summer list: ice cream sandwiches

last week i made homemade ice cream sandwiches.

they're really easy and delicious.... so much better than the store bought kind.

but NOT better than the 'big kahuna's' at the rangers games.

well, maybe.

take one cookie {homemade or those fresh storebought bakery kind}.
it needs to be kind of soft.


put a dollop of ice cream on top.

squeeze another cookie on top.

the wrap individually.


and place in a freezer bag - in the freezer. let freeze for at least an hour before serving.


editor's note: for a special version - you can roll the side of the cookies {a.k.a. ice cream} in sprinkles, candy pieces before freezing. the possibilities are endless. they look pretty and taste special.

fireworks.

when we were almost home from lubbock, we stopped at a fireworks stand.

jeff and i had so much fun picking out the 'small' fireworks that we used to shoot off when we were little.




sparklers, black cats, smoke bombs, roman candles {against my better judgement, i might add}, snakes, tanks and two mini-fountains.





b. had fun picking them out too. but when it was time to shoot them off - he was less than thrilled.

he. did. not. like. them.

i tried to take pictures of us shooting them off - but he wouldn't let go of me for two seconds. he wouldn't even hold onto the sparkler!!! needless to say i was utterly disappointed.

don't get me wrong, i'm kind of glad he's not a dare-devil, but i also want him to be brave.

oh well - we'll try again next year. right?

lubbock: in pictures.

on friday afternoon, the hubbs took off a bit early from work so that we could make the trek to lubbock, texas and see both sets of our grandparents. {yes, they both live there - in fact, they've known each other longer than any of us... they have gone to the same church for 50 years - or close to it}.

anyway, 15 minutes after we pulled out of the driveway it started raining. and it did not stop until we were an hour away from home on our way back sunday. it was definitely nice to cool off a bit, but unfortunately it hindered our big plans for shooting off some fireworks, going to a bbq and of course, the infamous lubbock parade. {click on the link to see b at the parade at 3 months old! precious!}





hfeeding hippo.





stretching our legs at sonic.


they still had the parade. we went. we got wet. but it was fun - and fast - and brady loved it. he knew no difference, although we kept thinking how much MORE he'd love it with all of the floats and candy throwing, high school bands, etc. but again, he had a blast.





b. hadn't seen his mimi in two weeks {which is highly unusual since we live 10 minutes from them}. she'd been in lubbock taking care of mamaw, jeff's grandmother. brady was SO excited to get to the parade and see her!!






we had lots of fun staying with my grandparents. brady introduced them to elmo, megaw had a coloring book for him - and she showed him how to trace his hand. he loved it.


she taught me how to sew a few things for charlotte - on her beautiful sewing machine she got as a wedding present. i want it. i don't care that it only does one stitch. it's beautiful.


then it was time to leave.

it was flooded. bad. if there weren't other cars around, i would have made j. turn around at this point. but we knew we weren't going to get swept away.


on our way back, we planned to take our time through the small towns of texas. the hubbs was so patient with me. i have a little project in mind for our house and i kept making him turn around so i could take pictures. {i think he actually enjoyed it though!} but it wasn't all about my project... we stopped at a lot of historical markers for him too. we learned a lot about the indians, the railroad and cotton. we learned where the first high school band was from. we saw the demise of small towns when the railroad decided to pass them by. we enjoyed the breathtaking beauty of the drive.

sidenote: to be honest, we've both made this drive our entire lives and have absolutely dreaded it. it's like "get me there" and then "get me home" as quickly as possible. but sunday, we drove a 5 1/2 drive in 7+ hours because we had so much 'fun'. b. was great in the car both ways until the last hour of our drive home... but we didn't mind too much. he was pretty self-sufficient.

i had to stop to potty in dickens. it was 10:30 a.m. when i got out of the car, the smell of fresh bbq overtook me. i came back out and begged jeff to get me some. {i normally despise bbq}. he stepped out of the car, smelled the same thing i did and nodded his head - "absolutey!" it was delish.


and then - for lunch - we stopped at dairy queen. since i'd already 'eaten', i had been dreaming about a mint-oreo blizzard for the next hour.


it was good. really good. {why don't they have dairy queens in dallas?}



brady blowing on his food {below}. super cute.


we stopped to get fireworks in prosper on our way home. but that's another post. the project that i'm working on is going to turn out well... i think. but that's another post too.

i hope you all had a great fourth with your families!

charlotte swann.

