Favorite Movie Friday

Away We Go

Hello there, second FMF post!!

Today Im going to be talking about another Mama movie, Away We Go!

Synopsis: Burt (John Krasinksi) and Verona (Maya Rudolph) both in their 30's with their first child on the way, take a trip to find a home for their new family.  By traveling to the homes of friends and families around the US they begin to discover what "home" is really all about.

10 reasons I love this movie!

1. The cast alone is amazing!! John Krasinksi, Maya Rudolph (love), Catherine O'Hara, Jeff Daniels, Maggie Gyllenhaal (love), Allison Janney (love) and Jim Gaffigan- to name a few.

2. Burt and Verona's relationship is awesome; they love, support and make each other laugh. What more could a girl ask for?

3. TAYLOR... TAYLOR... TAYLOR... TAYLOR...! Allison Janney is hilarious in this movie and the way she describes her boobs after pregnancy is frighteningly not too far from the truth.

4. The scene with Verona and her sister (her only living family) is so endearing and sincere.  What can I say... I'm a sap for sisterly love in movies.

5. Maggie Gyllenhaal is quite the scene stealer in this movie, but I could not stop laughing at the dinner scene!  And I just have to say Im a bad Mama because I use a stroller and "PUSH" my baby away from me!!!

6. The couple's trip to meet their old friends was amazing and heart wrenching.  I was in tears, I can't go too much into it without feeling sad all over again.  I just have to say that I happen to love their home, their children and the love they have for each other.

7.  Burt really reminds me of Dada! It could be the beard, the height, the silly things he says or perhaps when he tries to make me feel better and it comes out completely wrong!! lol

8.  There were no cookie cutter families in this movie and I love that.  We are shown a cooky nuclear family, a family of just sisters, a bohemian family, an adopted family, and a newly single parent family. Not all families are the same but that doesn't mean they have any less love.

9.  That old house at the end looks amazing!

10. When I first watched this movie I was about 7 months pregnant and I really connected with the characters.  I too wondered if we Dada and I were "screw ups" because we were 24/25ish, pregnant with our first baby and didn't have the basic stuff figured out.  Luckily seeing this movie helped me to remember that its the family not the place that help you make a home.
 

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this movie, I strongly advise if you haven't seen it, go out and find it immediately! I've had an unfinished draft of this post waiting forever, every friday I would look it over and then chicken out and not post. This was mostly because I really love this movie and wanted to be able to do it justice, today I just said "go for it" and here you have it.  Hope you enjoyed.

<3 Mama Chuca

Happy Weekend!!

Sunday Date

Hello! I meant to check in from Austin on Friday to wish a happy weekend to everybody, but I was very busy having fun!! Yes I had a lot of fun in Austin, of course I missed my Little but it was nice to be able to do a lot of grown up things with friends.  I will have a post about my Austin trip sometime this week with photos and stories.  

We actually came home on Saturday night, I didn't think I could stay 2 nights away from Little just yet and I was right because I was missing him terribly Saturday afternoon.  So Sunday after Dada went to work, Little and I headed out for a movie date.  I let him pick out a brand new book from the bookstore, he chose a Little Critter book called Just Me and My Puppy and I chose 123 Magic (as I discussed last week).  Then we got a balloon airplane from a sweet lady, Little has been loving airplanes lately,  and headed to the theatre.  We decided to watch ParaNorman, which actually turned out to be a very funny slightly weird movie.. not unlike Coraline, a favorite of mine (book and movie). He was very good; sat in his little booster seat, ate popcorn, laughed out loud and "oh noooed" throughout the movie.  We then went to Tia Linda's to hang out with Bailey.  Our very nice Sunday ended with Dada reading Little his new book before bed.   

Im very happy Dada and I were able to get away, but Im especially happy that we came home to a wonderfully happy little boy (Thanks Gramma). 

<3 Mama Chuca

Favorite Movie Friday

I decided to do something a little bit different today *gasp*, I think I want to start including some more Mama stuff around here!!  Introducing my first Favorite Movie Friday (FMF) post, not every Friday but here and there Ill share with you some favorite movies of Mama, Dada and maybe baby.  I am a self proclaimed movie buff, although it has dwindled a bit since the Little was born. But nevertheless Ive decided our first movie for FMF would be "In Her Shoes", this of course is a Mama movie.

