Sienna's new favorite obsessions...

It's ours!

We are finally homeowners! I can't believe how fast it came. We started building less than 3 months ago. Crazy! I need to post some pics of us with the house. I promise I will when life slows down! We closed last Wednesday and moved Thursday and Friday (Saturday, Sunday...that's the bad part about not really having to be out on a specific day, it's easy to let things linger...). Work has been pretty crazy for both of us, so we haven't had much time to feel settled quite yet. It's funny, though. It definitely feels like we're just playing grown up. I'm sure I won't feel that way once we pay our first mortgage. We LOVE the house. McCarthur has really done a fantastic job with the house. It's beautiful. We are really loving the finished basement. It's Sienna's toy haven. I love not having my living room look like an explosion of toys. Sienna has adjusted so well and just loves it. She runs around banging on every cupboard and shelf she can get her hands on. She already knows where everything is. It's really cute, she loves turning on the master bath tub and ripping her clothes off. Anyway, we are slowly getting settled and unpacked. I can't wait until we are all unpacked and decorated. Patience is definitely not my strongest point! I just can't wait until we can actually entertain and have people over. It's been a long time since we were in a place where we really had the space to entertain. I've missed it. Anyway, just wanted to post a little something. I'll post more pics and details later.

Yummy, yum yum....

I made these yummy oreo truffles awhile ago and have been meaning to post the recipe. I use the term recipe loosely, since they have such few ingredients and are super easy! (Though a little messy). They are so tasty. Has anyone had the oreo truffles at Blue Lemon in Highland!? My friend Amber introduced me to them--they are divine! These taste fairly close, but don't look nearly as pretty as theirs. ;) Here's the recipe. Enjoy!

Oreo Truffles

Ingredients

• 1 lb Oreo cookies (3 sleeves)
• 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla (you could also use mint or coc)
• 1 lb milk chocolate
• 1/2 lb white chocolate

Directions

Using a food processor, grind oreo cookies to a fine powder. With a mixer, blend oreo cookie powder, cream cheese and vanilla extract until thoroughly mixed (there should be no white traces of cream cheese). Roll into small balls and place on wax-lined cookie sheet. Refrigerate for 45 minutes (or put on the back porch for 5-10 minutes on a Utah sub-zero winter day). Line two cookie sheets with wax paper. In double-boiler, melt milk chocolate. Dip balls and coat thoroughly. With slotted spoon, lift balls out of chocolate and let excess chocolate drip off. Place on wax-paper-lined cookie sheet. In separate double boiler, melt white chocolate. Using a fork, drizzle white chocolate over balls. I like to mix things up and dip some in white chocolate, some in milk, then drizzle with the opposite chocolate. Sprinkle with a few oreo crumbs for a finished look (and so no one can see the messy job you did dipping the chocolates!). Let cool. Store in airtight container, in refrigerator.

***FYI, I think it's easier to melt chocolate in the microwave. You just have to watch it carefully. Make sure you use a microwavable dish and that you melt for 30 seconds, then stir, melt for 30 seconds more, then stir, until melted. It works great!

18 months old!

It's been way too long since I blogged. I have a bunch of catching up to do! Here's a few fun pictures of Sienna. Most of these are from December & January. She's already looking so different to me.
She loves her bath-time, but hate, hates, hates getting out of the tub (and getting her hair rinsed!).
Here's Dan working hard putting together Sienna's kitchen--a Christmas gift from her Grandma and Grandpa Hanson. She is loving it! It's so cute to see her putting pots and pans in the oven and filling up her glass with "water". The stove even makes sizzling sounds and glows red. Super cute! I wish I would've taken a before and after picture. This baby came out of the box in a gazillion little pieces. Dan was a trooper!

This is Sienna when she insisted on trying on her aunt Nelly's knee-high leather boots. She really was trying to walk around in them. That girl cracks me up!

Sienna is certainly Miss Independent these days (18-months-old). It's fun, and completely frustrating at the same time. She is currently loving purses, cell phones, shoes (my friend Emily says she has a major shoe fetish...should I be worried!?), "brushing" her teeth (sucking all the toothpaste off), fruit snacks, her blankie, and dancing, being outside, eating out of a bowl, with utinsels, the i-touch... Another cute quirk is when she is done eating and you get her out of the high chair, she has to turn around and buckle the seatbelt. She also loves counting to three and "jumping" (though she gets NO air at all). Pretty stinkin' cute, though. I know this picture may not seem like much to you, but I had to document the day when she sat still for about 3 minutes watching the television. Finally! I've been waiting for this day. I promise I'm not planning on parking her in front of the tube all day, every day (though I'm sure there will be those days), but I am looking forward to having just 5 minutes to take a shower or make a phone call without Sienna wanting tugging on my leg, crawling up into my lap or pounding on the bathroom door.

And since we're talking about tv, let's just talk for a minute about The Backyardigans. Who else loves this show!? It's so cute. I'm not gonna lie, there have been times I've caught myself watching it when Sienna has long since left the room. "Riding the range, riding the range, let's go, riding the range, yahoo!" (Our personal favorite!).

What else am I forgetting? Sienna's also a little chatterbox. She will sit and repeat nearly anything we say. She's even saying words like blueberries and pirates booty. Other new favorites are cheese, milk, sippy, mommy, daddy, i wan go, all done, more (while she signs it), nelly, Emy (my friend Emily), mimi, papi (for papa, Dan's dad). It's pretty entertaining. I can already tell we've got a little drama queen on our hands. Well, really we've known since about 1 year. The other day I got a good taste of it. Sienna had some fruit snacks, which I don't typically buy. Sienna loved the fruit snacks. Sienna wanted more fruit snacks. Mom wouldn't give another pack of fruitsnacks. Sienna proceeds to sob huge alligator tears (snot running down her nose) and pound on the pantry door, begging and pleading for more fruit snacks (pounding, alternating with "more" sign language and screaming "more"). I vowed never to buy fruitsnacks again (though I do understand that this isn't about fruit snacks and that the battles are only beginning!). Let me just tell you, it was lovely. I was a nightmarish little toddler, so this is totally pay-back time for me. I'm so in trouble. Sorry, mom!

We're getting there...

The brick is done, the stucco is complete and they painted the inside today. I can't believe how fast they are doing all the finishing work. We were thinking we'd be closing the first week of April and now they are talking possibly mid-March. So crazy. I'm not going to lie, even though it's super exciting, I'm starting to freak out a little bit. Home ownership....kinda scary!

"Fun & Easy" Paneling Project

My friend Kristi just did this in her formal dining room. It turned out so cute, I just had to share. I love how she makes it sounds so simple. Maybe one day I'll get ambitious! HERE's the link with all the instructions.

It's starting to look like a house!

It's amazing how quickly the framing has gone. It's actually starting to look like a real house. They put all the windows in and completed the plumbing today, and by the end of the week they should be done sheetrocking. It's exciting how fast they are building the house, yet that also means we're closer to making mortgage payments (which doesn't sound nearly as fun!)

Before we know it, it should look something like this!
*with stucco rather than the siding, and with a brick wainscot all the way across the bottom