Little Miss Sunshine

Mark & I just watched a great movie! I just had to share it with everyone because we had a great adventure tonight! Little Miss Sunshine has to be my favorite movie of the year, so far. What a great group of actors. I highly recommend it to everyone! I can't wait for Part 2! ... and no, we're not entering our little miss sunshine, Shayna, in any of those pageants. And, for anyone that's interested... Yes - I actually competed in one pageant... And, no, I didn't win, but I wasn't a loser beacuse I did compete...

p.s. I went to high school with Matt Winston - The guy who played the Pageant MC - too funny!

Mmmmm... Basil...

For the past 4 weeks, I have been a stay-at-home mom. It actually feels like it's only been 1 week, though. I'm not really sure why. Shayna & I have been pretty busy these past few weeks... zoo, My-Gym, play-dates, park, arts & crafts, and various other fun things. This is the first week that we really haven't done too much. I know it's only Tuesday, but I didn't really schedule too many things for this week. It's been fun, even though the trip to the grocery store & Kmart were the 2 big adventures today!

Speaking of Kmart... Shayna and I decided that we were sick of going to the grocery store and not being able to find basil. What's the deal with the "Living Herb" package - basil & dirt... just what the recipe calls for! Soooo, we headed over to Kmart to pick up some potting soil and basil. Shayna loved helping me plant the fresh herbs! Kmart even had a kids gardening set, including those white gloves she's wearing.

She's a really great little helper...

When I'm not chasing her around the house!

Fun Sunday

Today we headed out to Downtown Los Angeles where we met our good friends, the Lindsays - Mike, Lisa, Mason & Camile, at the California Science Center. We had a blast! There was so much to do! Little did we know... there is a Star Wars exhibit taking place, so all of the nerds were out in force (LOL... get it... "Force")!













Including me, who wanted a picture with a Storm Trooper! Poor Shayna, I made her take the picture with me!









Here is Shayna playing with her buddy, Mason!
















...and here is Shayna performing her rendition of Alfred Hitchcock's, "The Birds."

All in all, it was another stellar family day!

and yes, I am a nerd, too!

Thank G-d, It's Over!

Sorry it's been about a week since my last post. A lot has been going on here at the Bartee Household. For one, Shayna had her VCUG results come back as a Grade II Reflux - same as last year. Here is a great site that I've found to explain her problem: VESICOURETERAL REFLUX. She has now been on a low dosage of antibiotics for a year. At this time last year (check out April 4th &11th posts) we were just starting her on antibiotics. Well, she did not grow out of the Grade II Reflux, so our doctor gave us an option to either keep her on antibiotics & hopefully she'll grow out of it sooner or later, or go with a non-invasive procedure. We went with the latter.

We brought Shayna to the outpatient center on Thursday morning where her doctor performed the procedure. I have elected not to highlight a link to the Journal of Urology - where I learned all I wanted to know about the procedure. They had to anesthetize her, so it was a big deal. Mark took her in for that part... After about 20 minutes, Shayna's doctor came out and said that the procedure went well and that Shayna was in recovery. They called us in about 15 minutes later. I went in and picked her up and held her for an hour. She was crying like an infant. It took all of my will not to cry along with her. I don't wish this on anyone! After about 15 minutes she was taking sips of apple juice in between the crying. I felt so helpless... but I knew we did the right thing. Then she started to wake up a little more and she started eating crackers, then graham crackers, and then a cherry popsicle. I then got her dressed and we drove home. She was completely back to normal by 4pm. We have a follow-up appt. next Thursday and then in a month they will perform another VCUG to determine if the procedure is a success.

On Friday we headed up to the Valley to visit with Grandma and go on the Merry-Go-Round!

Saturday Fun!!

On Saturday, we piled into the Tahoe and headed east towards Barstow. We wanted to check out the Calico Ghost Town. So many times we've driven by and never stopped. Well, today was different! We weren't in a hurry to get to Henderson, NV to visit family...

We were just tourists today! Geo-tourists. How fun to experience the desert again as a professional Geologist (whoops, I mean a professional stay-at-home mom). I'll tell you what, I enjoyed this more as a stay-at-home mom than a Geologist! Shayna loved hiking around and checking out the anticlines, synclines, & talus which surrounded the town.
















We took a train ride..

Made some new friends....

Explored a mine...

Hiked a trail...

Viewed some FUBAR'd geology....

Rode on a wagon...

Bought Shayna a $0.50 squished penny...

Until we could go no further!!!

It was a stellar day, perfect spring desert weather, and a bonus... Shayna slept the ENTIRE way home!!!!

Shayna Rollin'

Check out this cute video of Shayna rollin' down a hill for the very first time!

Last Saturday...

Last weekend Shayna and I went to an Easter egg hunt at Signal Hill Park. There was lots to do, including touring a Signal Hill fire engine. She had a blast hanging out with her friends, Camille, Mason, Jake, & Luke! Shayna found lots of eggs filled with such healthy items as, jelly beans, chocolate, and peeps!

Yummy!

Here's my big girl behind the wheel! Check out those pigtails (thanks, Lynn!).












Here's a cute picture of Shayna & Camille.

Here's a cute one of Shayna & Jake.












When we got home Shayna ate her lunch, took a nap and dyed some eggs...

Almost 2 Weeks...

WOW! I don't know how Jack Bauer does it all in 24 hours! I can't even manage a new Blog post in 2 weeks! My new TV show will be called 336 (2 weeks X 24 hours). LOL..

Just to bring you up to date...
Shayna's Grammie and PaPa came down to visit us for a week the first week of April. I was working the entire week so I don't have too many pictures to add. Here's one of Mark's mom, Grammie Lynn, placing some lipstick on Shayna. I just love how she got Shayna to leave her hair up in ribbons throughout the entire day! Shayna will still allow me to put her hair up now! Thanks, Lynn... I owe you! The three spent some quality time together, at the Long Beach Aquarium, the Santa Ana Zoo, and painting Papa's toenails! I know that the three had a wonderful time together and I know that Shayna can't wait to hang out with her fellow "Ooo La La Girl," Grammie and her Papa!