Author: Melissa

Ever since Christmas, our kids had been sleeping great! They were going to bed around 8:30 and sleeping all the way until 7:00. Until this past Friday.

Once again, Colin has been getting 2-3 times a night and is often joined by a sister. Or two. We're totally exhausted again and hit the wall last night. Having a few weeks of uninterrupted sleep was amazing. You forget how important it is to functioning until its gone again! 

In my opinion, the chronic sleep deprivation is one of the most challenging things about being a parent. Its that much harder to function when you're tired and when your exhausted, it is that much worse. The worst part is being so, so tired… and you still can't sleep! Last night, I was woken up every 90 minutes by a child. And I often have trouble falling back to sleep after I get woken up.

It was painful to get out of bed this morning. Ugh. I'm hoping we can get back to being a sleeping household soon.

This morning I sat down with my coffee to read my Bible. And read this:

"Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act. Do not say to your neighbor, 'Come back later; I will give it tomorrow' – when you have it with you." Proverbs 3:27

I simply had to stop right there. The horrible, tragic situation in Haiti is already fading from our news headlines, as we go about our daily lives. And as I'm sitting at my kitchen table, drinking a hot cup of coffee in my warm house while my children played in the background… and I got this startling reminder of how much I have while others have lost everything.

Haiti needs our help. And we have power to act. Let us not withhold good from those in need.

If you haven't given yet, I encourage you to give through Compassion International. The FBI is warning of several Haiti charity scams
that have popped up in the wake of this earthquake, and they are
suggesting that donations only be made to organizations monitored and
rated by CharityNavigator.org and The American Institute of
Philanthropy.  Both organizations have given Compassion
International their highest approval ranking. Compassion International
is the only non-profit in it’s category to receive eight consecutive
years of four star rating from CharityNavigator.org. You can trust Compassion to use our donation to help.

Please go to Compassion’s Disaster Relief Donation page if you wish to make a donation. There is also a button on my sidebar. Please give.

Ever since Christmas, the girls have been at each others' throats. Constantly fighting, antagonizing each other, whining to me about each other, tattling on each other.

Its exhausting. I feel like every five minutes I'm breaking up a fight or wiping away tears or making them apologize to each other. I'm getting really frustrated and I'm really not sure what to do about it.

But I have not resigned myself to this being the natural state of things. I know siblings fight – having three siblings myself, I have no illusions about that. And I realize that this will especially be an issue with same sex siblings only a year apart!  But I refuse to allow the girls to treat each other like this.

They would never DREAM of treating their friends in such a way. Or even a stranger. But somehow its okay to treat ones sister like dirt. To purposely make her cry or make her angry or ignoring her completely. 

I'm not sure how to do this, of course. I'm reading Heaven at Home: Establishing and Enjoying a Peaceful Home right now hoping to get some tips!
If anyone has any suggestions, PLEASE share!!

*****
In other news, Gracie is still sucking her thumb and we have no idea what to do about it. We've heard some people have had good luck with a Thumb Guard
, but we were pretty shocked to see that it costs over $50. I found this more generic version for only $13, but it got mixed reviews. Has anyone else dealt with this? Any words of wisdom?

We arrived here bright and early at the studio and Nicole, Grace and I  just got our seats in the audience!

The set is AMAZING and we're super excited to see what the show will bring! (Seriously, the kicthen…. SIGH!) We're seated with a huge group of Philly Moms:

The show should start soon. We're super excited!

I'll be live tweeting during the show watch at @girlymamamel

Here I go! I'm heading up to New York City.

Too see this:

Yes. I am going to be in the very same room as Martha Stewart. ME. MARTHA. In the SAME ROOM.

*faint*

You know how I adore Martha. I'm so super excited. And I'm going with like twenty fabulous ladies, including my sister and my crafty cyber-friend-soon-to-be-real-friend Grace. Now I just need to decide what to wear!!

Colin has been driving me completely crazy.

Last night, I returned a quick phone call before dinner.
I found Colin at the table, eating guacamole out of the serving bowl with a fork.
 

This morning, I was putting on my makeup.
I found Colin drawing on the bedroom wall with a non-washable marker.

I did not handle it well.

I arrived at Bible Study frustrated and exhausted and happily dropped him
off in the nursery, eager for two whole hours of peace and quiet.
Then i learned that my friend's 5-year-old son was just
diagnosed with thyroid cancer. He's having surgery today.

Please pray for little Josh.
And hold your babies a tighter tonight.

This is such a quick, easy side dish with dinner. Just throw it in the oven with whatever you're already roasting in there. Its great with roast chicken.  It seems like it makes a ton, but my kids goggle it all up!

Oven Roasted Vegetables

1 1/2 pounds fingerling potatoes, cut in half lengthwise
olive oil
kosher salt, fresh ground pepper
1 pound french string beans, trimmed
1 bunch thin asparagus, ends removed, cut diagonally into 3-inch pieces

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Put potatoes on a sheet pan and drizzle with olive oil, then season with salt and pepper. Toss with your hands.
Roast potatoes for 20-25 minutes, then remove from oven. Toss the string beans and asparagus with the potatoes and roast for another 15 minutes. Sprinkle with a bit of kosher salt (or some freshly grated Parmesan cheese if you're feeling decadent!)

adapted from Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics