Summer Fun!

On Monday, my old college buddy, Ansley, came over to visit and to meet Shayna. It was great visiting with her. It has been 13 years since graduation and we've really only seen each other twice since then, but I really feel like it hasn't been that long! I wish that we lived closer! Check out Ansley's Blog!






Tonight began the annual month-long Concert in the Park series, here in the LBZ. The Long Beach Municipal Band is in their 98th year. Sheesh, those musicians must be really old by now! Haha! Shayna & I headed over to the park with our neighbors, Jenny, Will, & their daughter, Larissa. It was a spectacular evening, with tons of families and good tunes! Shayna enjoyed dancing and her cupcake way too much!

Weekend Fun!

Well, I was supposed to babysit for my very good friend, Lisa. She and her husband were off to Dodger Stadium for the Police concert on Saturday night. Lisa called me on Friday and asked if Mark & I would be interested in actually going to the concert ourselves, instead of babysitting their twins. As much as I love Mason & Camille, seeing The Police and Foo Fighters perform, took precedence! It was an awesome concert! Sting's son's band FictionPlane came on first. They were OK... sounded like a young Bono from U2. Then came Foo! They rocked the house for an hour! It was a stellar performance! I'll post some pictures in the next few days.

Also this weekend, Shayna got to see her Uncle Josh & Aunt Mindy, who is now 17 weeks pregnant. It was great visiting with them!!!

Outstanding Week, Part II...

Here's a cute video of Shayna and Mark in the pool:






It was then time to visit the our college buddies, who happen to have triplets. It was great visiting with Charlie & Jenna. We only live about 2 hours away, but we don't get a chance to see them very often, so this was a real treat! My friend, Jenna, who is 38 weeks pregnant looks great and we can't wait to meet Baby Nemo! They haven't decided on a name yet, but I'm sure once those guys take one look at the baby, they'll know just what to name him! I wish them all good luck, as Jen's mom is trying to potty train the trio.



















It was then our last day, yesterday. Mark decided that it was a perfect time to introduce Shayna to sailing. We went out for about an hour. Shayna LOVED it!

Needless to say, it was a wonderful Father's Day weekend which turned into a wonderful week! I can't wait for Mother's Day next year!

An Outstanding Week!

We celebrated Father's Day with a surprise visit from Mark's mom and dad. Well, it was a surprise for Mark and Art! It was great having Lynn and Art here for a few days. Although their visit was for only a few days, Shayna had loads of fun hanging out with her Grammie and Papa!


















After Shayna & I dropped Art & Lynn off at the airport, we hitched a ride with our neighbor to the train station. We took the 10:30 train to San Diego to meet Mark. We stayed at a wonderful resort down in Mission Bay called, Paradise Point. For some reason, it looked strangely familiar... a few phone calls to the parents and they reminded me that we used to stay at this very resort when I was Shayna's age. The neat steel structure that stands in the middle of the resort is what triggered my memories! Seriously, I haven't been here since 1972! Crazy! I then decided that Shayna & I should scale all 81 steps and climb to the top! It was monumental! We then went swimming in our own private pool for the rest of the day! It was great!














it's really getting late right now, so I'll continue this tomorrow....

Goodbye, Mr. Wizard

Mark & I just found out that Mr. Wizard (Don Herbert) passed away on June 12th. He was one month shy of his 90th birthday. He was an inspiration to many. SCIENCE RULES!

Buttons, Buttons, Everywhere!

OK, so how often do I get to post a hot guy on my Blog? Never, until now - you can thank me later! Shayna learned how to button a shirt today (well, about an hour ago). It was so awesome to see the look on her face when that little button came through the slot. She was soooo proud of herself and I was so happy to be there for this monumental event. All she wanted to do for the last hour was button things! I had to promise her that after she wakes up in the morning, she can button my shirt, just to get her to go to bed! It's so cool witnessing these small but large events which take place in our lives!

A Little Reminder

Now I know why G-d made children so cute! Some days are great, some are good, and some days (like today...well... it is better than a full time job). Shayna was really testing my nerves today for some reason. I'm not sure what was going on. I know it's probably not from waking up at 5 am, because she does that every morning. It probably has to do with me saying, 'NO," every 5 seconds... aaaarrrrrgggghhhhhh! I love her so much! Every day is awesome! I keep reminding myself of that!

For some reason, Shayna is now hitting kids. Granted, she is provoked, but it's still no excuse! I am trying to finish a wonderful book entitled, Parenting with Love & Logic. It's a really great read, so far. I recommend it to anyone who has children.


Here's a cute video from last night's dinner. This is a pretty typical evening at the Bartee Household!
Enjoy!

Stuffed Animals

Shayna LOVES her stuffed animals... all of them! Mark & I are trying to thin out her collection by putting them into garbage bags and then eventually donating them to a children's charity. No matter where we "hide" this bag, she seems to find it, open it and spill out all of the toys. Staying at home to watch Shayna is a full time job. I don't want to watch her every second because that does not allow her to play by herself, so I give her some independent time. I always know where she is, so she won't hurt herself. I love this picture of her on the toilet. I can't wait til prom!!!

Angels Win!

Angels win!! My cousin, Brian, and his teammates, won the Sunrise Little League Championship today, 2-0 over the Astros. Congrats!! It was a great game to watch and I'm sure to play in! Shayna loved it, too! I'll make her a sports fanatic if she likes it or not... She would hear people rooting for a player then she would root for him, too! It was so cute!! I can't wait to root for Shayna when she gets older!

Oh, and don't worry, Brian is holding a bottle of Martinelli's Apple Cider...










After the game, we headed over to my dad's store. There's a children's hair salon right next door, so I decided that Shayna should get her hair cut & styled. At first, she wasn't too thrilled... but a lollipop and balloon made things a little easier!

Here she is with ribbons in her hair.... soooooo adorable!

...and with mom & grandma

Healthy!

We got a call from Shayna's Urologist yesterday... her recent VCUG results show NO reflux! We can now throw away her antibiotics! After over a year of having to give her antibiotics, we are finished, kaput, fini, beendet, finito, !!! Yippeeee!! Just one piece of advice though, if you ever have to get a prescription filled for you or your child, do your homework. Every time I filled these prescriptions, the pharmacist got it wrong. I had to correct them EVERY time! I am not exaggerating! EVERY TIME! I even yelled at one through the bullet proof glass she was standing behind! - Idiots!






Anyhoo, I'm still loving life as a stay-at-home mom! Where else can you give your kid a chocolate covered banana while watching Oprah????

Tomorrow, we're off to the Valley to see my little cousin's championship baseball game! GO BRIAN!!!