The Birth of My Blog

In the daily mad dash of my life, I tend to forget to communicate with all of our loved ones who don't see us regularly. One day, it hit me: I could create a blog that would chronicle our lives for those we care about. They would love my tales of silly kid antics, interesting travels and fascinating news about our family of five. Mine would be the funniest, hippest and most heart-warming blog they ever read. The plan was perfect.

And then I got busy... with life.

And then I got even busier... with grief.

Somehow I came to the conclusion that if I set out to write the best blog ever, I won't ever blog. But if I only tried to share my life with friends and family across the miles, I just might succeed.

So here I am, about to turn 32 years old. I have a husband (Big A) who still takes my breath away after 10 years of marriage, a 7-year-old son (Bubby) who loves to draw and play video games, a 5-year-old daughter (Sissy) who wants to be just like me (and Reba, go figure), and a 2-year-old tornado (Chancho) who can destroy my clean house in a minute flat, then make it all better with a sloppy kiss.

And here is my blog, which will contain the good, the bad, and the downright ugly of my life with a husband and three kids in Northeast Ohio.

Why Fishsticks With Ketchup? Because sometimes it seems that no matter how hard I try to do it all and be it all, mediocrity is all I can achieve. And really, even when I'm serving fishsticks and ketchup, I'm doing it with lots of love.

For those of you who I haven't talked to in a while, or those who I've just met recently, here's a little info about us (in chronological order - you're welcome):

June 1997 - Big A graduated from ATI in Wooster, OH, and took a job in a teeny-tiny town near Amish country.

August 1997 - He proposed (and I accepted!) and we started planning our wedding while I finished school.

March 1999 - I graduated from Otterbein College in Westerville with a degree in journalism. Big A began working at a dairy testing lab near Akron and started getting our first apartment ready.

April 1999 - We got married and two weeks later (after a great honeymoon), I started my first real job as assistant editor of a technical magazine (Rubber World - and no, we didn't sell condoms).

August 2001 - Our first son Bubby was born after five months of bedrest and a previous pregnancy that ended four months too early.

January 2002 - I realized that I wasn't supermom! Working from home full-time, nursing a very fat baby, and trying to take care of the basics of life proved to be too much to handle. So I quit my job and became a stay-at-home mom.

July 2003 - Our precious little girl Sissy was born. After a ridiculous amount of bedrest and a rocky pregnancy, I vowed to NEVER get pregnant again. She was petite and sweet and her big brother adored her. Around this time, we started construction on our house and almost ended up in divorce court (and I'm not joking).

December 2003 - We got settled in and life happened. The kids grew and grew. I took on freelance writing and editing work whenever I could and Alex focused on his day job and his side job of buying and selling used cars. We were loving life with our little house and our little family, although most days I felt like I was a ringleader in a circus. Looking back, the constant chaos doesn't seem so bad, but I know I had moments of insanity on a regular basis.

April 2006 - Remember when I vowed to never get pregnant again? Well, I didn't actually get around to making that decision permanent. We found out we were expecting number three, unplanned. I think I cried for four months straight.

December 2006 - Our third child Chancho was born (all 9 lbs. of him)! My first words to him were, "I can't believe I didn't want any more babies!!!" He was everything the other kids were not... dark hair, dark eyes, dark complexion. But he was also my cuddliest baby and to this day, I melt when I look in his big brown eyes. He's loud and rowdy (and spoiled!) and in typical youngest child fashion, he will do anything to make us laugh. He fits in perfectly and we feel so blessed that he's part of our family.

August 2007 - Bubby started kindergarten and Sissy started preschool and I was thrown into the world of PTA meetings, class parties and bake sales. We found a new church to attend and got serious about the direction God was leading us.

July 2008 - Life was cruising along at a comfortable speed for me. I had no worries or complaints. Then in one instant, I was stopped in my tracks. At 5:03 pm on July 18, my phone rang. It was my dad calling to tell us that my 28-year-old brother had died. His death has rocked my world. He was a wonderful brother who helped me so much during my difficult pregnancies. I miss him terribly. Sometimes I feel that things will never be normal again. I don't like living with grief and I hate that my family is going through this. But I also know that we have hope! He accepted Christ as his savior and I know he's waiting for us in Heaven, along with our little baby girl Josie and so many others.

December 2008 - My blog is born. Welcome.