we finally decided on a name:

charlotte swann leach

swann was what came first. it's my middle name, my mom's and my grandmother's. rebecca swann, mom is dixie swann and megaw is jim mae "jimmie" swann... all southern names, huh? {i guess rebecca isn't so southern - but hey, it works...} so we knew that was going to be her middle name. so, swann+leach left us with little to choose from. there were several names that we loved but they didn't feel like 'her'. doesn't that sound so weird? but it's how both of us felt - not just me. then there were names we loved - but they didn't go with swann or leach. so they were nixed as well. we finally settled.

charlotte.

doesn't that name just bring a sweet smile to your face?! {of course, since we did pick it - it brings a smile to OUR face!}

her closet is filling up quickly.

we had several things from baby madeline. {when we thought that b. was a girl and people got us things....} of course, they're kind of 'off-season' since i was due in april with him - but hey, they're clothes!

then, julie + sydney + harper dropped off a truckload of girl clothes, blankets and bows that the girls have outgrown! i'm in the process of going through the first two tubs!! thank you SO MUCH. isn't it great to have mommy friends to share advice and hand-me-downs with? it's sort of how the mommy world goes 'round, right?

my first attempt at making a bow. think i did pretty good. :)

what i bought for her as soon as we found out...

miss joanna's gift...

from 'baby madeline's' box

19/20 week stats.

how far along? 20 weeks, 3 days
total weight gain/loss? -1 pounds
maternity clothes? loving tank tops, shorts and maxidresses. thanks terri!
stretch marks? nope
sleep? right now, i'm going three or four nights with very restless sleep followed by one night of GREAT sleep. my mind keeps racing to b's big boy room, blt's room, organizing the garage and folding laundry. i need to learn a new way to relax.... whatever i'm doing isn't working.
best moment this week? well, since we're doing 19 and 20 weeks, i guess i can say when we found out it was a baby girl! yay! but - we've also had two babies born this week that i've just loved holding.... AND it was great deciding on our name. {watch for the big reveal next!}
movement? yes, yes, yes!!! little miss apparently thinks that everything within reach is a punching bag. b was totally not like this - and i like to think that he's a pretty laid back boy, so i'm wondering how feisty this little girl is going to be - based on her dancing in my tummy alone!
food cravings? same as last week: anything cold. ice cream, popsicles, slurpees, smoothies, ice water. cold cold cold.
gender predictions? i'll take this one out next week - but in case you haven't seen it yet - we're having a girl!
what i miss: NOT having braxton hicks contractions 24/7. these things are way more annoying than i remember them being last time!
what i'm looking forward to: getting started on b's big boy room and the nursery. getting {and feeling} organized. making bows, tutus, bibs and burp cloths. painting something for b's room. organizing blt's closet. b. making a picture for the nursery. having energy to cook really good meals again. the holidays with two kiddos 'running' around. {can you see why i'm not sleeping?}
how are you feeling? fabulous. occasionally i'll feel like there is a lot of pressure - as if i'm at 34 weeks or something, but for the most part, i feel great.
comparisons to last pregnancy? i don't know what else to compare - i feel like this pregnancy is completely and totally different. i think it's due to so many reasons, but all in all, i'm enjoying this so much more.
milestones? i bought blt's first clothes last week. we had a box of clothes for 'baby madeline' - who we thought we were having before brady last time. so i brought those out too - but i thought she really needed something that was TRULY her own... so i went to target. :) i made my first bow. i've started my first tutu - a christmas one, i might add. we decided on a name on monday. oh, and the hubbs opened a 'wedding' account at the bank yesterday. so blt officially has $100 for her wedding. :)

project for evie.

for the past few weeks, i've been working on a little sewing project for sweet evie {and her momma}.

i stole the idea from a friend of mine, courtney, who had a baby in march. her sister, sarah, made her one for her nursery - it was gender neutral since court is one of those strong ones that didn't find out it was a sweet little girl until she made her debut. i'm going to post her's here too because it's SUPER cute.... courtney's nursery is very vintage chic - all primary colors, so this went perfectly with her nursery. don't you just love all of the sequins!


so - for the reynolds' sweet baby girl, i had to modify it a bit to fit with their girlie/vintage nursery. i think it will go so well - and i had so much fun making it. can't wait to get started on one for miss blt. {i was going to try to make a boy version for mr. jake but i didn't really know how to make it 'not girlie'... any ideas?}