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!!

Daddy and Jack on Easter

Our first Easter as a family

Mommy and Jack on Easter

Auntie Amy, Katie and Jack

Auntie Amy and Jack

All of us on Easter

Troy carving the Easter Ham!

Katie with her dessert

Playing airplane again...

Daddy and Jack

Smiley Jackson with his cute Easter shirt

Some cute shots I randomly took one morning when he was really happy...

Sippy Cup!!

Updates on Jack!

I know, I know...you're probably wondering why I have posted two updates in one night when I haven't posted anything for a month! Well, I had a lot of cute pictures of Jack and a lot has gone on this past month, so I thought it would be easier to just write two updates..one about our decision to move to Minneapolis this summer and one just about Jack!

Jack went swimming with us for the first time last Saturday! We figured that if he loved baths so much (by far his favorite part of any day), he might like the pool in our building! We took lots of pictures to document it but didn't get a lot of smiles from him. We think he was pretty unsure...although that was his reaction to baths at first too, so there's hope!

Another first...today Jackson finally fit into the big part of the stroller! We bought a BundleMe (sleeping bag type blanket) for his stroller and it finally came in the mail. He did great facing forward and even fell asleep after a while. He is so curious so I'm sure he loves being able to face forward and look at all of the things around him.

Other fun things to know about Jack this month:

• He is obsessed with the washcloth during bath time! He dips it in the water and then sucks on it (don't worry, there is no soap on it) and will play tug of war while you pull it away. He has also started screaming when you take it away from him - fun...tantrums starting already at 4 1/2 months...
• Grabbing faces! If you get down really close to his face he has a blast grabbing your face and babbling away to you.
• Babbling and laughing! He is very vocal now - it's so fun to see him expressing his emotions.
• Laying on his side. I bet he will be rolling over within a week or two. He can roll from his tummy to back but when he's on his back he can get his legs over but his arm gets stuck so he just plays contently on his side.
• Sucking his thumb and fingers! After months of trying different pacifiers, we finally gave up. Within weeks he took to his fingers to soothe himself! It's really cute. He only does it at naptime/bedtime and right after his bath. Such a sweetie!!

Below are pictures of his swimming experience along with a few others from today...

In his robe and swim trunks ready to get in...

His stylish robe...

In the water and unsure... Cute close-up...

Daddy and Jack

Mommy and Jack

All done!

In his big boy stroller facing forward!

Wiggle worm...good thing he's strapped in!!

Goofy kid...

All smiles :-)

Minneapolis Here We Come!

Well, we finally made a decision! We debated, talked and mostly prayed for weeks about where we should go this summer. Dallas lost out ultimately to the fact that family is in MN. Troy will be working for McKinsey which is a consulting company. He will be traveling quite a bit so we will see how that works for our little family. It will be so nice to be able to spend some quality time with family and friends over the summer. Over the next few months we will be looking for a furnished apartment that is close to downtown Minneapolis and close to the airport since we only have one car and Troy will be going between those two places each week. Crazy times ahead!! I'm so glad he is able to pursue his passion and hopefully he will find that this is the right place for him!

During February, while we were trying to decided between Dallas and Minneapolis, we had the opportunity to visit both companies. Consequently, Jack became quite the little traveler! Two weekends in a row we traveled on planes. Below there is a picture of his first time on the plane. He did so well!! We did discover the trick to having a happy baby is carrying the pre-made 2oz formula bottles so that we could feed him anytime there was an issue! :-) We don't give our kid food everytime he fusses normally, but we thought we'd preserve the sanity of those around us!! All in all, traveling with a kid is a lot more work than you'd think but now we have valuable tricks for anyone if you need them!

Below are some pictures from the past month...

Jack is wearing his Valentine's Day shirt: "I'm Banana's over Mommy!"

Sucking his thumb!
At Chicago O'Hare Airport

On the plane for the first time!

He loves the mirror - it always makes him smile!

He likes to help turn pages now during story time

Still loves the tub!

He's discovered how to play on his side but isn't quite able to roll from back to front yet...

Story time...

Baking with Mommy!

Playing...

Bundled up for a walk!

So cute after his bath!

Mommy and Daddy got to go on a date while Auntie Amy stayed with Jack!