sassy girls club

we don't really have an official name for what we do on wednesdays.  baby school, joy school, and even sassy girls club (from my friend mandi) have all been used regularly.  judging from my experience teaching/hosting today, sassy girls club is definitely the most fitting name.  one girl couldn't come so we had an easy going group of four.  and while they were all well behaved (we put together a really mellow group of girls... and there's a reason they're all girls) they were indeed a bit sassier than usual today.

 

 

 

 

two of the moms brought halloween cookies to share.  and it confettied on my floor. 

 

my favorite part was at the very end when the first mom came to pick up her kid.  she set a baby carseat on the floor for a minute while she went to the kitchen to wash her hands and the girls literally swarmed over to the baby.  they were all kneeling and rocking and talking and whatever and it was awesome.  they really are hardwired nurturers.  it melted my heart.  this is why it's always important to have your camera within arms reach at all times.  what a precious moment that was.

i'm important

my vote counts!

with all the emphasis being placed on ohio (they say it has a 50/50 chance of determining the election), i forget that i'm living in a super tight race swing state.  until my honey brings in the mail and it looks like this...

that's three days worth of printed campaign ads.  and i never turn on our tv but honey assures me that if you're watching the local news or something (i forgot local news even existed) then about three out of every four commercials is a political ad.  blows. my. mind.

someone tell the obama campaign that he's the last person i'd ever vote for.  and please tell the romney campaign that we already sent in our ballots a week ago and they should direct their efforts towards the undecideds that really matter at this point!

also... my honey tells me i'm mistaken on the lack of balance but i'll just go ahead and continue thinking i'm right... but due to the fact that we seem to only get pro-romney/anti-obama (or at least waaayyy more than not) ads, i'm going to say that either the obama campaign is having trouble managing their funds (sound familiar?) or he considers me in the 53% that he doesn't care about.  okay just kidding.  i just made up that 53% thing although i am fairly certain that obama doesn't care about me and that we wouldn't be friends in real life.

ps- this video is a week old... but it made me smile.  and laugh.  especially because it came from cnn.

trunk or treat

this year, after much debate, baby girl ended up dressing up as elmo.  it was great and she giggled every time someone called her elmo instead of abigail.

my day was more than a bit hectic.  we started off our day by almost freezing to death as we attended the groundbreaking for our new church building in our neighborhood.  there are currently 4 wards (plus stake offices) meeting in our building right now.  it's a bit crazy so this new building is definitely exciting!  it was about 29* and muddy and sunny.  we had a number of speakers - stake relief society president, counselor in the stake presidency (my next door neighbor), the mayor of parker (fun fact: i had thanksgiving dinner with him way back in the day when chris and i were dating), my father in law - and a song from the choir and some random other things and it was great.  it was the first groundbreaking i've been to and i loved it, even if i'd lost feeling in my toes a third of the way through.  i did wear my skinny jeans under my skirt to keep me somewhat warm though and that turned out to be a very good call.

anyways... the day was hectic because after that i was busy cooking with baby girl and gathering together last minute things needed for the trunk or treat.  yesterday was my first time ever making cupcakes and i grossly underestimated the amount of time it would take to bake and frost two dozen of those suckers.  especially since i hadn't thought ahead enough to set out butter to soften so i had to take a bunch of time looking online for a decent frosting recipe that didn't require softened butter.  i was a hot mess by the time i finally got to the church at 4:30 to help set up.  honey took care of getting baby girl up and dressed in her costume.  i wish i'd thought to lay out her clothes before we put her down for nap but i didn't.  so i gave honey directions to dress her in all black, plus elmo.  i should have specified that she wear her red shoes.  instead she wore her pink moon boots.  i mean, snow boots.

everything turned out just fine though and baby girl had a lot of fun.  and i am super relieved to cross this off the list of things to worry about.

