Love Week: Caedmon

Top 10 things I love about Caedmon:

1. I love that Caedmon wakes up slowly and is super cuddly in the morning and after naptime. My absolute favorite thing is to wake him up from nap by crawling in bed with him and snuggling him awake.
2. I love that Caedmon has a growing attention span and can engage in one activity for quite some time now.
3. I love how imaginative Caedmon is. He is rarely "just Caedmon". He's always some type of super hero, or pirate, or fireman, or whatever else he can envision.
4. I love that Caedmon loves books. He would let me read to him for over an hour...and occasionally I do! I'm so excited for him that he will learn to read soon. The whole world will open up to him then!
5. Caedmon says at least one ridiculous and hilarious comment per day. I try to tweet them just so I have a record of them.
6. I love that Caedmon's face looks absolutely angelic at times. There is a sweetness about his face that melts my heart. (I have definitely had the thought that God gave him that face to make up for some of the not-so-angelic behavior that he's blessed us with.)
7. I love the way it sounds when Caedmon gets really tickled about something (normally one of his own jokes) and he just laughs uncontrollably.
8. I love that Caedmon has an amazing memory. It's really quite stunning. We were driving down the road one day and Caedmon quoted me my entire "Welcome" that I did at South Bay's Christmas Eve service...literally word-for-word. The only time he heard me practice it was on the car ride to the service which was about a month prior to when he quoted it.
9. I love that Caedmon is FINALLY beginning to respond to the discipline that Andy and I have so diligently been administering since he was a baby. I promise you, it felt like we were banging our heads against a wall when it came to finding effective discipline with him from the time he was 15 months-4 years old. But, lo and behold, the passing of the 4th birthday has started making the pieces fall into place. We still have a ways to go, but this is progress, People. Major progress!
10. I love that Caedmon is affectionate. I told Caedmon the other day, "I love that no matter how big you grow, you are always the perfect fit for my arms." He loves to be close...holding hands in the car, hip to hip watching a movie, nose to nose as I tell him goodnight or goodbye. He is my cuddle-bug.

When I tuck Caedmon in bed at night, I always say to him, "Who does Mommy love?" And he points to himself. That was the first "game" I taught Caedmon. He's been doing it since he was 6 months old!

Love Week: Andy

 
It is "Love Week" in the Wood household, so I'm going to share with you a little glimpse of what I love about the 3 most important men in my life.

First up, Andrew Michael.

1. I love watching Andy preach every Sunday. You will always find me with my Bible and journal open, taking notes as fast as I can. I learn so much from him and it never ceases to amaze me how each message seems to truly grip his heart. 
2. I love that he's not a picky eater. He likes to eat healthy, but he will eat whatever I serve him. That makes him easy to cook for!
3. I love that Andy can look at me from across the room or even while he's preaching and I know exactly what he's thinking...like we just had a 5 minute conversation through a glance of the eyes. 
4. I love that he doesn't take himself too seriously. He laughs at his own quirks and often makes himself the butt of the joke. 
5. I love the feeling I have every Friday night after we drop the boys off with Mandy & Fi and we are on our way out for Date Night. 
6. I love that I can trust Andy completely. He has such strict boundaries for himself as to the ways he interacts with other women. No car rides alone with another woman, no unsupervised meetings with another woman, no discussing personal matters with another woman, etc... It speaks volumes to me about his priority and protection of our marriage.
7. I love that Andy values my opinion and asks for it often. It means the world to me that I get to be involved in almost every major decision that he makes, not only with regards to our family, but also with South Bay. He truly listens to what I think and uses my perspective to help him make his final decision. This makes me feel so apart of the vision and ministry of South Bay Church. This is not just "Andy's thing" and I do my own thing. We are a team and God has called us both to this ministry.
8. I love that he is generous...with me, with our kids, with others, with our church.
9. I love that he has the remnants of a 6th finger. Seriously. His dad was born with a 6th finger (I believe). It wasn't a full size finger and was removed at birth. Andy was born with just a little nub where a 6th finger would go. I call it "Nubbies" and I love to pick at it...not sure that Andy really loves this, though.
10. I love that I am the one woman in this life that gets to call Andy Wood her husband. It is an honor and privilege to be married to such an amazing man of God, and I do not take it for granted. 

What about you? I shared 10 things with you that I love about my spouse. I would love to hear at least one thing that you love about yours!!!

Monday Matrimony

Here's your weekly bit of [unsolicited] marriage advice...

Last fall Andy and I led a Life Group for South Bay called "Marriage Built to Last". It's a video driven curriculum by Chip Ingram and was a great resource that I would highly recommend for other small group Bible studies.

One of the most valuable tools that I took away from the study was what Chip refers to as "The Conference".  This simple tool can open up some awesome discussions and really help you see what's going on beneath the surface in your spouse's heart.

There are 3 questions that the husband/wife are supposed to ask each other.

1. What are you concerned about?
2. What do you wish?
3. What are you willing to do?

One spouse asks the other Question #1 and then listens intently without interrupting (no comments at all) as they answer. Then the other spouse answers the same question.

Andy and I will sometimes take a few notes while the other person is speaking to help us remember all that we said. You shouldn't feel any pressure or put any pressure on your spouse regarding question #3- "What are you willing to do?" It is not a requirement for your spouse to fix all your concerns or make all your wishes come true. Chip Ingram said the first time he and his wife had a conference, his answer was, "I'm willing to have another conference." That was it. And that might be where you're at right now. But at least it's a start.

This conversation can last 5 minutes or 2 hours. It's a great "Date Night" discussion starter. The biggest benefit for Andy and me is that it gets us beyond the day-to-day maintenance conversations and reveals what we're really thinking about under the surface.

So, I challenge you to have "a conference" with your spouse before Valentine's Day. You've got one week!

Eating Green

Andy & I were working on our budget last night and were struck again with the reality of how much money we spend on food. I feel like that guy on the Dave Ramsey video who says, "I figured out where my paycheck was going...I was eating it!"

I cook dinner between 4-6 nights per week. We do date night one night every week and some weeks we may have a church event or someone may have us over for a meal. But most nights, I cook. The top two priorities for us when it comes to food are 1) stay within the budget, and 2) eat healthy. We like lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, which I know can add up.

I would really appreciate some money saving tips from you guys. What secrets do you use to save money at the grocery store?

A Wood Family First...

Last week, Andy & I purchased our first vehicle as a married couple. The last car I bought was my freshmen year of college and we still own it. It's probably worth about $10 now, but it's lasted me 12 years and was 3 years old when I got it. Andy's last purchase was our senior year of college...a Chrysler Lebaron. It was a beauty...

The entire inside of the car was red leather. 

Valentine's Day year round, Baby!

We replaced that car with a car given to us by my grandparents, for which we were oh so thankful! Well, our poor cars have increasingly become the butt of everyone's jokes. Needless to say, it was high time to find something a little more reliable. 

So, we searched Craig's List, found a used minivan Swagger Wagon for a good price, and started negotiations. We were able to talk the seller down $1300 of his original asking price because we had two secret weapons: 1) an envelope full of cash (thank you, Dave Ramsey), and 2) Renan Santos. 

Renan is on our staff at South Bay and the man changes out cars like you change your pants. It's unbelievable. When he was in college, he literally bought and sold THIRTY (3-0) cars in 2 years...all for profit. So, with Renan at the negotiation table, the seller didn't really have a chance. 

We are happy to join the ranks of families pimping that phat ride of a minivan. You may have already seen this video, but it is worth another viewing. (Double click the video to get it to go to full screen.)

And here's my best Swagger Wagon pose: