Wellness Ally

I decided yesterday to head to see Gabe at training week in GA.  I love the summer.  It is my absolute favorite season.  I love to be hot (I’d MUCH rather this than be cold) and I love to be in the sun.

Summer is difficult at times because Gabe travels the majority of it, but we get to travel a good bit too, and I always get to spend some great time with my friends and family.  So, since I no longer have to be at work on the weekends, I figure, might as well head on over to see my hubby!

Off to pack!

Neely and Ansley Jane are opposite personalities.  Those that know them, or those that have spent 2 seconds with them can tell that they act different, talk different, laugh different, look different, etc.  I have had a fun time over the past couple of weeks watching them take swimming lessons.  They each have a 30 minute private lesson, while 1 is in their lesson, I take the other swimming, then we switch.  I’ll post some pictures of this later.

Neely absolutely refused to put her face in the water the first few lessons.  She would  jump in, only if the teacher touched her fingers before she jumped to ensure her head would not go under water.  Neely then told her teacher she was scared that the sharks were gonna get her if she put her face under water.  Her next excuse was that the water hurts her nose, then that it hurts her eyes (despite her wearing goggles), etc. You get the picture. 

Ansley Jane on the other hand, is fearless.  She jumps in and goes all the way to the bottom of the pool, goes down the huge water slide by herself, and asks to put her head under water.  She loves it and cannot get enough of being in the water. 

After 7 lessons, I am happy to report that Neely is putting her face in the water and jumping in by herself.  She swims, without her face in the water, but she has made so much progress. I am starting to think I may be able to take them to pool this summer by myself!  WOOHOO!! I am so proud of them!!!

Ansley Jane

The girls are growing up so fast.  Everyone has told me from the time Neely was born, that time flies and to soak up every second I can while they are young.  Well, I’ve been trying to do that, but it still has flown by so fast I can hardly believe Neely is 5 years old.  Ansley Jane blows my mind that she is 3.  She is supposed to still be my baby. 

 I am sooooo sappy about them getting older.   It honestly breaks my heart to think that my older baby is old enough for kindergarten next year.  And, it breaks a little  more when I think about my younger baby starting preschool. 

Ansley Jane just turned 3 years old.  She really does crack me up everyday.  She loves to make anybody laugh, and really tries hard to at times.  One way she does this is by things she says.  The girl just adds extra sounds when she doesn’t know exactly how to pronounce something.  She has always called our doctor, Dr. Lee, Dr. Leaf.  When she wants to stake her claim on something, she shouts “that’s mines, I say MINESSS!!!”, or if she wants to ask if something is hers, she asks so sweetly, “is that for mines?”.  She loves to pray this prayer that is a song, and she ends it by saying “alaman, alaman” for amen.  She also insists that horses are actually cows, that every color is pink, and the only book worth reading is Curious George goes to jail.  I love this girl so much.  She is so strong and confident in what she thinks- let’s hope and pray she thinks good things as she gets older! 

 I am a little worried that Gabe may have hit the nail on the head this morning when he said  Ansley Jane is just like me.  Not that I don’t want her to be like me, but maybe not in this way.  He commented that  she can change her emotions on a dime, she can be throwing an enormous fit one minute,  and the next, she can be just as loving and sweet as can be.  Literally, at Chik Fil A this morning I suggested we go to the potty, and you would have thought I said, “c’mon Ansley Jane, let’s go get a shot at the doctor’s office” by the way she reacted to this suggestion.  She screamed all the way to the bathroom, while waiting on her sister to do her business in the potty, and all the way back to the play area.  Then, within 2 seconds of arriving back to the play area, she didn’t want to play anymore, but rather, wanted to cuddle with me and lay her head on my shoulder while I rubbed her back.  Who knows?  Am I really like that?  I guess Gabe would be the best person to ask:). At least if I’m in a bad mood, maybe it doesn’t last that long:)!!!

I have never been one to enjoy change, look forward to change, adjust quickly to change, etc. In fact, change and myself do not have a good history together.

For instance, when I was in high school, I dated the same boy from 6th grade through my first year of college. I lived the same year, year after year. I played basketball in the fall and winter, started softball before basketball was over, baby-sat during the summer, and started all over again in the fall.

My first major bout with change was moving 2 hours away for college. My poor roommate listened to me cry all the time and as soon as Friday classes were over, I headed back to Ruston, until basketball practice started, then I cried all weekend too.  I struggled through that change well into the fall semester. I used to think it was homesickness, but now I am not so sure, maybe it was just the change of everything familiar?

After college, I moved to Athens, GA to be closer to my boyfriend, I mean to start grad school:). It happened all over again! I cried for months! But, if you asked me why don’t you  just move back home to the familiar, I would refuse and in my mind think, I am not a quitter.  I also felt like I had followed God’s direction in moving there, so how could I not stick it out?

Then, Gabe and I were married and started our own “familiar” together in Birmingham. I didn’t have a hard time adjusting to the change of Birmingham, or so I have always thought. I did spend the first several months of our marriage in and out of the hospital with stomach issues. Maybe it was the change?

Then we moved to Nashville and had our first child. I cried for the first 2 months of her life. All of the sudden, I was a mom. This human being was completely dependent on me for food, water, shelter, nurturing, etc. My life was not my own anymore. Gabe and I would never again be just Gabe and I. Then once we adjusted to this, along came baby number 2. This time, I cried so much, medication came in very handy. Now, not only was 1 helpless baby dependent on me, there were 2!

But, I made it and just like every other time in my life, I adjusted. It just takes me a while. I deal with it differently, but I make it.

I am encouraged by this as we are facing another major change in our lives, moving to GA.  The past couple of weeks the reality of our impending major change is starting to hit.  I had my last on-call weekend a couple of weeks ago.  I was actually sad about this!?!  I had my last care team meeting.  I had my last meeting with my supervisor.  I had my last group supervision meeting.  I had my going away desert reception.  Next weekend will be my last weekend to work at VCH.  So, that part of the change is starting to be real.  I think I started adjusting once the first “last time” happened. 

But, that is only one facet of the change that is fixing to happen.  There is a house to sell, there is packing to be done, there is a new house to be bought, there is preparing our girls for the move, there are summer travels, there is kindergarten coming way too fast in the fall, there is a new preschool for my youngest, a new church to be found, a huge summer for Connect, new friends to be made,  etc.  Whew! 

Change.  Why do I shutter at it?  As I look back over the major changes in my life so far, I can honestly say that with every change, a HUGE blessing followed it.  I know this is so because God promises that when we follow Him and His leading, He will not leave us.  He will not only get us through it, but will bless us in the process. It will not always be easy, but He will always be with us. We will learn something new about Him in the process. We will get away from an unhealthy relationship.  We will meet new people and make friendships that will last forever.  We will find our life partner and find new places that we didn’t know existed!  We will have babies and fall in love again everytime we look at them! We will love them far more than we ever imagined being possible and have a whole new understanding of God’s love for us!  We will find love and support from people along the way, sometimes from people we didn’t even know for very long!  We will grow in our relationships with our families! We will never be alone!

Change may not be such a bad thing.  Maybe difficult to face, and difficult at times to adjust to, but maybe, just maybe, it is a healthy, good thing from time to time.