 

 

 

 

family picture!

i so wish we had a family picture from last year but apparently we don't.  just this one of baby and me.  

but we do have this family picture from 2010...

as well as these from 2010...  can you believe baby girl actually used to be a baby?!  

i forget sometimes, or all the time, that baby girl used to actually be a baby.  one that drooled and ummm basically just drooled and did nothing else.  couldn't stand, couldn't sit, couldn't talk.  basically like a stuffed animal that required feeding.  which is funny because that halloween that she was a monkey, i had so many people (we were living on stanford campus) see me holding her and do a double take, then come back and tell me that they'd initially thought she was a stuffed animal and didn't realize i was holding a real baby.

and that concludes our stroll down memory lane...

i'm guessing baby girl played hide and seek at joy school this past wednesday because she came home talking about it when i didn't even know she knew what hide and seek was.  last night, she did this...

and waited for my honey to come find her.  it was precious and she thought it was the best game ever.

so a minute later i was standing in a different spot and she decided to hide again, telling me "i want daddy come find you."  ("you" means "me"... like how she always says "i want mommy hold you")

hiding

so christopher would look around saying "is abigail in this cabinet?" and "is abigail in the oven?" and  every time she would quietly answer him.  except of course she said yeah to everything.  because unlike most toddlers, she almost never says "no."  even when i ask her if she wants a banana and the answer is no, she'll answer by saying "all done banana."  ha.

my christopher shaves far more often these days (basically every day except saturday) than what he used to (see the above picture from 2010) at stanford when he typically just shaved once a week... for church.  still, that didn't prevent him from accidentally grooming elmo with his face. 

i wonder how long it would have stayed there if i hadn't mentioned it to him.  

and just one more thing of non importance.  have i mentioned lately or ever, that christopher never really got over holding baby girl like a baby?  i reached a point a looooong time ago that i stopped cradling her because i knew she didn't like it and it was easier to hold her upright.  my honey still hasn't reached that point.

 

 

and this was my costume this year.  because i'm not into halloween enough to put forth effort for something i'm going to only wear for two hours.  this required duct tape, scissors, and about six minutes of my time.  and i've wanted to do it for years but this is the first time i've been pregnant over halloween!  (except for 2009 when apparently i was knocked up but just hadn't taken a pregnancy test yet...)

 

 

and this is what i decided to use for my 31 weeks bump update.

man that was long.  people that aren't spending this afternoon blogging, what do you do on a sunday afternoon when your husband and child are asleep?  

where'd it come from?

welcome to the show!  it's time for another episode of "where'd it come from" with your host, .... just kidding.  i'll stop with the game show pretending.

as we were about to leave for church (we now have church at 10:20!) i decided to snap a quick photo of baby girl.  she was all decked out for some fun with friends at nursery.  as i watched her during sacrament meeting i was feeling especially grateful for friends and family that have contributed to baby girl's wardrobe.  as i've mentioned, i rarely need to buy her anything because of the generosity of loved ones.  

in case you didn't know... you're not a real blogger unless you do OOTD posts.  that's short for "outfit of the day" for those not in the know.  normally it's like "sunglasses: marc jacobs" and "infinity scarf: michael kors" and "my super trendy cognac color riding boots: tory burch - for a mere $495!"  just kidding on the last one.  kinda.

anyways, here's our own version... baby edition.

 

white bow: aunt keen
red pea coat: jodi
dress and shoes: tracie
tights: sarah
undershirt and bloomers (not pictured): tracie
diaper (not pictured): we actually bought that

yes it's nice to save some money and dress my kid entirely in hand me downs, but really, i just love love love looking at my child and seeing her clothes as a constant reminder that we have so many people that love us and take care of us.  it's amazing.

apparently, it takes a village...

to dress my child.

