A Trip to Dallas Heritage Village

A few weeks ago, Katelyn and I went with my sister and my good friend Rose to visit the Dallas Heritage Village, a unique museum just south of downtown Dallas dedicated to preserving and teaching the history of Dallas and North Central Texas. Every third Sunday from 12-4, you can get in FREE! Go see for yourself! Here are some pictures of our visit:

Katelyn getting her supplies ready to make a "family scrapbook"

Playing a "old time" children's game

Looking in the outdoor pantry of preserves

At the train depot

Watching lady spin wool--funny story about this picture...

Lady: I'm spinning this wool to make a hat and mittens.

Me: Oh, Katelyn! You have a hat and mittens at home!

Lady: (to Katelyn) Who made your hat and mittens?

Katelyn: God did!

Brittany and Katelyn taking a little break from all of the fun!

Movin' Right Along!

Sorry its been awhile....Here are a couple of pregnancy progress pics for you to enjoy! Baby McCurdy is quite the mover/kicker (much more so than Katelyn ever was). I know I've heard the saying, "I'm eating for two," but is it safe to say "I'm sleeping for two?" (or at least I wish I was!) My energy level isn't quite what it used to be, and it's all I can do to keep up with Katelyn these days! Her energy level is enough for the both of us!

19 weeks

23 weeks

And did I mention that Katelyn is growing so fast too?! She is dressed up to attend her first official tea party for a friend's birthday!

We're Having A.....

GIRL! I had my sonogram this morning and ask the technician to write "boy" or "girl" on a piece of paper and put it in the envelope I brought so we could open it as a family tonight. And that we did....well, kindof...

We headed over to the Nestle Toll House Cafe by our house, and I gave the envelope to the girl working (whose name happened to be Kaitlin!), told her the situation, and asked her to open the envelope and write "B" or "G" in icing on one (out of six) of the chocolate chip cookies we ordered. While we waited for the cookie to be presented, we interviewed Katelyn one last time about her prediction. Click on the link below to see that interview...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VD7QidR8_JI

Back to the cookie presentation, cookie artist Kaitlin actually brought the cookie out in a box of its own, and here's a video of the excitement and scrambling to see what letter was on the cookie...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CtaiukkARM

Might I add that no sooner did we get a glimpse of the "G" on that cookie, Katelyn had her hands all in the frosting and half the cookie was in her mouth. Good thing we looked when we did!

Family pic after all was said and done (and eaten)!

Note from sonogram technician

Katelyn's First Day of Preschool!

Katelyn started preschool on August 31st! She is going on Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. at Lakeland Christian Academy, and she loves it! Her teacher's name is Mrs. Andrea, and one of her best friends, Reese, is in her class too! It has been more of an adjustment for me than I thought, but I'm getting used to the time to myself and really starting to enjoy it!

Happy 3rd Birthday Katelyn!

We had a fun time celebrating Katelyn's birthday party at Going Bonkers this year! My mom, dad, and sister were able to come up from Austin for the festivities which made the event even more fun! Instead of gifts, we collected boxes of markers and Spanish children's books to donate to Children's Medical Center. These are just a couple of the many things that they are in need of.

Daddy and Katelyn going bonkers!

Video clip of the kids singing Happy Birthday to Katelyn (most of the song, at least!).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24e6U5Sy9ts

On Katelyn's actual birthday (Tuesday, August 24) we started off celebrating as a family by eating cinnamon rolls and fruit salad. We put a little candle in her cinnamon roll and sang "Happy Birthday!" That afternoon we made our weekly visit to the nursing home to join in their monthly birthday celebration (it just happened to fall on Katelyn's birthday this year!). Dave was able to go with us and see some of Katelyn's "special friends." That evening we invited a few of our neighbors over for a popsicle party!

Video clip of Katelyn on the morning of her birthday

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1m8n9CbGL8

Blue Bell...the Best Ice Cream in the Country!

For those of you who don't know, my husband has a mild obsession with Blue Bell ice cream. When it goes on sale, the McCurdy family makes an event out of going to the store and choosing which kind(s) we will purchase. It's the little things in life....

So, when one of my friends texted me last month (thanks Kimberly!) and told me that the local Blue Bell distribution center was partnering with a Christian radio station to give out free Blue Bell ice cream treats along with tours of their freezers, I knew it would be a fun time for the whole family! And I was right! We stepped out of the hot Texas weather and into a - 20 F ice cream wonderland (aka freezer). Although they told us, "Take your time and stay in there as long as you want," we were ready for the heat again after a couple of cold minutes. :)

Here are some pics....

Enjoying our ice cream treat--Katelyn with her "push up" popsicle and Dave with his "bomb pop."

Dave and Katelyn with one of the Blue Bell employees

Katelyn taking her place on the ice cream distribution truck

The freezer! This was only a small portion of the ice cream we saw. I'm so proud of Dave for not bringing our ice chest and trying to sneak some home.

Katelyn saying "Burrr!" in the freezer

Family Vacation!

We decided to take a little family vacation this summer! My mom has told me that when we were little, many of our family vacations consisted of going to visit.....family! Imagine that! Accommodations....free. Meals.....free. Help with the kids....free. It's a brilliant idea, really. In addition to visiting family on our vacation, though, we also threw in a trip to Sea World because, you guessed it, kids under three are FREE (love that!). Since Katelyn was due to turn three on August 24, off to San Antonio we went! Below was our schedule o' fun for our week-long family vacation:

Friday, July 23-Monday, July 26: Destination Waco

Our fun times in Waco with Dave's family included taking his mom and grandmother out to eat at Outback Steakhouse and taking Katelyn to a local spray park.

Yummy lunch at Outback Steakhouse

Katelyn playing at the spray park

Katelyn lovin' some time with her Granny!

Monday, July 26-Tuesday, July 27: Destination Sea World-San Antonio

We enjoyed the water park, shows, roller coasters, food....you name it, we did it! Katelyn LOVED every bit of it, and if you click on the link below, she will be happy to tell you all about it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4i7jTbgGTvc

Below are more pictures from our Sea World experience!

Sea Lion show

Katelyn barely met the kiddie roller coaster height requirement, but that didn't stop her from being completely fearless! She rode this coaster three times!

Katelyn and I are seated in the car at the far left. This coaster was even a little scary for me!

Shamu show

Shamu jumping out of the water

Chillin' with daddy

Down the kiddie water slide with daddy!

Wednesday, July 28-Friday, July 29: Destination Austin

Our fun times in Austin with my family included quality time with my parents, sister, and brother-in-law. Another highlight was a side trip to Krause Springs--a natural-fed spring pool with waterfalls, rope swings, a butterfly garden, and lots of wind chimes (which Katelyn has really been into lately)...a very magical place just outside of Austin in Spicewood, TX! I actually went there quite a few times growing up and have very fond memories! I even had my birthday party there when I was in high school! :) We had a blast!