While it did not seem we went shopping too much while in MI, the shopping we did do seemed to rub off of Lizzy.  Any time we ask her, "what do you want to do?"  She answers, "shop!"  It seems she picked-up a bit from her Mema  :)

Lizzy and mommy went to MI for almost a week.  The trip went well and we had a nice time visiting everyone, however it was nice to get back home and see Lizzy's daddy.  The entire week before the trip Lizzy was very excited, and kept saying "Mema, Dub, coming, soon!"  So by the time we got there she was thrilled to see Mema waiting for us in the Kalamazoo airport. 

For the last two weeks, Lizzy has used the potty almost everyday at least one time.  Here is a picture of Lizzy using the potty at Mema's house in MI.

Lizzy saw Brandy sleeping on the sofa, and decided to join her.

Last week Addy came by for the morning to play.  Lizzy had a bit of a difficult time sharing her toys, but other than that the girls had a nice time.  Above is a picture of the two playing along with a kid's "work-out" video where Addy and Lizzy pretended to be rowing a boat, the baskets were the boat and the spatulas the ores.  Below is a picture of the two playing Addy's new basketball game.  

I thought Lizzy wanting to use the potty the other day and acutally going "poopy" was a fluke, but turns out I was wrong.  For the last 5 days Lizzy has used the potty at least once a day.  She all of a sudden will say "poopy potty" or "peepee potty" and run to the potty!  So I bought her some cute little Disney Princess pull-ups, which she loves, to make the process easier.  As soon as she saw them she got really excited and started yelling "tana, tana!"  It took me a while to figure out what she was saying (and why), but it turns out Lizzy thinks that the princesses on the pull-ups are Hannah Montana (her friend Addy's absolute favorite TV personality).  Tim and I laughed so hard, but we now call her pull-ups "tanas" and it seems to be working.... 

I just have to share this story!

When we got home from the park this morning Lizzy said “potty!” and ran to her little training potty.  We have had the potty sitting in out downstairs bathroom for about 2 months now, but have not yet tried to train.  We were planning on starting at the end of this month when I am home with Lizzy after we travel but before I start the summer semester.  However, just to humor her I took her diaper off and let her sit there – and she went p**py!  She and mommy both were very proud!  While I know that she is not trained, it sure is encouraging to think I may be able to get her out of diapers before the new baby gets here!

Sunday, Mother's Day, was very nice, but Monday was quickly a "back to reality" shock.  Lizzy woke up vomiting on Monday and was sick on and off the next couple days.  We went to the doctor's and were told it was "just a stomach virus" and needed to keep her hydrated.   Thankfully she is now fine – keeping her food down and energetic again.

I just finished posting final grades, and am now officially done with the spring semester!  This was quite the challenging semester for me.  My class load seemed heavier than normal due to increased class sizes (one lecture contained over 300 students) and poor class times (one lecture met at the horrible time of TTh lecture 3- 4:15 pm, yuck!).  The term was also rough due to the fact that I was either nauseous or exhausted during my entire first trimester.  In the past couple weeks (I am now 20 weeks into the pregnancy) I am finally feeling ok again, but it was very difficult staying motivated at work and at home while feeling so physically down for three months!  All in all, this semester I felt as if I was always behind and did a horrible job of staying in touch with friends and family, keeping the house clean, feeding my family, staying up with website postings…  I am very thankful that it is over and I can enjoy a couple weeks off before summer classes start on June first!