"i wanna make it!"

i really haven't been cooking a lot and baking certainly isn't something i do unless i have to, but baby girl's favorite thing as of late has been helping me "make it" in the kitchen.  today i made corn bread for our ward trunk or treat tonight and also cupcakes and frosting to contribute to the cake walk the young women were running (actually, the young women were put in charge of organizing and running ALL of the games... sooo glad that's over and done with now!) and baby girl kept pushing a chair all over the kitchen repeating "i wanna make it!  i wanna help mommy make it!" and it simultaneously melted my heart and drove me crazy.  

she helped me make this apple crisp (i cut down the white sugar by more than half and it was still a little sweet for me but otherwise delectable) thursday night and it wasn't too bad because i was just making it for us and there were no raw ingredients in it so when she snuck bites, it was just sugared apple slices.  today though, i made cornbread and while it was cooling, she tried to grab at it and i may have taken a beautiful 9x13 pan of cornbread to our chili cook off tonight that had a tiny little abigail sized handprint in it.  wish i'd remembered to take a picture of it.  and the cupcakes and frosting (again, only used half the sugar called for and it was plenty) from this afternoon turned out difficult because she wanted to help so badly that she wouldn't eat her lunch.  i kept telling her she could help if she just ate first but she was too impatient and eventually she went down for nap with no lunch and no cupcake or frosting stirring.  i think i was more sad than she was.  it was one of those moments that made me think of heavenly father and parenting.  i was so frustrated because it would have been so easy for her to just eat her sandwich and then help me cook but she refused to listen even though i'm positive she understood the concept.  i couldn't help but think to myself, "sorry heavenly father... i'm sure i frustrate you just like this every. single. day."  i have so much to learn about being a good parent and an obedient child and it's just weird that i'll be learning those things simultaneously for the rest of eternity.

so really, while it can sometimes make things a little more challenging, i find it so exciting and flattering that baby girl has taken an interest in this!  maybe i'll have to make more of an effort to make muffins and stuff so she can help me... even if it is just stirring and looking in the oven.  she loves it and i love feeding into the things she shows special interest in.  it's so cute.

 

 

 

 

 

she totally pushed the chair to the oven door (the light was already on) and grabbed the oven mitt and glove on her own.  i just took the pictures.  because really, how could you not?!  my favorite though was earlier when she was helping me make pumpkin seeds (i wanted them so bad i told honey i needed them and he said "hmm, want me to just go cut one open so you can make some seeds for us?"  ha, yes please.  so we have a scraped out, non-carved pumpkin on our front porch).  baby girl had pulled up the chair and was looking in and i saw her trying to reach up to open the door.  i suspiciously asked her what she was doing and she instantly slid her arms down and said "i'm knockin" as she started knocking on the oven window.  it made me laugh.  good save baby girl.  way to cover up.

dancing with weed

baby's favorite video of the day.  

and all i hear is "i wanna watch lisa!  i wanna watch abigail dance with lisa!"

sesame street on drugs

i am happy to report that after... ummm... i won't admit how long... i've finally replaced the batteries in baby girl's sesame street toy that she plays with in the car.

it was getting a little trippy.  and more than one of my young women commented on how freaky it was when it would accidentally go off when it would get jostled in the back seat of my care.

close your eyes and listen to this.  i swear you'll see rainbow colors and insist that you've been taking crazy pills.

more walmart price matching

even though i haven't been menu planning, i haven't been able to avoid shopping.  i have to keep my kitchen somewhat stocked for those times that the "i'm such a bad wife because i lay in bed all day and never cook dinner for my husband" guilt gets to be too overwhelming.  like last night when i was able to throw together a delicious meatloaf for dinner because i had everything on hand (although i did end up short on ketchup but a quick visit to my neighbor's house fixed that).

