Williams' Wall: Spring Has Sprung!

Well, we finally feel like we might have a little more direction going forward after so many months of uncertainty! We know we are going to be in Minneapolis this summer, we found housing for the summer, I found out I passed my AAFA Group Fitness Certification and for the first time since December we have more than a few weeks in a row where we are not traveling!

We traveled home during Troy's spring break in mid-March to spend some time with family, celebrate Amy's birthday and attend a friend's wedding. It was great being back in MN and seeing everyone.

Since we had just been home, we didn't travel back for Easter. Instead, we celebrated with Amy and our friends Hector and Michelle. Amy came down the night before Easter, slept over and went to church with us Easter morning. It was so nice having her with us! After church Hector, Michelle and Hector's sister came over to have Easter Dinner with us. It was my first official time hosting a holiday...and of course I loved it!! We all felt so "grown up" as it was the first time for all of us to enjoy a fancy meal without one of our mothers cooking it for us! :-)

The day before Easter, I finally got a notice in the mail saying I had passed my Group Fitness Certification that I took way back in February!! I had almost given up on it! I am super excited for this next chapter in my life. Hopefully soon I will get an additional certification to teach kick-boxing, which is really my passion in the group fitness area. Now I just need to find a job...which might be tricky since we are only here two more months and then in MN for 3 months and then back in Evanston. I am really excited for this next chapter though as it will allow me to be a professional again while doing something I love as well as give Jackson some great interaction time with other kids at the gym playgroups.

Another piece that has fallen into place recently is the answer to where we will be living this summer. With Troy being gone Monday through Thursday each week during his summer internship I wanted to get a real feel of what it would be like to be the lone parent so we opted to not stay with parents over the summer as we did last year and instead, get our own place to try and make the experience as "real" as possible. Since we will still be paying rent in Evanston we needed to stay within a pretty tight budget and also needed a way to rent furniture since we were not about to pack up all of ours for only 11 weeks. After a LOT of searching with grim results (most furnished places where between $2500-$3000/month!!), we came upon Bristol and they happen to have their furnished unit available for the perfect price! An answer to prayer for sure! Although I had big dreams of living in the Uptown area, I gave in quickly after learning the prices of living there, so we will be living 3 blocks away from my childhood home. How random!! But, I know the area well and feel totally safe there which is nice since I will be alone so much. Hyland Park is right across the street and we have an outdoor pool! I think I can make it work! :-) We are just so thankful we found it!

One more adventure...I will be taking a photography class! We love our DSLR camera but it is so complicated and I'm sure there are so many things we could do with it if we just had a little training. Michelle and I signed up together so hopefully we will both get a lot out of it. It's perfect timing as I will be able to practice a lot this summer when Jack will be crawling and interested in so many fun things outdoors!

As always, an update on our little guy...
He is growing so much! He is now about 15 pounds and almost 6 months old! He gained 2.5 pounds between his 4 month check-up and his 5 month weight check! The dr. was so proud of him! For the first time in his life he is above the 10th percentile mark! Also, I may be partial but I think we have the happiest little guy ever! He smiles constantly! You just have to look at him and he breaks into a huge grin! It's so much fun being his mom and he is just such a joy-filled little boy. We are so blessed!!! Below are some other fun things about Jack right now:

Big Boy Stroller: he is officially big enough to fit into his stroller without his carseat now. He starts giggling the minute you put him in his stroller...he just loves it. We try and go outside for a ride at least once a day now that the weather is nice.
Sippy Cup: We gave him a sippy cup for Easter so he can start playing with it and getting used to it before we put liquids in it. The first time we gave it to him he put it right up to his mouth and started sucking! There is a picture below of him hanging out on his mat and sucking on his sippy cup!
Rolling over: He can finally roll over both ways now! We have to really start watching him now as he plays on the ground because he can actually move around by rolling!
Tickle time: He is SUPER ticklish on his belly! So many times a day we pretend to "eat" his belly and he laughs hysterically! It's so much fun to hear him laugh.

Well, this was a super long update but so many things have happened! Below are some pictures from the past month:

Jack hanging out with Daddy and Grandpa Williams Jack hanging out with Auntie Amy in MN Happy Jack... Fascinated with a plant Ready for the sun! Still loves to play airplane!Jack playing with Nana Nana and Papa gave him an Easter Basket! Cutie Pie...
Easter morning!He loves his Elmo book!!