the book of dixon

She says “PWEEEEESE!” now all of the time.  PWEESE can I have a cwacker, PWEESE can I have a cookie, PWEESE can I go out, PWEESE can I have some of what you’re having……..good to know she’s learning her manners early though! And as stern and mean mommy as I can be, how can you say no to PWEESE!!!? It’s the cutest thing yet!

The Dixon’s went hiking last week!  We had such a great time enjoying God’s creation in the Smokey Mountain National Park.  We hiked “ChimneyTop Trail” and “Abram’s Falls”.  The views were amazing and we both realized just how out of shape we really are.  Terrible.  Trey had an extra 25llbs on his back playing “dad of the year” and carrying Eden around in our new Kelty carrier.  Nonetheless, we had a GREAT time, but as always, the trip was too short.  We had to hurry home to see the Tigers lose to Bama.  :(

I’m not really doing very well at this blogging thing……..sorry.  

Here’s a quick catch up on Eden:

1. She speaks…….Dog, cat, bye bye, mama, dad da, paw paw, gogo, jack, where did it go?, poo poo, tee tee, bo bo, socks, bow, teeth……too many to keep on….she’s a talker!!!!  (does this surprise anyone???)

2. She poos……..in the potty that is.  She’s about 75% potty trained at 15 months.  I’m awfully proud of her!

3. She eats………everything.  Her GoGo made her shrimp and eggplant lasagne and she devoured it.  I like to think her wonderful eating habits are credits to my Homemade Baby Food making and her watching Trey and I eat fresh, healthy foods.

4. She laughs…..when she smells her stinky feet and when her daddy wrestles with her.

5. She grows…..she finally topped 20lbs!!! She’s been a little shrimp for so long!!

6. She gets long hair……..and we finally cut it.  GOODBYE MULLET!!!  She got a cute little bob cut.  

7. She travels……she went and stayed at the grandparents house for the weekend for the first time this month.  Such a BIG GIRL!!  I NEVER thought I would spend a night away from her until she was two but what do I know anyway.  She had a BLAST!

8. She meets celebrities……like Coach Les Miles who is a celebrity to some!

I guess that’s all for now!  That’s the overall synopsis of what’s going on in Eden’s world.  I’ll try to do better on the posting!

In the mean time, check out my Homemade Baby Food site and if you’re in the Baton Rouge area, tell EVERYONE you know to come out and see me at the BR Farmer’s Market November 1st, 15th, and 22nd!!!

www.freshfromeden.com

Until then…….blessings to you!

One of HUNDREDS of trees down in my neighborhood.

A pine tree got this one in my neighboorhood.

Flooded homes in North LA. This is what you DIDN

Well…..we made it.  Our city was badly damaged and north LA was badly flooded!!  THOUSANDS of homes were destroyed by wind and water.  As of tonight, Baton Rouge is still 50% without power. Amidst the devastation though, God reveals his purpose over and over…..here’s one story from HPC.

One of our chainsaw crews went out to clear trees from a house of a veteran, and coincidentally(?) there was a veteran on the crew. The two men connected and as they talked, the chainsaw crew member began to share about the love of Jesus. Before it was over, the chainsaws were turned off as the crew led this precious veteran in a prayer as he turned his life over to Christ.

What an AMAZING story!!! You NEVER know what impact you may have on someone’s ETERNITY just by a simple act of kindness.  

Visit www.dinorizzo.com for some more amazing stories from the aftermath and progress after Gustav.

Eden and I are back in Baton Rouge and headed to HPC to SERVE tomorrow.  I hope that I can instill in her what it means to reach people by serving ONE at an early age.  Keep praying for our state!!!

that darn gustav is heading directly at us!!!  many people south of baton rouge are leaving their homes not wondering WHEN they’re coming back but IF they’re coming back.  they’re worried if they’ll have jobs, homes, be able to provide for their families.  In this time of uncertainty, take time to PRAY for the safety of the people in the path of the hurricane.  lots of people are alone and very scared.  we are so blessed to know we have a somewhat safe place to go.  we are three hours north of baton rouge and will most likely have power outages and flash flooding.  PRAY for our home.

They are predicting 100MPH winds in Baton Rouge.  Whew.  I can’t even imagine what that’s going to do and have a bit of uncertainty about what’s in store for my city and my home.  Below is an email from a friend who’s been a pastor in the dreaded 9th ward of new orleans for over 15 years. He just took a new position in Talahassee about two weeks ago and here’s what he had to say:

The Leverett family is stationed in Tallahassee, watching the news coverage regarding Gustav and preparing to go to church. One newscaster suggested that for New Orleans residents this must be a reoccurring nightmare. I think that is a pretty good summary of how I feel.

I have been praying for Gustav to weaken. It is strengthening. I have been praying for Gustav to be redirected. It is barreling right in the direction of New Orleans, and at a more destructive angle. Now all I know to pray is for God to glorify Himself and for His will to be done. I am praying for myself and others that we have the mind of Christ, the perspective of trust and the blessings of grace.

