Genevieve's Corner: Grandma Penn's Visit

This past week, we were fortunate to receive a week-long visit from Hannah's mother, Teresa Penn. She came out to spend some quality time with us and the baby. OK, she really only came to see the baby, but I like to think she enjoyed our company too!

In all fairness, we were completely spoiled, and so was our baby girl. Hannah and I have long suspected that her mother is actually bionic, and therefore capable of super-human abilities. I think we may be on to something. For almost the entire 9 days she spent with us, she made a completely different meal for dinner from scratch, complete with dessert! A brief menu follows below:

Meatloaf
Twice baked potatoes with cheddar cheese & bacon
Salad
Apple Tart

Sirloin Steaks
Mashed Potatoes
Green Beans
Chocolate pound cake with vanilla ice cream & chocolate ganache

Homemade Chicken Pot Pie
Salad
Chocolate cheesecake with strawberries and strawberry syrup

I don't think I need to go on. In addition to cooking, she watched after Genevieve while Hannah and I were at work (bathing, feeding, changing nappies, etc.), and kept the house relatively immaculate, all the while managing to still put out fires with the family business back home. We went to bed at roughly midnight to 1 AM every night, and by the time I got up to be at work at 7 AM, she was already up and at 'em! One morning we awoke to a home cooked breakfast at 6 AM. I tell you, she was incredible!

One of the things I appreciated the most were the daily photos of Genevieve in various outfits that she would send me while I was at work. I think she may have changed her outfit 3 times a day, but it was totally worth it. I began to look forward to receiving these adorable pictures throughout the day. It helped pacify me while I counted down the hours until I could go home. I also began to imagine Grandma Penn putting Genevieve through the paces like a real model shoot: "Now give me adorable, adorable. Now show me love, show me love! Now fierce! Yes, Yes, Yes, and I'm spent!" All in all, I cannot express my gratitude sufficiently for all my mother-in-law did while she was here. I truly hope she knows how much she's loved and appreciated!

The following photos are a sampling of what I received throughout the day. Enjoy!