Potty Humor Saves the Day

You know how after awhile in motherhood you start being less cautious of the risks surrounding your children? For example, sometimes when Kharisma is on the changing table I have to go get a diaper (cloth) out of the dryer because I'm too lazy to get them all at once and put them away (I'm working on that) and so I just run and grab it with her still on the table... I know, I'm bad. Well, to justify myself she's really good about knowing what she can and can't do and has never had a problem or even a close call.

So, that brings us to tonight's incident. She was freshly bathed and still naked on the changing table waiting to be lotioned-up. I was right there by her, just putting the bag in the garbage can, totally within an arm's length of her. I saw her wiggling out of the corner of my eye, no big deal, she always tries to turn around and stand on her head, butt in the air. I guess this time she was a little too tired for it or something because just as I looked over, her little butt is tipping off the edge. She spins in mid-air and lands on the ground with her body hitting the floor in the following order: head, hand, knees... and then falls to her back. I screamed her name in fright, which probably made the situation worse for her. Her little face was full of shock and her eyes were wide. It took her a few seconds until she actually started crying. I grabbed her little naked body and sat on the floor and held her while she cried. It was so sad. She really only cried for a minute and then just kind of wimpered as I rocked her back and forth. I couldn't feel or see a bump and she didn't seem that upset. I checked her pupils for proper dilation and all seemed well. Her heater suddenly turned on in her room and she sat up and pointed and said "Oooh!" and then pointed to other things in her room and named them, like her books.

Thinking she was over it and was fine I put her back on the changing table to get her dressed. I guess she hadn't forgot because she started crying again... I don't blame her. Well, now the story gets better. All of a sudden she lets out the biggest fart... three in a row actually. She stops crying and just starts laughing like it was the most hilarious thing ever (she usually does laugh when she farts or burps) and of course I was laughing too. Thank goodness for that because then she really did forget about the prior drama. We got dressed and brushed teeth and finished our nightly routine as usual. I was a little worried about putting her right to bed, I sort of wanted her stay awake for a while longer just to make sure she was acting normal but she was already so tired from lack of a proper nap and it was already a little past her bed-time. I just checked on her (an hour later) and she was still sleeping peacefully. I'll probably check on her a few more times before I go to bed. I feel like she is fine... that's what my inner mother-mind is saying. I pretty much knew she fine when she laughed at her flatulence. And that is why potty humor... (pause for dramatic effect)... saved the day.

Yabba-Dabba-Do!

Another Halloween has come and gone and it was another year of successful costume making! This year's costumes were less stressful than last year's (Ninja Turtles) and much easier. I have to give a giant Thank You to the Clayton's for playing along with my Halloween shenanigans. They're good sports... and don't we just look adorable?

My adorable little Pebbles.

Well, I better start thinking about next year!

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!!

A Visit to the Past

For Labor Day we went out to the fair grounds outside Colfax to attend the Threshing Bee. First question, what is threshing? I didn't know, and honestly still don't know. We just watched the big draft horses cut wheat and then the process of separating the wheat from the chaff (the stalk of the wheat plant) and it was powered by a steam... machine. Yeah, I didn't really learn the names of everything. (This just in, the steam powered machine is actually called the thresher) We also took a ride on a wagon pulled by two big draft horses. It was fun the see all the old equipment and all the horses. Kharisma had fun running through the fields and seeing all the animals. Ben got some ideas for his future hobby farm... I thought it was interesting that something that use to be just a hard days work is now an event that people come from all over to watch and take pictures of. I guess our advances in technology aren't all as bad as I think they are :)

Women Empowerment

I'm sure some of you are curious about my title (at least that was the plan) because you're thinking to yourself, "Women Empowerment? That doesn't sound like Kelli, she practically worships Dr. Laura. I wonder what this is going to be about."

Yeah, I know, I'm corny. Anyway, yes, women empowerment!! I started reading a book a few months ago but then didn't get back to it until a few days ago. I tend to feel guilty when I just sit and read during Kharisma's nap time because I feel like I should be doing something like cleaning or making something but I decided that reading is just as useful as my many crafts, plus, it doesn't make such a mess or take up so much space. So, the book, as you may be wondering and wanting me to stay focussed on, is called Ina May's Guide to Childbirth. I'm only half way into it but man, it is powerful! Already I feel like I could climb Mt. Everest without training, just on pure mind power. So, that's not really what it is about. I'm just so amazed at the female body. It is truly amazing. And the serious connection between mind/body/spirit... AMAZING. EVERYONE should read it, no matter what... male, female, never had a baby, had ten babies, never want to have a baby, trying to have a baby... seriously. It's that powerful.

So, Ina May is a lady who started a little community of mid-wives in the heart of the Tennessee woods. People live there, grow their own food, make a lot of their own stuff... they are just way connected to nature and in tune with it. People travel from all over to have their babies on "The Farm". The book is all about home-births and natural births but most importantly, the message that women have the power in themselves to do it!! So much fear and pain are associated with childbirth these days and especially in the United States thanks to the media that it's so refreshing to read about the pleasure of childbirth. I can't believe I went through having a natural childbirth without having read this book. Anyway, I'm going to get back to reading it.

But again, no matter where or how you plan on having a baby, this book will help. I believe this is the most important book you can read in preparation for childbirth.