Memories starting with Lucy and then some more food:)

This is my absolute FAVORITE time of year. We get to celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. What a fantastic blessing to us as His younger brothers and sisters. We also get to spend more time with family, friends and for my family have Evan home for 2 weeks. I love it!



She wore her pigtails for about 10 minutes, and then when I laid her down the ponytails and barrettes were scattered in her crib:) I think I'm going to hold of a while longer doing cute things like this, another inch or two of hair:)
German Pancakes. You gotta try these if you haven't. DELICIOUS! My mom used to make them for our family and she would make a special fruit cocktail syrup, I was too tired to do that part. Evan LOVES these, and I forgot to bake them in a cookie sheet, so we got a TALL order of pancakes in my 9x13:)-I'll add this recipe to my food blog soon.


It took me about 2 1/2 days, but it was delicious and well worth the work and wait! My first time making an entire Mexican dinner spread. I wrote step by step(because my mom does it from off the top of her head and didn't have recipes for me) and took pictures to add to my food blog recipe book:) I should have that up towards the end of the week. We had about 12 people over, and if we would have had seating for more we could have easily fed another 12 people. Lucky us it is also going to be our Christmas Eve meal:)

Pork Green Chile Sauce
Sour Cream Enchiladas
Shredded Beef
Homemade re-fried beans
Nate's famous salsa
and Pico de Gallo


Nate, Evan and I played 3 rounds of the Office version of clue, what an awesome game!!! They both won once, and I won once by default...my glory days:)

Merry Christmas!!!

I just love my mom!

I just love my mom! She is so encouraging and makes me feel so good about myself and things I do in my life. We had a Christmas party themed with Whoville and it was amazing. We had crazy food, crazy decorations and an awesome program. I was assigned to bring Candy Jello, and this is what I brought:


I love that while it isn't the healthiest or the most common jello to make, I got GREAT comments from people at the party-wondering where I came up with the idea, and my mom especially made me feel so happy about what a great job I had done after sending her a picture! No matter how silly it is or full of sugar, my mom supports me and lets me know I do great things, and I love that! I guess that is what I can learn for my kids, treat them well and support them with all the love in the world. She is not judgmental nor does she push ideas on to me, she loves me for me:)

I can't wait to see her in February, and then when my next little bundle of joy comes. Too bad we don't live closer, she is a good example of what I should follow.

Mac n Cheese and Falafel

Lucy and I have been sick today so Evan has been taking care of us, he made us breakfast in the morning, and offered to watch Lucy so I could sleep all day, I can't get myself to fall asleep, not sure why. Lucy has a runny nose, I have a headache and earache and runny nose. Lucy is a little whiny and we think she is teething with the top two teeth now.

So Evan made us egg mc muffins while I made
smoothies for breakfast. He is becoming a great cook!

and then help me make mac n cheese while I made the falafel balls and dip.


YUMMY! We are all still in pajamas and just relaxing now. Lucy loved the mac n cheese, and when we went to take a picture of her scarfing it down the flash was too much and we got a bad mug shot sort of picture:) Evan saw it and started laughing soooo hard he was crying!
She really did love it though and kept wanting more...good sign. She is OVER baby food. I love watching her eat cheerios, cheese and now mac n cheese, I guess other foods too, but she is so cute! Lucy grabs them and then sucks on them to get flavor and then eats them, it's cute! She doesn't like plain chicken yet, so I mix it in with the applesauce and then she likes it, probably not as bland or dry:) Makes me wonder what my mom fed me:)


We tried cottage cheese last night, not one of her favorites:)


At Evan's party Lucy was pretty cute with Jefrie:




Oh and did I mention that I am back to craving ice and chewing soft ice all of the time!! LOVE IT! I wish sonic was closer, good thing I can ust let my ice thaw out just enough:)

The wind is howling and blowing so hard. It was so crazy earlier it moved the outside grill.

Maybe I will post this, and attempt a nap again:)

Chuck E Cheese

Evan and Lucy playing games together;)

Getting ready for everyone to come:)

I decided that Evan deserved a big 30th party. He has been working so hard and rarely takes time to celebrate himself. Evan is such a kid at heart, part of which I love him so much, and since there isn't room where we are living for a big party, I decided to surprise him with a party at CHUCK E CHEESE'S!!! He loves that place, WE love that place! The pizza is so yummy to us and we love the cheap token games:) We had a few friends from different wards, family and other friends. The only downside of doing it there is you had to be on their party schedule which was slower than what we had hoped for.

I bought tokens early with coupons and made treat bags for everyone with candy and tokens. I had been planning this for more than 2 months, didn't slip a word about it, but then the night before the party Chuck E Cheese called and emailed us confirming the party and SPILLING the beans to Evan..oh well. He was surprised and very happy:)

Thank you everyone who helped with Lucy, such a blessing!!!!

