Thankless Job?

I have always maintained that being a mom, and especially a stay at home mom, is a very thankless job. In fact, during a recent girls night out dinner with my best friend, I was just talking about this. Let's face it, it's tough to be a mom, wife, homemaker, etc. (the list can go on and on). As humans, we just need to be THANKED.

At work, I'm thanked for a job well done in a form of either a bonus or an 'attaboy'. I know where I stand. At home, it's not so easy. I like to think I'm doing the right thing in terms of raising my child, keeping my house, and loving my husband. John does do a good job of 'thanking me' and making sure he let's me know that I'm doing a good job. There is something, though, that always causes me to doubt myself.

I hear my husband and see what he does to help me. I see my son grow and become a great little boy. I hear my son tell me great things all of the time.

But I also see a pile full of laundry, a sink full of dishes, dinner that is late getting on the table. I also think, 'oh man, my son isn't getting the right kind of sleep'. Or I see him take toys away from other kids and think, 'wow, I'm doing a poor job of getting him to share'. Or I see him throw a temper tantrum and I think, 'wow, I need to discipline better'. There are countless things that I see that makes me doubt what I am doing as a mother. And there are other people, too, that make you feel like just awful. I imagine even when they are older, some personality traits make you blame yourself for not doing this or that in the younger years. It truly is a thankless job--even when you are being 'thanked'.

Well, timing couldn't have been any better then this morning getting someone ringing my door bell. I went to the door and I had flowers and a very cute note waiting for me:
"AJ and I wanted to let you know we love you and appreciate all the hard work you do, at work and at home."

So maybe it isn't so thankless. Of course, we are always going to doubt ourselves as mothers. No one is perfect, which means there are no perfect mothers. We all make mistakes. I would say if you feel this way from time to time, you are doing something right. And since no one is perfect, you can just hope that your kids turn out to be great people with great values.

So maybe those dishes don't get cleaned right away. Maybe that pile of clothes sits there for a few days. Maybe my child take toys from other kids during playdates. And maybe he also throws tantrums when he doesn't get his way. Well--those clothes and dishes sitting there means I had more time to play games with my family. And my kid taking toys from others means he is still learning how to share and fight his own battles. And the tantrums--well they give me headaches--but they also teach both of us a valuable lesson. I also see my child get very concerned when others are sad or crying. I also see my child giving me kisses and hugs whenever I want them.

And as for my husband--I see a man who has to put up with a lot from me. I mean, AJ gets those tantrums from someone. And with all he has to put up with, he always sees how hard I work and makes sure I am loved and thanked. And that, my friends, is something I need to focus on!

Ju Jitsu and AJ's Social Day

On Friday night, AJ had his 'first' ju jitsu practice. While in LA, John found and bought AJ a gi--just his size! So John found it appropriate to take AJ to a kid's class. The youngest child was 5, so needless to say--AJ has quite a few years before he can even really start, but it was a nice intro into the sport. AJ has been watching daddy practice and is best friends with John's coach Tony. He even helps Tony coach--repeating everything he says in the same loud voice.

Daddy getting AJ ready for practice in the laundry room:

AJ is ready to go!

Doing push ups with the other kids. John said he got teary-eyed. It's a sign our little one is just getting so big. That, and of course John is so happy to have a little kid that loves what he loves!

After AJ's big Friday night, he had a big Saturday morning! He had a party a school to go to and then a birthday party for Elle the next day! Here is a picture of him getting his hand painted:

Here is a picture of AJ at the party-held at Ashburn Park. I dont' really have any pictures that are good enough after this to post--but I'm sure Sofya and Dan will have some great ones I can pull off of the birthday girl!

Our little cutie

With grandma!

Picnic with Grandma and Aunt Kayla

Daddy and Pop-Pop had 2nd row seats at the Green Bay-Redskins game, so Aunt Kayla Grandma and Grandma at Clemyjontri park for a Picnic and to explore the park. It's AJ favorite park, and he loved showing off to Grandma and Kayla. Here is a picture of us enjoying our food:

Rennaisance Festival

We met Suzanne, Kevin, Karl, Josh, Clare, and little Daniel at the annual Rennaisance Festival. It was fun to see everyone! We enjoyed lots of really bad for you (but tastes good) food and beer. Daniel is getting so big--growing too fast! It won't be too long before AJ and Daniel are causing all kinds of trouble! Here is Clare and Daniel:

AJ getting his face painted:


Suzanne, Clare, and I all got our faces painted too, here we are looking very festive:

Josh and Daniel, posing. Josh went from very awkward with kids to a pro in less than two years. The second photo is from two years ago when AJ was just 4 months old!



AJ was tired by the end of the day--

And just because it was fun to look back on this occasion from two years ago (the last time we went) to now, I thought I would post an ending picture of AJ from back then as well. Same festival, same timeframe, same stroller, but a MUCH BIGGER KID! He was so chunky and tiny at 4 months--now he is almost bursting out of the stroller!

