Bargain!!

Just found a great bargain and so excited about it I decided to blog about it. So, the local Wal-Mart is moving from Moscow, about ten minutes away, to a brand new SUPER Wal-Mart here in Pullman. Because of this, the current store is getting rid of everything in the store. All the display stuff included. I was there the other day and happened to walk by a vacuum... I of course wasn't there for a vacuum but the first thing that caught my attention was... yes, the color.

Aww... green. Stopped me right in my tracks. Come to find out, this green baby was 50% off, making it only $60 instead of $120. We've been talking about needing a new vacuum but it wasn't top on our list of needs. I texted Ben in class, simply saying: "Call me ASAP" which I knew probably wasn't the best thing to write because I know if it was me getting that text I would immediately wonder who died. But it did get him to call back quickly. After I reassured him that everything was fine, I told him about my great find to see if he approved. He gave me the go-ahead and we are now the proud owners of an Eurka vacuum! There was a downside... it was a display model so it was dirty, nothing a little scrubbing couldn't handle and there were a few attachment pieces that the clips were broke but with Ben's creative little brain, we fixed it. Good as new. Check out the sweet duster on the side. Just turn the knob while the vacuum is on and it's sucked clean of dust. Now maybe I'll be more motivated to dust.

Other exciting things in the Dixon household. Kharisma goes potty! On the toilet! Okay, so she just knows that "potty" means you sit on the toilet. We've been randomly sitting her on the toilet and she thinks it's great fun. The other day though, she grunted (her usual signal that she's trying to poop) and then looked at me and patted her diaper and said "Potty!" all cute and sweet and then ran to the bathroom. I sat her on the toilet and she went! Super exciting. I clapped and sang and danced... you know, everything to make her think it was a big deal. We left it for dad to see when he got home. Isn't that what everybody wants to be shown when they get home? She actually did it again today... she thinks it's so exciting. Don't worry, I don't have lofty dreams of her being potty trained before she's two... we are just getting her comfortable with the toilet. I actually don't care how long she's in diapers and I'm in no hurry to get her out of them. I use cloth so I'm not buying them. I don't want potty training to be a stress so I'm fine waiting until she comes to me wanting real underwear because the other kids at school are making fun of her. But it's still exciting, and a bit sad to think about her growing up! Oh, and she's oh-so-cute sitting on the toilet. Sorry, no photo yet.

Also, my family came up this past weekend! My parents, sister, and one of my best friends, Kylie. It was so good to see them and wish they could've stayed longer. Christmas break is just around the corner though so we'll see everyone soon!

Cha-Cha-Cha-Changes!

DISCLAIMER: All the pictures on this post look a little cloudy, sorry. I forgot that Kharisma had been touching the lens... I was going to clean it before the next use but obviously that didn't happen and I didn't remember until I had already put the pictures up. P.S. Does anyone know how to effectively clean a lens? It's a small one, just a regular digital camera, nothing fancy.

The past week I've been making some changes around our apartment (hence the title.) I decided that this time around--pregnancy speaking--I was going to be prepared, as in, having the house the way I wanted it. First time around, we brought our newborn home to a construction zone basically. I knew when we bought our house we had about three years in it before we would be moving and we had the entire house to remodel and fix up. You'd think we would've gotten started right away so we could enjoy a finished house for awhile... well, no, that didn't happen. We basically waited until I was pregnant to start really getting things done. So I spent my pregnancy ripping up carpet, wallpaper, walls... whatever. Painting and plastering. It was a little stressful to say the least. So, like I said, this time around I want to be prepared and get things done casually and while I can still move. My project this week as been to combine the craft room and the office. I had to put a few things on Craigslist that were just in the way and not being used and try to make better use of our space. (As a first time Craigslist user I was surprised how fast everything went.) As of tonight, I'm finished! And with my parents arriving in just a few days, they now have an empty room to stay in.

Just a few pictures of my hard work. I found a new-old chair at the thrift store and of course I re-upholstered it (one of my favorite things to do) and it goes perfectly with my cute little sewing table.

I know things still look a little cluttered but there really is some rhyme and reason to the madness.

I made Ben put up this shell for my thread and jar of remnant material that I just can't resist picking through when I'm at Joann's Fabric store. And yes, that is a coconut money hiding behind my thread. Came all the way from Columbia.