It went well, lots of fun, Lucy and I came home and slept 3 hours after the party...fun times!!

I have more picture, will post later with some video:)

Evan meets his birthday mascot, CHUCK E CHEESE

Jefrie took her first picture, of drooling Lucy(she is teething again:))

Cute Birthday Boy, I mean man, Evan

He tippy toed and I squatted, I don't know why we think that is funny, but we do:)



Amy teasing Lucy with Pizza, maybe in a week or two:)




A yummy cake from Costco

My fun in cooking this week:)

I have been in a cooking mood lately, I love it!!! We have even used real dishes a couple times, we usually use paper products, we hate doing dishes!! I'm sure that will change when we move into our new home in a couple months..yay! Yay for yummy meals! I have a few things coming up to make yummy food for-like the Jenkins Mexican meal, so I am excited! I hope this energy lasts! I post the recipes I use on my new blog.



Doughnuts, not the best recipe
BBQ Chicken Salad-our neighbors came for this one, yummy!
Garden Spinach Salad, Balsamic Vinegar Chicken, Roasted Asparagus, and dipping bread.



Creamy Veggie Soup

My New Maternity Swim Suit

My New Maternity Swim Suit
...so exciting!!
Now I get to go swimming with Lucy!!!

my new online cookbook

So I love baking, cooking, etc and so over the past couple of years I have been trying to make a cookbook, and now I have officially started. The link to my cookbook is here. I am gathering recipes that I find on blogs, the internet, food network, family and friends. So if you have any recipes that you think I should try, please email them to me hilary.biddulph@gmail.com If I post a picture from an internet site I will definitely give credit, otherwise they should all be mine:)

I am going to try this recipe tonight for dinner from sisters cafe

BBQ Chicken Salad-Picture from original blog

A recipe from that I am going to try out..yum!




BBQ Chicken Salad
I love this salad! Talk about easy, fresh tasting, and delicious. It really hit the spot with my family last night. You can make it super fast if you bake the tortilla strips and cook the chicken early in the afternoon. Then all you have to do when you're ready to eat is chop some veggies, open a few cans and toss together a delicious salad! (I had to laugh when I saw this picture... where is the chicken?! The main ingredient is hidden beneath the cheese and tortilla strips but it's there, I promise!)
Southwestern BBQ Chicken Salad
submitted by Brittany
2 large chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
1 cup BBQ sauce
1/2 head Romaine lettuce, chopped
1/2 head Iceberg lettuce, chopped
1 can corn, drained
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
4 Roma tomatoes, diced
2 Haas avocados, diced
shredded cheese, Mexican blend or cheddar
crispy tortilla strips
Stir shredded chicken in with the BBQ sauce until well coated. Of course you can use less or more sauce, it's up to you! I like quite a bit since I love the smoky flavor of BBQ sauce in a salad. Toss together the lettuce, cilantro, corn, beans, and chopped veggies. Top with shredded chicken, cheese and crispy tortilla strips. Drizzle ranch or cilantro lime dressing over salad and enjoy!
*to make crispy tortilla strips simply slice about 10 corn tortillas in narrow strips and place on cookie sheet. Spray with vegetable oil cooking spray and sprinkle generously with salt. Place under the broiler and let bake until crispy and brown around the edges. (Thanks Mel for teaching me how to make these...they add a wonderful crunch to a salad!)

Thanksgiving Day and Lucy reads a book:)

I love Thanksgving Day. We usually cook our own dinner and host for others but for the past two years we have been able to go up and have dinner with Evan's brother Geoff and family.

We were in charge of bringing rolls, veggies and a pie. I started out wanting to bring carrots that I learned how to make at Williams and Sonoma, but then I had a craving for asparagus. On a road trip someone made us grilled asparagus with a yummy sauce. So I tried making the sauce but didn't have the proportions right, so then I remembered TGIF had crispy bean appetizers, so I decided I should try crispy asparagus. I found a recipe online, but it didn't work out how it said it should, so I made up my own. THEY WERE YUMMY! The kids loved them, and Evan who doesn't like asparagus loved them too! I will definitely make them again.



I was too tired to make rolls, so Costco made them for me and then our wonderful tenants brought us a coconut cream pie from the Lion House Pantry. Yummy food! When we got to their house dinner was ready and the table was set, we just needed to pray and eat. Everything was delicious! Moist turkey, mushroom gravy, potatoes, cranberries, stuffing(with uncle ben's wild rice that Cindy's mom made), yams, lots of pies, and rolls.