so how do i know what to buy when i have no menu planned?  well, i just buy the staples and whatever is on sale (that we would need to buy anyways).  which makes checking out fun because almost everything i buy is price matched.  when i write out my grocery list, i just write the lower price next to the items that should be discounted.  that way, i can make sure it's actually a good deal (frequently walmart's every day prices are lower than the grocery store's discounted prices)

i saved 39 cents per pack of cheese.  and since i had room to store it, i went ahead and bought eleven of them.  i know that's a lot of cheese but i needed sliced cheddar and sliced provolone as well as shredded cheddar and shredded mozzarella.  we go through a lot of cheese these days.  that's $4.29 savings on cheese alone!

egg nog was not on sale so all of my cheese savings went towards a half gallon of that liquid heaven.

milk was $1.06 cheaper at safeway and king soupers than it is at walmart.  i price matched five gallons and saved $5.30.

i saved $3.80 on two pounds of ground beef, and priced matched eggs, cottage cheese, and pears to save a few more dollars.

since you're not required to actually present the ad, i wonder if the cashiers ever doubt my integrity as i go down my shopping list and give them the lower prices.  i haven't been questioned yet!

keeping me company

who needs breakfast in bed when you could have this?!

 

i have to admit that i was flattered she wanted to hang out with me while i got ready this morning.  it's not something i take for granted.

video: i love to see the temple

this might be one of baby's cutest videos ever.

and sorry it cuts off so abruptly.  honey couldn't contain his laughter while i was videoing (i guess he doesn't have as much practice as i do) and it distracted baby girl and basically the rest of the video was crap.  i'll keep trying to get better video of this.

because, have i mentioned before?  this is now baby girl's favorite song.

ps- this is the you tube video that's got her hooked on this song (it's the very first click when you google "i love to see the temple").  we watch it a lot.  also, this is our teeth brushing song (i brush her teeth while i sing the song and then she brushes her teeth while i sing it again... no more toothbrush battle!) so it's well practiced.

are videos supposed to be this difficult?!

FOR THE LOVE!  why is blogger so finicky when it comes to uploading my videos?!

sometimes i can try forever and be unsuccessful and then try 12 hours later and it's super quick and has no problems at all.  or sometimes (like tonight) it will upload some videos just fine but other ones, no matter how many times i try, are just a no go.

ugh.

there were supposed to be four videos.  except that the first one and the third one won't upload.

easiest pumpkin seeds ever

last night we carved one of our pumpkins.  and i made the best pumpkin seeds ever.  and the easiest pumpkin seeds ever.

in years past, i always get online and try to look at all of the top rated recipes and then come up with the very best combination.  it can get pretty complicated.  most say to rinse the seeds really well.  some say to boil them in salt water to get them really clean and get the salty flavor fully infused inside.  a lot say to let them dry overnight or 24 hours until there is no moisture left in them whatsoever.  some say to toss with oil/butter and salt.  some say to spray pan with non stick spray, some say to stir frequently, and on and on.

this time i was anxious for seeds and wanted them in my belly asap.  sooo, i'm presenting you with my "easiest pumpkin seeds ever" recipe.

the easiest pumpkin seeds ever

have your husband clean out your pumpkin and put all the seeds on a cookie sheet or jelly roll pan.

DON'T RINSE THE SEEDS (very few people online will tell you this but they're way more flavorful if you don't rinse them)

use a pastry brush (if you're like me and don't like to get your hands dirty) and spread a little melted butter on those suckers.

sprinkle with salt

bake in 300* oven for 33 minutes and forget to stir them.

when you walk into the kitchen you will have the most beautifully golden brown pumpkin seeds ever.  and you should eat them right up... hot out of the oven.

this part of the recipe is optional but i thoroughly enjoyed it:  right when the pumpkin seeds come out of the oven, sprinkle just the tiniest bit of sugar (white) over them.  you don't want the sweet to overpower the salty but trust me (or at least try it on a few), the sugar enhances the flavor and compliments the saltiness just like the euphoric combination that gives you kettle corn.  don't over sugar them though!  just use a pinch or two for the whole batch.  it's excellent!

so i'm happy to report that while these were by far the easiest pumpkin seeds i've ever made, they were also by far the tastiest and had the best texture.  

