Showplace of the South

Yesterday afternoon my mom and I went to the Alabama Theatre to see the Sunday Matinee of "Gypsy." (Which is a weird movie that you think is going to star Natalie Wood, but in fact stars Rosalind Russell playing this wack job of a stage mother named Madame Rose- it's like that TLC show about crazy pageant moms) It's not a movie about gypsy's which is what I thought, but about vaudeville troups in the Great Depression. Anyway, in the movie, the crazy mother forces her daughter to become a stripper after their Vaudeville show is outdated, because she wants her daughter to be famous that badly, then becomes jealous and upset when Gypsy becomes more famous than she is- sort of a strange movie.

This show was part of the Alabama Theatre's Summer Movie Series that they put on each year. It is so much fun to drive downtown and sit in the beautiful theatre to watch an old movie, complete with popcorn and Diet Coke, and enjoy the "Mighty Wurlitzer" before the show. I definitely want to go again next weekend to see "Funny Girl" with Barbara Streisand. I'm only sorry that I missed "The Sound of Music" sing-a-long earlier in the summer, because it would have been classic to go dressed up like they do in Will and Grace. (one of my favorite episodes)

The Alabama Theatre is one of Birmingham's most unique attractions, and I always forget how much fun it can be- Check out their website for upcoming movies and activities.

www.alabamatheater.com

Please Adopt Me!!!

Someone please adopt this dog so that we don't end up with an 85 pound smelly coon dog AND and 130 pound drooling Bloodhound! (He currently lives at the humane society)

PS- His name is Cooter Brown. Check out that drool!

WWW.GBHS.ORG

Lunch with Daddy

Chase, Raughley, Dan and Howard.

Today Raughley and I drove out to Saginaw to eat lunch with Chase. Chase also works with his Dad and Uncle at Saginaw Pipe Co. and we got to see them too before eating lunch at an Italian place. It was awesome, and I proceeded to eat my weight in calzone. Raughley's new bobble head trick has everyone amazed, as shown here. Who knew that watching a child stand up with help and bobble his head back and forth could be so mesmerizing!

On another note, I changed the settings on the blog so that anyone can comment, not just people with blogger accounts.

Poser

As Raughley develops better arm and hand coordination, I see him trying new "tricks" with his extremeties every day. This latest pose has really stuck. He loves lying with his arms behind his head as if he's just chillin'. It cracks me up how he just lays there like one of the boys.

HP 6

Last night I had the proud opportunity to host the HP 6 midnight premier party. What a blast it was to set up for, dress up for and show up for! Even my mom came, dressed up, and went to the movie!

Megan's handmade Quidditch jersey and mom as Hermione.
Trelawny, Minerva, complete with grey hair, and me.
Baby Harry. He finally made an appearance after waking from his magical nap.
Part of the table decorations.
Now, for the movie. I tried to go into it with an open mind, viewing it as a separate entity and not connected to the books. I firmly believe that JK Rowling is a genius and should be considered one of the greatest writers of all time, generally brilliant in all manner of speaking. I love her, needless to say, which means, that no director and screenwriter can live up to her caliber of work. This was evident in the film, as major plot points were left out, and stupid needless scenes put in. I won't go into it in case you haven't seen the film, but I will talk about how great the actor's representations of the characters are. Harry, Ron Hermione, Draco, Ginny, Dumbledore, and especially Snape seem to jump right off the page onto the screen. They are just as I would imagine them in my head. This makes watching the movie so much fun.

The movie was great, if you leave the book out of it. If not, it was only so so. But I will see it again because I love all things about the magical world of Harry Potter.

On that note, if you are a HP freak like me, check out these books by Galadriel Waters and Astre Mithrandir... THey follow the books chapter by chapter and break them down, analyzing everything.

the only thing is that there is not one for book 7 which is a shame. Maybe it's in the works.

Ah Nashville!

This weekend Chase and I embarked on our first weekend away from Raughley. We had a hard time saying goodbye, but once we got on the road we were excited about the possibility of a baby free weekend. We stayed at CT's house and got to meet his new dog, Murphy.

Murph is a fantastic dog with so much energy. He still has that puppy look to him and does that precious thing young dogs do when they hop like frogs while chasing anything you throw at them. We loved getting to spend the weekend with Murphy.

Chase, enjoying his Yazoo while playing fetch with Murphy.
Adorable.

The purpose of this trip to Nashvegas was to celebrate Sara Brunette's wedding to Brandon. The wedding was beautiful, and the reception was at a cool place called the Musician's Hall of Fame, right downtown and close to the Honkeytonks. Needless to say we ventured there after the reception was over. Of course we would choose the kareoke bar, where everyone proceded to sign eachother up for songs against their will. Some of the highlights included Jennie's homage to Britney Spears, and Phillip, Chase, CT and TJ's boys to men-style rendition of Hank Williams Jr. The crowded bar of bootwearing, midriff showing, tattooed tourist and locals loved us in our dresses and suits.

Sara and Brandon.

A shot of downtown... Kara is hobbling on her broken toe in 4 inch heels.
Hit me baby one more time!
Quite possibly the best part of the trip was getting to spend so much time with my cousin Lindsay. This was the perfect weekend to get to see her, since I was not in this wedding and did not have to go to the rehearsal dinner or be early to the church on Saturday. SO, we got to go out to dinner on Friday night, brunch on Saturday, and she met us out on Saturday night. It was so much fun to get to hang out for such an extended period of time like that. We had a blast.
Chase and I in color coordinating outfits... not planned.

Sunday we headed home, worn out and partied out for a while. It was so nice to crash on the couch and do nothing while Birmingham got doused in some much needed rain showers yesterday and last night. It was a great weekend!

splish splash!

What I love about having a baby is watching him become more and more "human like" every day. He has grown from this lump that sleeps all the time, to a little person who coos, smiles, and even laughs! His facial expressions are priceless, and his movements are becoming smoother and more purposeful as he finds his fingers and toes. He even tries to stand up, and can do it by himself with me or Chase holding him underneath his underarms. With that in mind, I pulled out the "johnny jump up", which will help him build those little leg muscles even further. He still doesn't like tummy time, which I am afraid is going to slow his arm muscle development, but we try anyway! Yesterday I decided it was time to get in the pool, primarily because he has this adorable 3 month old bathing suit that I am afraid wont fit him much longer. Everything revolves around fashion I'm afraid.

Me and my little man.
It was quite a balancing act taking these pics by myself.
First time in the baby pool, and even though it doesn't look like it, he really did enjoy it.
This is my favorite picture- what is that face?

"I hid under your porch because I love you"

Monday night I went to see "Up", and I have to say, it was the best Disney movie so far. If you know me, you know that I love all things Disney, and I especially loved last year's heart warmer, WALL-E, but I'm thinking that Up might have topped the list this year. They pull out all the stops to get you going, lovable dogs, chubby kids, and grumpy old men, all guaranteed to pull on your heartstrings. And it works. Dug, the talking dog, reminds me of a special pooch of my own that loves our family no matter how many times we kick him outside for excessive gassiness.

Red, White and Blue!

Check out that grip!
Raughley, Uncle Carl, and Captain Jack
"Oh say can you see!"
Proud Daddy
Special bonding time, notice the flag sticking out of the dog bed.

This past weekend, in true Birmingham tradition, Chase and I headed to the lake for the Fourth of July. We had hot dogs, drank beer, watched fireworks, and laid in the lake on noodles for hours. It was a wonderful way to relax and get away from it all. I think Raughley and Bryant enjoyed it as well. Happy Birthday America!