Grandma Sue Meets Charlotte!

Adam’s mom came to visit us the other week!  This long awaited trip for her to meet her newest grandbaby was looked forward to by all and I can’t believe that a week has already passed since her return to California.  We miss Grandma Sue and can’t wait for her to come back again in July!

The trip began with Charlotte and me picking Mom Sue up from the airport as we drove back to Ohio from my hometown in northeastern Pennsylvania. 

The first embrace with Grandma Sue must have felt extra good after being in the car seat for so long!

After a long day of travel (by car and by air!), the aroma of a delicious dinner of shredded Teriyaki Chicken on a bed of sticky rice with a warm mix of broccoli, carrots, and cauliflower on the side that Adam had prepared greeted us as we entered the house.  What a delicious meal that awaited us!!  After dinner, we were able to get settled and relax.

Even though it had only been a couple weeks since Charlotte lay in the basinette, she looks so big laying in it now.  My how she has grown since birth!!

 We awoke to a cloudy and rainy (and at times stormy) Saturday which put a damper on our plans of attending an outdoor open house/May Crowning at a local convent/retreat area.  We opted to not go out in the damp weather and to just have a cozy lazy Saturday in which was fine as I was a bit tired from the last several days spent in PA and from traveling back to Ohio the previous and it had been a full day of travel for Mom Sue the day before as well.  It was so wonderful seeing Mom Sue and Charlotte together!!  Charlotte loved the extra snuggles, lovin', and quality time she got in with Grandma!

We also spent time on this day going through a huge suitcase of clothes for Charlotte that had been sent from her cousin Riley.  Many many many thanks to Alicia for thinking of us and passing along Riley's old clothes.  How generous!!!  It will be so fun to watch these beautiful cousins grow up together as they are only six months apart and will most likely be in the same grade at school!  I hope they are close with one another in spite of the geographical distance.  Later, we enjoyed a homecooked meal for dinner (apple cinnamon pork chops, baked potato, & veggies) and especially liked the peanut butter brownies that I baked (and continued to enjoy this treat throughout the rest of Mom Sue’s stay).  I will have to make this dessert for my brothers who are fellow peanut butter lovers during our family vacation in June!

The weather was more enjoyable on Sunday with the sun making an appearance along with a slight breeze.  After mass we had lunch at a quaint historical inn about a half hour away in nearby West Virginia by driving on twisty curvy mountain roads.  We enjoyed the service and food at Drover’s Inn as well as learning a little bit of history about the area and previous uses of the inn (such as the fact that there were pastures for the cattle and animals to roam as the drovers dined and drank at the tavern and inn).

 

The decor of the inn and placemats reminded me of the tavern we ate at in Colonial Williamsburg during our honeymoon as well as a restaurant we like in Gettysburg.  Looking at these last two pictures, is there any denying that Charlotte is Adam's daughter?!  From the nose to the cute dimple in the right cheek that both Mom Sue and Adam have to the fidgety leg when falling asleep that both Dad Tom and Adam have, she's definitely a Daddy's girl!  ; )

Upon returning to Ohio we were disappointed to learn that the children’s Eucharistic Adoration at our church was not being offered that afternoon as I had thought.  Guess we will have to wait until it starts back up again next year for Charlotte to experience it but I’m thankful that she and I have a couple days on which we’ll be filling in for a friend and substituting for her at her regularly scheduled Holy Hour at a nearby church in the meantime.  So, we wound up showing Mom some more of our neighborhood and even got to introduce her to a close friend and neighbor on the way home.

Sitting pretty in her Sunday best!

Snuggles with Grandma are the best!

Our Sunday night dinner was Orange Chicken as when I had made it recently Adam proclaimed it, “One of the best meals you’ve ever made!” which is pretty high praise coming from Adam.  Hopefully he and his mom liked it this time around too!!  We were able to read some more of Adam’s Baby Book that Mom Sue had brought with her after dinner.  The baby book, with its hard cover and being about an inch thick, reminds me of a textbook and contains an incredible amount of information.  It has been fun reading through it and learning more about Adam as a baby while also observing some similarities in our daughter!  She definitely has not only his physical traits but is also taking after him in other areas.  I’m also gaining some ideas about how and what I would like to document in Charlotte’s baby book after seeing Adam’s that his mom so lovingly wrote in over the years.  What a treasure to have such a detailed keepsake!!

Monday was a work day for Adam so while he was working, Mom Sue, Charlotte, and I ran some errands that included stopping in at the bookstore on campus and going to a large Catholic store in town.  We could have easily spent hours in each store but we tried to behave and limit our time (and money spending) to about an hour in each one.  We walked out of each store with purchases we were excited about and can hardly wait to dive into the books we bought.  We also managed to get some pictures printed at the local pharmacy so that we can start working on our respective albums of Charlotte.  That is going to be a big job….not to mention the baby book…due to all the photos that have been taken in her short precious life thus far.

Since Monday was our first wedding anniversary, for dinner we all went out to eat at a local family restaurant in a nearby town.  My chicken salad croissant sandwich was delicious and I will gladly order it again if we return to that restaurant.  We enjoyed a beautiful sunset on the way home and stayed up into the night chit chatting some more.  An added bonus was that we were able to read Charlotte’s birth story notes and report together that our doula had sent us that night.  I hope Mom Sue was able to feel like she was there by our sharing the information in such detail with her that last night of her trip.  The next morning was when Mom Sue departed for California but knowing that we would be seeing her again in July (along with Dad Tom and Adam’s sister/Charlotte’s godmother:  Wendy) made saying goodbye a little bit easier.  It was so lovely having these last few days with Mom Sue and we can hardly wait for mid-summer when she returns!

Our wedding colors (light green, light purple, bright pink, sand, & blue) all in one photo with Charlotte on our anniversary!

One last bottle before taking Grandma to the airport.  See you in July!!  Xoxo.