Lucy tried the potatoes and gravy, and cranberries. She loved them! Cranberries most of all, taking after her daddy. We said what we were thankful for, played cards, soccer, took pictures and just relaxed, but the end of the night we were happy and ready for bed.

We are Thankful for Lucy

She sleeps through the night She is so smiley She giggles and laughs a lot She makes us feel good as parents She like praying with us, especially when we say 'amen' She loves looking at Jesus She cuddles us She jumps a lot She talks a lot She loves her veggies and fruits She loves playing with us and alone with her toys She LOVES watching My Friends Tigger and Pooh She loves music She doesn't cry much at all, like once a week or two She is our daughter who Heavenly Father entrusted to us And many many more reasons

It was a great Thanksgiving spent with family. Next year I will try to make my part a little more homemade:)

Camila, Isabella, Joshua and Lucy

While these aren't the best pictures, they are great of Lucy, our happy little baby!!!

I love her dress. I got it at a thrift store when I visited my mom, before I was pregnant:)

AND LUCY LOVES HER BOOK!
Day after Thanksgiving

She was loving her book while I was wrapping presents and Evan was doing dishes.


After her nap today she had cuddle and play time with daddy. Now we are getting ready for the park. I love vacation time, especially with great weather !!

Boon Squirt

My sister in law sent me the most fabulous baby tool ever!!! It is so handy, and I wish I had more of them. A GREAT baby shower gift to give someone.I know for sure you can buy it here, not sure about other stores. Perfect for on the go.


More info on the spoon, sorry I didn't elaborate more before, I was too excited about it:) You unscrew the body of the spoon from the spoon part. Put your baby's food in the body, and then assemble it back together. To feed your baby you squeeze the body of the boon squirt and food squeezes through a hole onto the spoon. No mess and easy to feed on the go. It's about $7-$8. Click here to link to it on the store website.

Thankful Turkey

I found this on Parents.com so cute! I can't wait to make my own:)

Simple Turkey Day Crafts

What a Turkey

Ask each child to write what she's thankful for on a paper feather, then stick it into this cute turkey centerpiece.

How to make it: Cut a 1-inch sliver off the bottom of a 9-inch polystyrene ball. Wrap sphere neatly in thick dark-brown yarn, covering surface completely; knot on bottom. Make a 4-inch ball from light-brown yarn and attach to body with a wooden craft stick. Create simple facial features using felt: white circles (approximately the size of a quarter, with 1/8-inch pom-poms for pupils) for eyes, yellow triangles for the beak, and long red felt teardrops as the wattle. Cut feather shapes from colored craft paper and bend in half lengthwise to create seam. Glue wooden craft stick to the bottom third of the feather and insert in a fan shape on turkey body.

© Copyright 2009 Meredith Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

What are your Christmas Traditions?

So my family had awesome Christmas traditions which I want to carry on, Evan had some that they did as well, and we want to start some of our own.. I want the same thing every year so that when my kids look back they can define the holiday and the time of Celebrating Christ's birth! My mom is from Denmark and I love trying to learn more about the Danish customs...I want to incorporate more of that in too. I am soooooooo excited, this is my favorite holiday ever!!!


Please share any ideas of things we can incorporate for Christmas Eve, and Christmas day..food, songs, decorations, activities, etc.

I can't wait to see what we will do this year!!
THANKS!

I LOVE BEING A MOM!!!

I LOVE being a mom! I feel so blessed to have Lucy and another one on the way. Sometimes I forget I am pregnant because I am so caught up in Lucy. She makes my day. We pretty much have the same routine daily unless I have errands to run or a play date, or completely feeling pregnant and tired:)

Lucy loves my toes. She wants to grab them, eat them, watch them. She talks to them, catches them and squeals at them.

Lucy loves the mirror. Before each nap and after she looks in the mirror and loves herself! She is so cute!

She grabs my face and kisses me with open mouth kisses on my cheeks. Most of the time she holds on to my hair for balance:)

When she sees her bottle her mouth pops open and wants her bottle now.

She still doesn't really cry.

When we get her out of her crib in the morning she almost crawls up your body with delight like she is a runaway monkey..it's cute!

She talks to herself and is now saying ba-ba and ma-ma for anything, and talks LOTS!

She loves everyone that looks at her, and is a flirt with every boy possible..look out teenange years.

Lucy cuddles Evan and me soooo much! So cute, almost makes us not want to put her to bed.

Lucy loves saying nighttime prayers with us, and the word 'amen' puts her into giggles. I like to think she is laughing with the angels around her:)

She lifts her legs for us when it is diaper time, and is funny about getting dressed.

Lucy sits up and occasionally falls backward so I still put pillows behind her.

