October Means...

It is still in the 90° range somedays here in Texas! The fall is one of our favorite seasons though so we still try and make it feel that way in our home. October means...
Making a Fall Wreath and Decorating the Porch

Halloween/ Fall Decorations and Bath and Body Works Pumpkin Candles

Halloween Candy

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies and anything else Pumpkin flavored

And... 

An anxious Mommy and Daddy that have everything sitting by the door waiting for our baby girl's arrival any day now. We are so excited! Come out little one!

Chocolate Caramel Cookies

My mom and sisters have been making these cookies for the past little while and when I was in Utah, they were making them for a missionary farewell and I was able to try one. These are some dang good cookies! Since I have been back from Utah, I have made them for a get together when some ladies from church got together to watch the General Women's broadcast, for the ladies that I visit teach, and for the conference exchange with my friends that I talked about here. These have been a major hit every where I have taken them. I now keep all of the stuff in my pantry so when I need a quick and easy treat that is yummy, I am prepared. 

Chocolate Caramel Cookies

Heat oven to 350°

Mix together:

1 box Pillsbury Devils Food Cake Mix

(Make sure you use Pillsbury)

2 eggs

1/3 cup oil

Mix this all together. The dough will be pretty thick and sticky.

You will then need to buy a bag of Rolo's (about 1/2 bag per recipe)

Form a ball of cookie dough just a little bit bigger than the rolo around it.

Bake them for 8 minutes. This recipe will make about 3 dozen or so. After they have cooled off, sprinkle powdered sugar on the top of them. Enjoy!!

General Conference- October 2015

General Conference is always such a fun and exciting time in our home. It is something that we look forward to and Eric and I always enjoy listening to the prophets and apostles. We started a tradition last year and I make all of our favorite treats for conference weekend. We had cheese ball and crackers, wings, veggies and dip, chips and salsa, smokies, and some treats. A couple friends from church and I did a "conference exchange" this time around and it was so fun. There was 4 of us and we all made something different and enough to feed all 4 families. Then we met up yesterday and swapped everything so this weekend we have 4 different things to snack on. I made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and rolo cookies. It was so fun and something I want to continue to do. Conference weekend is such a special time to our family.

This conference weekend is especially special to Eric and I. We are welcoming our little girl into our family in 2 weeks and that is all that we can think about. We are so excited for parenthood and the joy that our little girl is going to bring into our lives. It is so crazy to think that next time we have general conference our little girl will be almost 6 months. This conference weekend is also special to us because Eric was ordained a high priest today. Two weeks ago, Eric got a phone call from the stake and they asked to meet with both Eric and I the next morning. We have only been in our ward for almost 3 months and we hardly know anyone. Eric and I were so confused about what it could be. They asked Eric to serve as the 2nd counselor in the bishopric in our ward. Eric and I were both a little bit in shock. Eric accepted the call and I gladly said that I would support him 100%. Eric was sustained last Sunday and then he was ordained and set apart today. His dad flew down from West Virginia to ordain Eric a high priest. This was so special for Eric and I. As hard as it may be to not be able to sit with Eric in sacrament meeting, not have him during the week some nights, and on sunday mornings and afternoons, I am so thankful for a husband that takes his callings so serious and Harper and I will support him 100%. I know that he is going to do an incredible job in his new calling. 

@madisonscecil

This picture is of Eric and his dad, the bishop that Eric gets the opportunity to work with, and a member of the Stake presidency. I am so excited for Eric and for the things that he is going to be able to experience and learn from serving in this calling. Of course, conference was great today and the talk that stuck out to me the most was the talk by Elder Jeffery R. Holland on Mothers. Every little thing about mothers is striking close to home right now. I feel so blessed to be able to be a mother to my sweet little Harper so soon. She has already brought so much joy into our lives. Any day now little one!

Baby Girl Cecil- 36 Weeks

Eric and I are on the countdown. We had our 35 week ultrasound last week and we found out that our little Harper is measuring a couple weeks ahead and is 7 lbs. already. The doctor is watching me close and may decide to take her a little bit early so I will be able to deliver her. She is worried about me delivering a 8-9 lb. baby so the doctor and I are in close contact. After the appt. was over, Eric and I came home and got our little bums in gear. I have been working on her nursery during the day and Eric has been doing the big projects at night and on the weekends. We are just waiting for this little girl to make her little arrival and we couldn't be more excited. Last night we were sitting on the couch and we were talking about how our little girl is going to be here so soon and who knows when the next time will be that it will just be he and I in our home. Thanks to Pottery Barn Kids, we have some darling furniture and bedding for our little Harper. Eric and I had the best time making her bed for her last weekend.

@madisonscecil

How Far Along?

36 Weeks!! Baby girl is almost full term and has my permission to come out next week!

Baby Size?

She is the size of a honeydew and is measuring at 7 pounds right now.

Sick?

I was in the emergency room on Friday all day and have pleurisy so I am trying to get over that but other than that I feel great. I have the normal pregnancy symptoms like a little bit of swelling, heartburn, hard time sleeping, and more heartburn but that is to be expected.

Showing?

Um...Definitely!

Maternity Clothes?

Nothing is working for me these days besides Eric's shirts. It is so hot in Texas and it is driving me crazy. I am always hot as it is and then adding the Texas heat on top of that I feel like I am melting. I leave my blinds closed and walk around in Eric's shirts and shorts everyday to try to keep cool. If I was working, things would for sure have to be different but since I am not and I get to stay home everyday, I wear whatever works.