and i'm going to have christopher cut up another pumpkin tonight for us since we already ate all of our seeds from last night!

ps- i really love that my kid has such great eating habits and isn't a picky eater (finding out what she's in the mood for for lunch though is another story) but it's definitely not cool having to split your pumpkin seeds three ways instead of just the usual 50/50 as in years past.  oh the sacrifices me make as parents.

lunch with L. Tom

i got some crap (friendly, though it was) a while back when i posted about my day but only casually mentioned that i'd eaten lunch with elder perry.  the elder perry.  

well, my mother in law was the only one who got a picture.  she just got her pictures developed (i was unaware people still did that in 2012) and dropped off a copy of our group shot from that day. i need to email her and ask her again to email me the digital version but in the mean time, i did the best i could and attempted to take a picture of a picture.  ghetto, i know.

just us.  seriously, he is so tall... i'm 5'9'' and felt tiny next to him.

and here's our full group shot.  quality is seriously lacking.

i just wikipedia'd him to try and find out how tall he is.  i was unsuccessful but did learn these interesting facts instead...

elder perry is 90 years old (born august 5, 1922) and the oldest apostle in the church.

he's the third most senior apostle (was called april 6, 1974).

1974 is also the year his first wife passed away.  he married again two years later (and is still married).

his first name is lowell.

he's a red sox fan and threw out the first pitch at one of their games may 8, 2004.  (chris and i were on our honeymoon in cancun when that happened.  just in case you were wondering.)

and i just found on some random and probably non-credible website that elder perry is about 6'4''.

he was so happy and friendly and loved talking about family history, his iphone, and his ipad.  christopher brought his journal and read to elder perry parts of his entries about when elder perry visited his mission in hungary.  elder perry met with just a few of the missionaries from the mission while he was there and christopher was one of them.  christopher said that elder perry stressed to him the importance of picking a major.  elder perry thought that was humorous and stood by his advice, telling john and nate (christopher's youngest two brothers) to do the same.

being a maycock and a hillier, i have the opportunity to meet a lot of cool church people.  those are big names i have.  in fact, when my father in law walked into the room with elder perry, he spread out his hand (gesturing to me standing twenty feet away) and introduced me as "carrie of the maycock family" and honestly, i had trouble not giggling at it.  duchess of parker, carrie of the maycock family.  

on that same note, at the stake conference i went to saturday night, i met elder golden [of south africa] who my parents became close to during their mission in the congo (2005-2007).  after the conference, christopher took me up to introduce me and he immediately knew who i was and couldn't stop gushing about my parents (like i've never heard that stuff before) and kept telling me as well, what a wonderful family i married into (if i had a dollar for every time someone told me that...) and honestly, it was just really neat.

something i missed out on?  lunch with elder holland and elder gonzalez (he spoke in conference about learning with our hearts... it was the talk right before elder holland).  i would have had lunch with them, same as with elder perry except that i was still in atlanta... enjoying lunch at the varsity with my parents.  that may have been one of the most enjoyable lunches of my life.  i miss my parents.  and the varsity.  it was okay though.  christopher sent us a text while we were eating and said that elder holland said hi to the maycocks.  and told some crazy stories about their time in the congo.  apparently there's a story that circulates around church headquarters about a time my dad was on the phone with salt lake while a lot of civil unrest was going on outside of their building.  apparently the person in salt lake (why can't i remember who this was?!) told him, "stop hanging your head outside the window and get back inside!"  ha.  elder holland apparently got a kick out of sharing that story with the hilliers.

next time i rub shoulders with one of the twelve i'll be sure to properly dedicate a post to it.  my apologies for being so belated with this elder perry post!

post edit:

chelsey, i'm kinda a big deal.  like your shirt.

sorham, you are right.  that's so embarrassing!  how did i read that wrong?!  fear not, chris was true and faithful on his mission!

and another post edit: