Interior Design

We have reached the stage in life where all my decorating goes out the window and Kelsey takes things into her own hands. Luckily I had many pep talks before this stage so I was "ready." I baby proofed everything only to learn that I had actually baby proofed nothing. I wish I could have captured every moment because she has done some hilarious things, but here are a few to remember.

Playing under the sink...

Pulling off the books as fast as she can. I love this because when she hears me coming she just goes even faster....

 

This is actually just cute, but she hits the piano until we open it and then plays and plays and plays...

 

Rearranging our other book case... Seriously I turn my back for two seconds and this is what I find

 

Dumping over any box she can get a hold of...

  

And pulling clothes out of bins and drawers just to sit in the bins and drawers. Whenever I can't find her, she is in someones room or closet pulling clothes out of the bin/drawer and trying to climb inside. 

 

I have finally accepted that my house will always look like this as long as I have kids

If you notice the chair in front of the book case, the toy box in front of the stereo area, and the card table covering the cords.

 but its totally worth it! I mean look at that smile

Missouri

Kelsey LOVED Missouri! It was fried ravioli, but because the south has a lot of fried foods (okay ALL the suggestions for the South are fried) I decided to give our systems a break and bake the ravioli instead. Kelsey loved it and so did we. Good new for me, on every website that I looked at the only consistent food for Missouri was an ice cream cone! I LOVE ice cream cones and so naturally after dinner we got to have ice cream cones. Missouri all around just was fantastic.

 In other news Kelsey loves eggs....

 And my phone....

 And her cute Nike kicks!

Pennsylvania

No explanation necessary. Philly cheese steaks

Two thumbs up

Kelsey with her tricorner Philly hat. Ethan made this for him.. but we followed a kids pattern and he has a head that is not kid size

Idaho and Alaska

Idaho and Alaska were our favorites so far, but how can you go wrong with chicken strips and potatoes and salmon.

 Baked salmon- Two thumbs way up. We have salmon all the time and "Alaskan" salmon did not disappoint

I was a little surprised to learn that the meal of suggestion for Idaho was not potatoes but was chicken fingers and that was from multiple sources. I made some chicken fingers, but it did not feel right to eat Idaho without a form of potatoes as a side, so in addition to our fingers, we had mashed potatoes.

Our little Plumber

While I got ready in the morning Kelsey used to scream and pound at the bathroom door, however I recently showed her that 1. She can open our cupboards and 2. that there are fun things inside. I thought that this was a good idea mainly because I now can shower without all the tears. She is much too busy with the toothbrushes and toilet paper.
Yesterday I took out the box from under the sink and went to go get ready. When I turned around Kelsey was gone. I know that she is fast, but she is not THAT fast and is definitely not that quiet.  Upon further investigation this is what I found :

I mean seriously, does it get any cuter than this!

Eating around the Nation

One week, I was really bored with the food that I was making and so I decided to make 5 new recipes from a brand new cook book. It was really fun and the food was deliciously refreshing. This little stunt sparked an idea. I decided that it would be fun to try a recipe from all 50 states. I have looked on blogs for recipes and for the states that I can not find I look to find what their national fruit or veggies are and make something from that. For example Georgia doesn't have a state "dish" but they are found of peaches and so I am going to make a peach dish.

I am not making the food in order because some ingredients are cheaper at certain times. As of now I have made Michigan, Arkansa, and Colorado. My rule is that I can't change the recipe like I normally do so that we can get the real taste of the state.

 Michigan~Michigan Pasty's- I made this on my dad's birthday. I thought that that was rather fitting. We each gave this one thumb up. If I make this again, I will add more flavoring

 Arkansas~ Fried catfish and Walmart green beans- We each gave this one thumb down. Not gross, but not good. Very flavorless

Colorado~ Chili Verde and avocados~ Two thumbs up from both of us. I will make this again. It is delicious!


So there they are, the first 3 states. Only 47 more to go!

New Tricks

Kelsey is growing like crazy and it is scaring us so much. We love every minute of it, but it is scary because we are losing our little baby. She can do so much now and it is adorable. I could go on and on about it but I think the pictures are much cuter to show all her new tricks.