While we have relocated, our home is still there. We are once again vulnerable to the whims of the tropics. And we have precious families following us for shelter here. We’ve barely been settled, (I use that term loosely), for two days, and we will be hosting as many as 20 or so folks.

PRAY!!!  God has a plan and a purpose for everything.  Just pray.  We’ll keep you posted on our status assuming we’ll have access to the internet.

Best to all…………

a few months ago melissa asked me to put together a “mom’s outing/playdate” once a month now that the babies are all of playing age and the mom’s are ready to get out of the house.  sounded like fun to me!!!  we went to the zoo and swimming at melissa’s pool, father’s day cards, and have gone to the gonzales splash pad so far.  

it’s gone great so far!  people have been inviting their neighbors and friends that may not necessarily go to our church but just want to come hang out.  we’ve found that there are several play groups in baton rouge but the women sit around and bash their husbands, gossip, and generally just have a negative vibe to them.  we wanted to offer another alternative to that.  

well word got around at the church about the playdate and i was approached about opening this playdate up to the whole church as a women’s lifegroup!!!  WOW!  what an honor!!  to be able to minister to mom’s throughout the whole community is such a blessing!  we get started on september 8th and will have one once a month to start out with and if the demand is there will increase the meetings.  

just wanted to share the good news and write about more good things God is doing in my life!

DON’T FORGET TO REGISTER EARLY FOR THE 2008 LIVE THE DREAM CONFERENCE!!!

that i don’t update my blog enough…….glad to know I have a few followers.  my first reaction is to say that there’s not much exciting going on in my life to write about.  But then I’m reminded quickly of all of the VERY exciting things that God is doing in my life.  So here are some very important things that God is doing right now in the Dixon home:

1)  He’s blessed us financially so that Trey and I can be at home to watch out little girl learn to walk.

2) He’s blessed us with amazing friends that encourage us in our walk with Him daily.

3) He’s blessed our marriage in ways that we never knew possible.  We’re a work in progress but I’m glad         He’s always there to bring us back to each other.  

4) He’s blessed us with our families whom we love and are thankful for daily.  

5) He’s blessed us with a church that has a servant’s heart that is teaching us to have that same heart for the lost, lonely, depressed, and forgotten. 

6) He’s allowing me to stay very busy with my two new businesses!  What a blessing!!

GOD IS GOOD!

He sat down, called the twelve disciples over to him, and said, “Whoever wants to be first must take last place and be the servant of everyone else.”
Mark 9:35

http://www.cnn.com/20… 

JIANGYOU, China (CNN) — A Chinese police officer is being hailed as a hero after taking it upon herself to breast-feed several infants who were separated from their mothers or orphaned by China’s devastating earthquake.

Officer Jiang Xiaojuan, 29, the mother of a 6-month-old boy, responded to the call of duty and the instincts of motherhood when the magnitude-7.9 quake struck on May 12.

“I am breast-feeding, so I can feed babies. I didn’t think of it much,” she said. “It is a mother’s reaction and a basic duty as a police officer to help.”

The death toll in the earthquake jumped Thursday to more than 51,000, and more than 29,000 are missing, according to government figures. Thousands of children have been orphaned; many others have mothers who simply can’t feed them.

At one point, Jiang was feeding nine babies.

“Some of the moms were injured; their fathers were dead … five of them were orphans. They’ve gone away to an orphanage now,” she said

She still feeds two babies, including Zhao Lyuyang, son of a woman who survived the quake but whose breast milk stopped flowing because of the traumatic conditions.

“We walked out of the mountains for a long time. I hadn’t eaten in days when I got here, and my milk was not enough,” said that mother, Zhao Zong Jun. “She saved my baby. I thank her so much. I can’t express how I feel.”

Liu Rong, another mother whose breast milk stopped in the trauma, was awed by Jiang’s kindness.

“I am so touched because she has her own baby, but she fed the disaster babies first,” Liu said. “If she hadn’t fed my son, he wouldn’t have had enough to eat.”

Jiang has became a celebrity, followed by local media and proclaimed on a newspaper front page as “China’s Mother No. 1.”

She’s embarrassed by the fuss.

“I think what I did was normal,” she said. “In a quake zone, many people do things for others. This was a small thing, not worth mentioning.” See the quake zone »

There has been a huge outpouring of support from families who want to adopt babies orphaned by the quake. But that process takes time, and there are mouths to feed.
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Jiang misses her own son, who’s being cared for through the emergency by in-laws in another town, but she is aware of the new connections she’s made.

“I feel about these kids I fed just like my own. I have a special feeling for them. They are babies in a disaster.”

shielding the paparazzi already!!!  it’s really starting to get old…..them following us around everywhere we go.  don’t they have anything better to do than to tailgate us the whole way to albertson’s only to have eden slam the hand in their lens.  was the shot really worth it??  well if you’re one of those crazies endangering my family……stop it.  or you’ll have HER to deal with.  and her posse. (thanks oliver, sheldon, novalee, alyssa, selah, landon, logan and ingram).  i know ya’ll have my back.  that’s what friends are for right?!