If you're a woman and have a sister and haven't seen this movie, please go rent/buy/watch it immediately.

Synopsis:  Straight laced Rose (Toni Collette) and younger party girl sister Maggie (Cameron Diaz) have a huge fight and go there separate ways.  Maggie goes to live with a long lost grandmother (Shirley MacLaine), neither sister knew about, who reveals a dark family secret that not only brings everybody together but helps them in their lost ways.

10 reasons I love this movie: 

1. I love Toni Collette, she makes the best happy faces and her sad faces make me sad too.

2. Rose's shoe closet! Looks amazing and I want it!!

3. Anybody else have a younger sister who is beautiful, I feel your pain Rose. By the way I have 2!!  

4. The movie shows the sister bond at its best and at its worst.

5. The inside joke about their stepmother is hysterical.  One thing I can always count on from my sisters are laughs!

6. Its a book!! No I haven't read it ( I will though, promise) but I love movies that are made from books.     I love reading the extra details that weren't in the movie and I truly believe in the phrase "the book was better", hopefully thats the case with this movie/book. 

7. The small wedding at the end is a dream.  

8. Maybe 7.5- Rose's fiancé and best friend are awesome and hilarious!!

9. The poem Maggie reads at the end is one of my favorites.  e.e. cummings "I carry your heart with me"

10. Who doesn't love Shirley Maclaine?? I mean come on!! Another favorite role she played would be Ouiser Boudreaux from Steel Magnolias!!

There you have it, my 10 favorite things about this movie.  Hopefully one day you'll see it on a shelf somewhere and give it a go! I really enjoyed this post and I will have more FMF posts here!!

Have a good weekend folks!!

<3 Mama Chuca

Eggs and Bacon Baby

Last Saturday we got the excellent privilege of babysitting a certain little girl!  Tia Linda asked us to watch over Squish so she and Squishes dada could head out for grown up time! We were delighted to take care of this cutie, after all babysitting Squish is usually left to one of her Grandmothers only!  So after dinner Tia brought over a freshly bathed, awesome smelling, super happy Squishy!! After a few tears, Squish LOVES her dada, she settled down for some popcorn and Monster House.  We then spent the night reading books, playing with toys and watching movies.  Unfortunately, we spent some of that time pulling either toys, books, or each other away from the 2 toddlers. Dada and Little were both really happy to have Squishy over, since Dada is usually working when we are getting our Squish time and rarely gets to see her.  Dada just so happens to love this sassy baby, everybody does! She's got this huge personality in this tiny little body, and she can dance like no other!!  I can't wait till we are asked to babysit again!!

A few things to note:
Her hair is crazy because her parents are trying their hardest to postpone her first haircut. (Im sure we won't be having that worry for a long time though, Little's hair is growing at a glacial pace!) Although I usually wrestle with Squish to get a pony tail on those dark locks, I decided to let her be since it was bedtime.
Yes that is an eggs and bacon tee shirt she is wearing.
She has the daintiest feet ever!!!!!!

<3 Mama Chuca

P.S. Little is 22 months today!! Ill have a special post about this tomorrow.

BIG SATURDAY!

Dada and I both have full time jobs, Im also a part time/freelance graphic designer, so were pretty busy during the week.  Little has a full week himself:


Monday: Grandmas Day, cousin Squish and Little get to spend the whole day with Grandma!
Tuesday: Dada and Little day... more of a relaxing day for both of them, sometimes Dada takes Little to do special Dada and baby things like visit Mama for lunch or top secret no girls (Mamas) allowed type stuff. 
Wednesday: Daycare (this is usually a little harder on Little to let go of Mama, or the other way around.)
Thursday: Daycare, then dinner and movie night (at home) with Tia Linda and Squish!
Friday: Daycare, this night is usually up in the air.. maybe Grandmas, maybe Tia Lindas or maybe home for relaxing. 
Saturday:...
SATURDAY is our day, our family day!! Because Mama and Dada work so hard and miss our Little so much during the long hectic week, we give him a very special day. 
So every Saturday we woke up a little earlier than most and head out for a long day of FUN, first its Gymboree! 