Movement?

You better believe it! Eric is loving watching my belly move all over the place right now. She is so big in there and whenever she moves, you can tell. I especially love the mornings and late at night because she is always going crazy in there.

Making me Sick?

Every time I eat an onion ring or spaghetti, I get sick. I thought I was over that especially this far along but we had some spaghetti last week and then I paid for it. Hopefully after baby girl gets here mommy will be able to eat those things again but, if not that is just fine. Those are things I may just stay away from now.

Craving?

Anything! I get so hungry all the time but mexican and chinese food are my favorite and have been throughout this entire pregnancy.

Happy, Sad, or Moody?

Happy! Happy! GET HERE LITTLE GIRL!!

Looking Forward to...

Finishing up the nursery, getting the car seat loaded in the car, finishing up packing our hospital bags, getting the rest of my chores done that I need to do before she decides to come, and getting this baby girl here! Mommy and Daddy are done waiting for her but want her to be ready to come out.

My sweet friend in my new ward here in Fort Worth threw me a shower a couple weeks ago before Harper decides to make her little arrival. It was so fun to get together with friends and all of their little ones. There are lots of girls and it makes me so excited for Harper to have so many darling friends. I didn't get many pictures from this shower. We were having too much fun chatting and opening darling things for my little one. Harper and I were spoiled with 3 showers. We are so blessed with such incredible family and friends. As a mommy, I am so grateful that Harper is surrounded by so many fun and good people. She is a lucky little girl! Only 4 more weeks! Here we go!

Time Out for Women

@madisonscecil

This past weekend I had the opportunity to go with my Aunt Mary to "Time Out for Women." She spoke on Friday night and was able to take me as her guest. I was able to sit with Uncle Richard which was a treat and loved catching up with him. It was so fun and something that I hope to make a tradition. It was held in Arlington, TX at the convention center which is only 45 minutes from my house...without traffic. As I was listening to the speakers this past weekend, I noticed that many of them talked about motherhood, faith, hope, and the atonement. Of course, the ones on motherhood were the ones that hit the closest to home for me. As I get ready to welcome my baby girl into the world in a couple weeks, I can't help but feel so very grateful for the opportunity that I have to be a mother. My calling is to be a mother and I can't wait to fulfill it in this life and in the next. One of the speakers talked about not comparing ourselves to other mothers and to truly focus and teach our kids what is most important. I loved telling Eric all the things that I had learned and hope that we can implement them in our home as we get ready to have our family. 

Music is such a huge part of the gospel and I loved that there were some incredible singers there. Calee Reed sang on Friday night and Mercy River sang on Saturday. Calee is a girl that I had never heard of before but she can sure sing and her songs are incredible. In fact, I bought both of her CD's while I was at TOFW and have been listening to them in my car. She told the story of when her mom passed away from cancer not long ago and she wrote a song for her. It made me cry and reminded me of my mom. I hope that I can be this type of mom to my sweet Harper and the rest of my little ones. 

Here is another one of Calee's songs that I am loving right now. We are truly blessed to be apart of such an incredible church. I realized after this weekend that I truly am enough to my father in heaven even though I may not realize it sometimes. We are all children of a heavenly father who loves us. Brad Wilcox spoke on Saturday morning and made the comment that, "God HAS to love us and he loves all of his children the same."

Easy and Delicious Treat

I have been spending many days at home getting everything ready for our little girl and today, I needed a treat. My mom made some of these with hershey kisses for my shower a couple weeks ago and they were so yummy. I had all the stuff on hand so I made a bowl of them today. Instead of using hershey kisses though, I used rolos. They are so easy to make. Put a layer of pretzels on a cookie sheet and put a rolo on the top of the pretzel. Bake for only 3 minutes at 350°. Take them out of the oven and push an m&m down in the middle. Put them in the fridge for a little while so they will harden back up and then they are ready!

2015 Utah Trip #5- Baby Shower/Baby Girl's Name

Word is out and Eric and I couldn't be more excited to share our baby girl's name. Her name is.....

We can't wait to welcome this little girl into our family in the next couple of weeks. Before she makes her big debut, I made a quick last trip to Utah before I become a mommy for a baby shower. My mom and sisters threw the cutest baby shower for my little girl. It was so fun to celebrate with my family and friends. They went to TONS of work and it couldn't of been more perfect. My mom had the invitations printed and then my doctor didn't like the idea of me traveling into September so they put a change of date insert in. 

My sweet cousin Mia gave me a foot massage before the shower and it was PERFECT!

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My sweet Harper got so many darling things and it all made it back to Texas safely in suit cases. There are a couple more things that my dad is going to bring when he comes down to Fort Worth on business in a couple weeks. We sure are blessed to have such incredible family and friends.

Eric stayed home and my understanding when I left was that he was going to study super hard for the GMAT for graduate school. He is taking it in 2 weeks and needs to score well so he doesn't have to worry about it once baby girl gets here. He did study for the test but he also PAINTED HER ROOM!! He surprised me and got it all done. I have been on his case about getting it finished but told him that we would worry about it after he was done taking the GMAT. It looks darker in this picture then it actually is but it is light grey and so dang cute. I cried when I saw it! Her room is light grey, white furniture, and we are decorating with pink and gold. He worked so hard while I was away and I feel so relieved that it is done. Now we are working on getting the bed made and decorating! Just need the finishing touches and we will be done with her nursery.