The Asciuttis Cinema

I'll finish the series of posts devoted to our trip to Italy with some funny pictures. 

This year for Christmas my dad bought a new tv. It's a very nice and quite big tv for Italian standards. Among several features, it also has the option to watch movies in 3D, and on December 26th the Asciuttis ended the Christmas festivities gathering all together to watch *The Avengers*, not really a holiday movie but certainly full of special effects! I can't say we all loved the movie but we definitely enjoyed wearing the 3D glasses. My grandmum fell asleep five minutes after the movie started, my mum lost interest ten minutes later and I gave up after fifteen minutes; dad and aunt Marilena were a bit stronger and kept watching it while chatting. The only two who got really attracted by the movie were Rob (who had already watched the movie at the cinema when it came out!) and Bea. In the end, it was a fun way to close the festivities and now I love looking at these funny pictures of us all together. 

Movie Night

I hope I am not speaking too soon but the Routine seems to be working! Apart from Saturday that, as you know, was a VERY bad day, Emilia has been napping regularly both in the morning and the afternoon for a couple of hours and the very good news is that she is falling asleep at a good time at night allowing us to have dinner in peace and perhaps watch some tv and have an adult conversation. Last night we were even able to have what we call a movie night! Finally, after trying so many times, last night we were able to watch a movie without interruptions. Since Emilia was born Rob and I have tried to watch movies at night but with little success. Until yesterday we had only been able to watch two movies, although without really enjoying them as we had to pause them so many times to give Emilia all the attention she needed. So what would have been a two hour movie lasted in fact four. Yesterday, however, Emilia went down at 9.00pm and we looked for movie options straight away. I was craving a good movie. We checked what was available on Sky and both agreed that it had to be an easy movie to follow, nothing too artsy, our tired brains needed pure entertainment! We chose Crazy,Stupid,Love and I am so glad we did. With its mixture of comedy and drama, happiness and sadness, and a funny Shakespearean,  *The Comedy of Errors style* ending, we were hooked since minute one. If you haven't seen it, I'd definitely recommend it. I loved the cast, especially Julianne Moore (I am a huge fan of hers - have you seen A Single Man? She does a great job in it), the wittiness, and all the different love stories. It's a simple but sophisticated movie.

And apart from the movie success, we were both very happy to have finally been able to enjoy two hours of relaxation on the couch. Oh the little things that you give for granted before a baby enters your life and changes it completely...

What to expect when you' re expecting

Today Rob and I went to the cinema with our good friends and parents-to-be Steph and Andrew to see What to expect when you're expecting. 

The movie follows the story of five couples who are facing the challenges of becoming parents. Given our situation, we had to watch it! Each story is different but the main topic is the same: preparing to be a parent is no pic-nic. From the very first moment you find out to be pregnant, life changes. During pregnancy couples go through a roller-coaster of emotions until the most powerful day of their life: the birth of their child.

I am not going to lie to you, the movie is not a masterpiece and perhaps I expected more. However, it was lovely to watch on the big screen what is happening to us now. It made me smile, laugh and even cry. It was a nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

And once again we had amazing weather in London. The sky was super blue and the temperatures as high as 28 degrees; in fact, it was nice to sit inside the cinema with air-conditioning for a bit. 

On our way to the cinema I asked Rob to take a picture of the bump with one of our favourite London landmarks, the Tower Bridge. This is where Rob proposed and this is where we live now. As you can see, Baby O grows day by day and mummy is getting bigger and bigger!

P.S. After yesterday's fiasco, today I wore flip-flops! :)

A Nursery for Baby O

As I mentioned yesterday, this morning Rob and I went to visit a nursery close to our flat. I don't know what I expected, but I left the place with mixed feelings. You know when you think: This is not good enough for my little sweet daughter? That kind of feeling. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the place and the members of staff were all incredibly sweet and nice. All kids seemed to be having a good time and enjoying being there. However, we were not super impressed and we have decided to keep looking. The very good thing about this nursery is that it's very close to both our flat and Rob's office, so in terms of convenience, this is a winner. It's still kind of pricey though, so it makes sense to explore other options. There are two nurseries that we are touring in the next couple of months and we are also considering the nanny option. We will see what we end up doing. One thing for sure is that we need to feel happy with the place where we will be leaving our 5-6 month old baby! The search continues. 

Also, I give you a little update on the bump. It's finally warm enough in London not to be wearing tights. It's sunny and warm, it really feels like Summer. Rob and I have been sitting on the balcony these last few evenings after dinner just chatting and enjoying the view. Everything is so much nicer when the weather collaborates! 

So, I am now in week 26 and Baby O keeps growing and growing. I feel like my belly is getting bigger and bigger every minute and she moves constantly. Here is a couple of pictures taken this morning. Go ahead, you can say it, I am huge! And I have still got three months to go!

Apart from being tired and sleepy all the time (the heat is not helping!), I am actually doing ok. A bit of swollen feet and legs and an annoying back-ache, but I certainly cannot complain. I can still sleep fine and still manage to fit into my normal clothes. I can't wait to open my Summer clothes boxes to finally start wearing proper Summer stuff, which I plan to do next weekend (it's a long weekend over here, the Diamond Jubilee weekend, so I will be able to take my time and wash and organise everything between Saturday and Tuesday). 

This weekend will be rather busy but I am very excited for both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday I will be going to my friend Steph's baby shower. She is 36 weeks pregnant at the moment and still looks amazing. I can't wait to be with the other girls, showering her with gifts and attention. And then Sunday Rob, Steph, her husband Andrew and I will be going to the movies to see What to expect when you are expecting. They couldn't choose a better time to release this movie. It will be fun!

What are your plans for the weekend?

One Word: Stunning

I absolutely adore the Oscar De La Renta dress chosen by Emma Watson for the *Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, part II*, world premiere in London last night.

I don't find strapless dresses  particularly comfortable so this round-neck, nude, lace option and the optical illusion it creates is just genius to me. Forget about how much it costs for one second, don't you want it badly? I love it!