My adorable sewing table. Our bookcases and shoved up against them, our gigantic beanbags that are in the way. Luckily we are sending one home with my parents. So, everything is still sort of a tight fit but that's okay. The thought did cross my mind that the baby could share a room with Kharisma so I didn't have to give up my space, but I quickly came to my senses. Well, hopefully I can continue being productive while I'm still able!

Kharisma Update

As I read blogs from everyone else I realize that not only am I disappointing those that want to hear about what we're up to, but I'm really going to miss out when I want to look back on our adventures in Pullman and discover I only wrote about once every two months. I was hoping this would become a weekly update... I guess there is still hope.

Anyway, I should update on my sweet little baby girl, who is not so much a baby anymore. First of all, she is adorable. I don't mean to brag, but did Ben and I make a cute child or what?! But besides being super-duper beautiful, she is getting to be so smart. It's amazing how fast kids learn things. Her ability to understand and comprehend is amazing. If I wipe her nose with a tissue she goes to garbage can and opens the lid so I can throw it away. She tries to help unload the dishwasher, which is actually pretty helpful sometimes. She stands and hands me the spoons and forks so I don't even have to keep bending over! She knows how to put things away, she loves trying to sweep the kitchen floor with the broom, she wipes her face and her tray when she's done eating, she helps me take the clothes out of the dryer and put them in the laundry basket. Kids are just so quick to follow your example. Hopefully we're being good examples to her. Lately she has been knocking on doors when she wants them open, like when she wants to go outside or if she's trying to find Ben. Which is actually kind of sad because he'll be at school but she'll walk to each room and knock on the door and yell, "Daddy!?" If she is up before he leaves for school it is pretty traumatic, she'll say goodbye and then stretch her arms up to him with a look of desperation on her face and he has to come back and give her more hugs before he leaves, but she still cries when he goes out the door.

She says a lot of words now. Kitty, daddy, mommy, puppy, baby, banana (nana), no, and nonono, uh-oh, hi, bye, night, tickletickletickle, bird (sounds like bee... but she also says that for her blanket as well) and some animal noises, sheep, cow, owl, dolphin, lion--or anything that roars really. She loves to color and actually holds a pen quite well. I recently bought a bag exclusively for church, since I now know how hard it is with a toddler through all three hours of church since I've been released from the nursery. I've been searching everywhere for a little Magna-Doodle and was having no luck but then a good friend of mine called me one night to say she found one and so she picked it up for me. Great addition to the church bag--drawing with no mess. Luckily, in December she'll be able to go to nursery. I know she'll do great. As long as there are other kids (any people for that matter) she's happy. I go to a mom's group on Tuesday mornings that provides care for the children and Kharisma never wants to come to me when it's time to go. In fact, when they bring her to me she clings on to the girl holding her and starts whimpering when I try to take her. I feel like I have to convince them that she is in fact my child and knows me! When I drop her off in the room she runs off and doesn't even look back. I just have to remind myslef that in all the human development and psychology classes I've taken it talks about that kind of behavior is a good sign of healthy attachment. She trusts me and knows I'm not abandoning her so she's not worried.

Kharisma is an angel at night now. As soon as I stopped nursing at 13 months it only took about four nights and now she sleeps through the night and goes down so easily. We have our nightly ritual of bath, pj's, vitamins, brush teeth and then as long as we turn on her little music player and have her favorite blanket we can rock her for a little while, lay her down, say good night and shut the door and she doesn't even cry.

The past few nights when Ben as put her to bed she doesn't even let him rock her. She waves and says "nie" which I'm sure means goodnight, and keeps waving until he leaves. I hope this doesn't become the norm because I really like being able to rock her, it's the only time she holds still! But I'm so thankful that we have the whole sleeping thing down because I was afraid I'd still be sleep training when the new baby comes and that would just be a mess. But now that she is sleeping through the night, I can't because I have to get up two to three times a night to go the the bathroom, dang pregnancy.

Now that I've written a novel I feel a little better about my blogging situation. I'm going to make a goal of at least once a week... but I've said that before so we'll see.

In conclusion, I'm so thankful for our little girl, she brings us so much joy and I am so grateful that I'm able to stay home with her and experience all her many changes every day. Also, I'm getting very excited for my brothers to get home soon from their missions so they can finally meet her!!