She LOVES LOVES LOVES My Friends Tigger and Pooh on the Disney channel, she watches it every day, and sadly more than I probably should let her, but that is life, and thank goodness for it while I rest when I am soooo tired. When we turn it on she flips her body around and giggles, mostly at Tigger and Darby.

She loves her sippy cup and trying ritz crackers and little snacks. Loves eating real food, can't wait until she can just eat what we eat.

Lucy is so cute in her clothes, and we can't seem how to keep her hair down. My sister sent me bows and headbands, so they help a little.

So with all the sad and hard things in life, Lucy just lights up my life and makes me love being a mommy! This 2nd pregnancy hasn't been the easiest, but Lucy makes me want to have more kids, we shall see what happens-Evan thinks we are having three, only time will tell.

another catch up:)

A pregnancy craving and a staple

Daddy and Lucy like playing upside down

Amy...she makes me smile!

Lucy LOVES my water bottle-especialy since she is teething.

Lucy cuddling daddy! I love it when she cuddles me this way..so precious!

So Lucy is 6 1/2 months now and when we went in for her appointment she was 18.25 lbs and 27" long. About the low 80% on both..she is doing great and very healthy! She didn't love her shots, and looked at me like how could I ever let anything like that happen to her...it was sad, and with my pregnancy hormones, surprisingly I didn't even cry..she was sure cuddly afterwards though:) She also popped her first tooth. She likes to chew on me, so last Sunday we were playing with me and bit down on me. That's how I found out:) It's fun seeing a little tooth in her mouth. There are so many wonderful things about her. She giggles and coos a lot, sometimes more than we would like during church:) Lucy loves eating news foods and grunts at me if I don't give it to her fast enough, or to tell me she is done. She naps really well, and even though the time change through her off for a couple days, she is back to sleeping 12 hours a night..her naps are a little off still, but we are working on it. Lucy is amazing and so good to me while I have had lots of morning sickness. She was so cute in her Halloween costume...and she helped daddy trick or treat so he could have some candy:)

Evan is doing well, baseball is over so I will definitely see him a lot more. His 30th birthday is coming up and he is getting very excited! I am planning a surprise for him, so we shall see if I can pull it off. He is so good to me and trys to make me so happy. He is really good at helping with Lucy and rubbing my feet when I am soooo tired! Lucy loves seeing him so much when he gets home from work. Now that she is teething, got her shots and dealing with a tired mama, she cuddles so cutely with Evan. They have a bedtime ritual of getting pj's, prayers and ready for bed. I have tried video taping them and pictures. Tonight was so cute when she was half asleep and cuddled into Evan.

I am doing well too! I am loving life and learning to appreciate it more each day. I think I have let other's opinions make me crazy for the last couple years, and I am done with that!!! I am happy with who I am and what I do, and I am going to live accordingly, no more letting other people get to me:) I am going to be me again:) I went and had lunch with Evan today, and it was so fun. Lucy and I walked the mall for 4 hours after that, and I loved getting all the compliments on Lucy..I dressed her really cute today:) One lady came up and said that Lucy was so cute and asked me if I thought it was so fun being a mom, and it is! Then she said, "God bless you" and that really made my day. Pregnancy hunger is really getting to me, I eat ALL OF THE TIME, and I have lost about 8 lbs...we shall see what happens.

We are hopefully going to close on our house soon...pray for us. I hope no other road blocks come in the way. Fortunately we will still get the tax credit. If anyone likes to do handyman things, paint, carpet, electrical etc...let me know:) We will trade, hire or feed you:)

I am all of a sudden really tired so I will post pics and post more later:) Thanks for all of you being so wonderful!

pumpkins, Lucy, and lots of snow:)

Daddy getting Lucy ready for Trunk or treat

Our cute little pumpkin

This has been a crazy week. We have been so busy I don't even remember everything that went on, but here is a recap of a few things.

Tuesday we had a Trunk or Treat at our church, while it was cold and rainy...getting ready for snow, it was sooo fun. There was a girl there who dressed up as the H1N1 virus..it was hilarious, very creative and relevant:) Lucy got to show off her pumpkin beauty while daddy held her wearing Fred Flinestone. I tried to get him to wear only the costume, and show off his legs, but he wouldn't go for it..I told him Fred would never have worn jeans:)

Then the snow came in. There was rumor of a storm coming in, but you never know in Colorado, but it was true this time, good thing Evan and I raked bags and bags of leaves before it came in. Evan even broke an icicle off the roof for me to snack on:) I love the snow!!! All the schools around us had a snow day today except for Evan's school district. It took until lunch time for them to cancel school, and yay, no school tomorrow either. We are supposed to have another foot or two come in by tomorrow night, so we shall see.

Evan couldn't get his car in the driveway