Little LOVES Gymboree, we've been going for about 2 months and he gets very excited as soon as we get in the car! When we get there we sanitize our hands and then get to jumping, there are balls, hoops, music, dancing, bubbles, climbing, mini-obstacles courses and anything a hyper toddler needs!  Theres usually a subject we're "studying" during each class, (up and down, jumping, safety when climbing) but its very laid back and the kids run crazy in an awesome way!!  His favorite part is the parachute though!! First, we all sit on it to catch and blow bubbles then we sing songs involving the little kiddies. We even sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" underneath the parachute bubble! At the end all the kiddies sit down toward the back of the room to wash their hands (sanitize) and get their Gymbo stamps. Gymbo is the cutest little clown (puppet) who helps sing songs, welcome and say goodbye to the kiddies. 


This past saturday we also took LIttle to the Galleria's Disney Store for their very special The Avengers Training Program! We knew he would be a little to young for the actual training part, but we really wanted him to see all the other kiddies get excited about the super heroes ( he loves the HULK). We also went because...well...I love the Disney Store, so magical :). Turns out we were right about Little being on the young side, he took the Avenger oath (that pic of LIttle holding his right hand up and eating his finger) then received his Honorary Avengers Team Member card and took off toward the Mickey plush's. After we tried wrangling him back for a couple of minutes we decided it was time for breakfast! 

Breakfast is usually right after Gymboree, but we strayed for the Disney store since we were near the Galleria anyway.  Usually our big Saturday morning breakfast consists of french toast for Dada, pancakes for Mama and chicken tenders and fruit for Little. Little being completely exhausted and having built up his appetite from running amok eats all of his chicken (most of the time). After that fun filled morning and big delicious breakfast, we head home for Littles nap and so Dada and Mama can decide whats next!

This Very Special Super Hero Saturday we decided we would try out our new movie lover!  Yes we dared take Little to see The Avengers. This story will have to wait for another time though, because as you can see stories about Little run a little long around here!!

Yes to the following things:

That is a bubble in his hair

Im very tempted to buy that parachute, how often would I use it?

He loves to lift his shirt as soon as he sees the Gymboree instructor grab that stamp pad

I happen to love that picture of Dada and Little

He wore green for The Hulk

He is giving his little toy super villain some milk from his sippy (most of his toys want to eat his food it turns out!)

And Yes those are Littles muscles, he was showing them off 

All in all great Saturday for this little family. 

<3 Mama Chuca

Movie Love!

Hello!!
Im pleased to announce that my son, the cutest little boy on the block, is a movie lover like his Mama!!  This may not seem like much of an announcement but when you come from a family of movie fanatics (all movies; super hero, drama, comedy, horror...all) its a bit scary when you fall for someone who's not one!! Dada likes movies and will watch one if it looks interesting BUT he won't watch the same ones over and over again (like me), and he doesn't really like movie theaters....wha?!?!

He's also very good in movie theaters, which is what I feared most of all when I took him to his first movie at a year old, it was Winnie the Pooh!!  Fast forward to a 21mth Little, making monkey noises while sitting in his booster with the popcorn in his lap while watching Disney's Chimpanzee (which was awesome).

Back to my excitement: lately my Little has found it a real treat when I set out a blanket (yes thats cheetah print), get the popcorn ready in a big bowl, add a small bowl of pickles and a cold drink to watch a movie together! The pics from above are from our movie night viewing of Madagascar 2: Escape 2 Africa.  This movie is actually a favorite of Mama and Dadas, and we went in search for it just for Little! IT WAS A HIT, the movie has a lot of music and he danced every time it came on and made animal noises for each of the different animals! Unfortunately,  he got upset when the music was over...there was a lot of rewinding that night. But we are very happy that he loved it as much as we do and glad it was such a hit, although we may hate it later when he forces us to watch it a million more times!!  But hey, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it...or jump off of it anyway :).  Also I should mention that Little is a popcorn HOGGER (as seen above), now that he gets from his Dada. 

Anybody ever seen this movie? The character Mort freaks me out a little!!

<3  Mama Chuca