Leah's Birthday Party

Roman, David, and I travelled up to Philly for Leah's birthday party. We stopped on the way to have lunch with Grandma Glose before heading over to the party. The Mickey themed party was so much fun. They had a great moonbounce and a surprise visit from Mickey himself! The food and cake was great--and Shannon did a really great job planning. If we lived closer, I would say we would make a great event planning team!

Mickey visits with the birthday girl. We have Shannon and Leah, but where is Daddy ;)?

Aunt Colleen and Leah with Mickey--Leah felt safe with Colleen, but not so safe with just Mickey!


AJ loved Mickey--he wanted to take him home!

AJ sliding down the moonbounce slide.

Who says it's only for kids? My cousin Matt lured the kids inside with chocolate chip cookies and exclaimed, "BIG KIDS TURN!". From the smile on his face, I would say it's safe to say he enjoyed himself.

Mommy and Daddy's Trip to LA

John and I began our first alone trip by landing early morning in LA. We got our car and made our way to Venice Beach where we had planned to run along the boardwalk. Venice beach is very unlike any east coast beach--it's very unique to say the least. We jogged from Venice Beach to the Santa Monica pier. Once we got to the pier we enjoyed the pretty view and had some of the best fruit I have ever had. So juicy! We hung out a bit and then jogged back to our car. Afterwards we met Maggie at her work in Santa Monica (to get her key) before heading to a late lunch in West Hollywood. We took Santa Monica Blvd all the way to West Hollywood and got to see Beverly Hills and the like. After lunch we made our way to Maggie's house. From her street you can see the Hollywood sign! John and I took a nap and relaxed until Maggie got home. Here is the two of us in her house:

Thursday night John was too tired (we had only 3 hours of sleep the night before!), so it was just Maggie, Michael, and I out to dinner at a local Mexican restaurant. So yummy!

Friday morning John and I went for a jog from Maggie house up to Hollywood and Vine, about 3 or so miles. Jogging is a great way to sightsee--we got to see a ton of stuff and run the Hollywood walk of fame (the stars you see). Sadly, though, unless you want to carry a camera while you jog, you can't take pictures! So, needless to say, I didn't take any more pictures on Friday morning, sadly.

Afterwards Michael (who is an emmy-nominated writer for Warner Brothers) got us into the Warner Brothers lot. I didn't take my camera because we wanted to blend in since it isn't open to people unless you are on the travel golf carts. We got to walk the lot and ended up at Ellen's show--John got a picture on his phone of me standing in her parking space (I'll post after I get him to email it to me). Fun stuff since I LOVE LOVE LOVE Ellen. I was looking for George Clooney's space, but couldn't find it.

Friday early afternoon John and I had to go our separate ways. We were there not only to visit Maggie, but John was competing. He met up with his coach while Maggie and I got to go to Terranea Resort. I have been lucky enough to have been to some really beautiful places in my lifetime (Mykonos, Greece so far has been the best!), and I must say that Terranea is one of the most beautiful places I have seen. It's located in Ranchos Palos Verdes, CA, about 30 miles south of LA. Pirates of the Carribbean was shot at the same place as the resort, before the resort was built. Some celebrities have also been married here. Maggie and I quickly got changed into our bikinis and ordered some beers at the pool. John was able to stop by quickly (his coach got stuck in San Diego) and took this picture of us:

We also got to see a reality show being taped (some show called Shedding for the Wedding). Notice the couples carrying some cake. Side note: later while taking in the sunset from our room, we saw some of the crew cleaning up cake on the resort--pretty funny considering they only had napkins to clean it up--really???

John and I:

Maggie all dressed up with nowhere to go (except enjoying the sunset!):

This is my attempt to be sexy.

The Sunset. The picture doesn't do it justice.


The view from the elevator room, so gorgeous!

The view from the resort:


there is a trail you can take from the resort down to the beach, not a very long walk. this is a photo from the beach:


Another photo, this time from the beach looking at the resort:

We were a little hungover and decided to hang out at the resort the entire day by the pool. Maggie will kill me, but she looks so cute!



Excuse the feet, but here is a picture of the view from my pool chair:

Terranea was most certainly the highlight of our trip, but we did have fun otherwise. Saturday night John, Maggie, and I pigged out on Korean BBQ and drank beer. We were too full to do anything else! On Sunday, our last full day, John went back to cheer on others while Maggie and I lunched in Beverly Hills and shopped downtown. I got to see her wedding venue--Vibiana. She will be getting married October 15, 2011. So we get to go back to LA!

We went to a nice dinner that evening with Michael and Maggie before relaxing back at the house. What a great vacation! It was short and sweet. We sure missed AJ and were so happy to see him when we got back!