to a character breakfast in our hotel. I think Natalie really enjoyed it. Alistair wasn't interested in any of the characters except Pluto. He was scared of everyone else, but for some reason a really tall dog with a huge long nose posed no threat to him! We spent the morning in Disneyland and started off with Finding Nemo and the Autopia. Finding Nemo is the old submarine ride reconditioned to host Nemo characters and storyline. Natalie didn't care too much for it and we thought for sure Alistair wasn't going to like it after a while since it got so loud and kind of scary at certain points. But he loved it and wanted more when we got done - we waited 45 minutes, so more was kind of out of the question. He has seen Nemo so many times that I don't think it was scary because he recognized everything. Autopia was fun for everyone. Natalie liked driving her dad around the track, quite crazily I understand. And Alistair thought it was pretty cool to ride with Daddy in a car - he is still talking about it! Once we got done there we headed over to Toontown to meet Mickey. I got Alistair to stand next to Mickey for a photo, I didn't think it would happen! After our visit, my mom, Dad and I took the kids back to the hotel to swim and rest while Jeff, Michelle and Seth got some adult riding time. They hit most of the big coasters as well as some other fun rides. We met up with them later on for dinner and then went to California Adventure to get in a few more rides there before they closed. Then we headed back to Disneyland to do a few more rides and do some souvenir shopping. 
Minnie was the official greeter when we arrived.
Alistair willingly walked up to Pluto for a photo. Any other character and he would cling to me!
Alistair and Seth taking off on their driving adventure.
Natalie keeping her eyes on the road and posing for a photo at the same time!
We got to see Mickey!!
Another carousel ride!
Jeff got to ride the humpback whale!
It was a fun trip and something hopefully both kids will remember. I am sure Natalie will have more memories than Alistair, but he is still talking about some of the things he did, so he might remember some stuff!.jpg)
As a family we went out to The Farm in Snohomish and did the pumpkin thing. It was pretty overwhelming with all the activities they had going on and things you could do, so we decided to bag any of that due to Alistair's reluctance to get down and just go pick out pumpkins. There were no wheelbarrows left, so we tried to pick pumpkins that were not back breakers to carry. But unfortunately for Alistair that meant he couldn't be carried and he was fairly perturbed about that! (: When we paid, luckily there was a free wheelbarrow to tow the pumpkins, and Alistair, to the car. 
This week we have had a couple of Halloween events. We went to the YMCA on Sunday evening for their carnival. It was actually more of an excuse to get out of our cold house (no furnace, it got replaced the next day) and warm-up and for Alistair to make good use of his dinosaur/lizard costume my mom made for him! (: They had photos with the YMCA scarecrow for $1, so we thought what the heck! Then today in his gym class they had a costume party. We managed to get all the kids to sit/stand in one place long enough to get a few photos taken! We are getting miles out of his costume, that is for sure!
