Day Two Thousand and Fifty-Three

The Sweet Hello Bye Byes

 

  

What a week. Ella Mae's met some of her favorite people, Amelia's loved on some of her favorite people, and now it's time to head home to our very VERY favorite people: Dada! We'll miss you Spokane! 

Day Sixteen Hundred and Ninety-Three

The Sissy's 26th

Happy birthday to my sissy Ellie!
And since she loves being outside so much, we spent another day at the park!
(Love you SO much, Ellie - thank you for being the best friend a girl could ever ask for! You make my life so beautiful, so rich, and so much fun!)

Day Sixteen Hundred and Fifty

The Third Grapefruit Start

A neighborhood St. Patrick's Day 5K headlined our morning adventures yesterday. We ran We walked as fast slow as we could and managed to complete the first mile and a half before shutting it down and returning home. All of us. If coming in last qualified a prize, we would've won it. For sure.

But we had good reason to end the race early. Because our afternoon adventure was headlined by this gorgeous babe at the baseball field, watching a special someone strike everybody out in the pouring rain.

The likelihood of rain hovered around 60% when we left for Dad's game yesterday. We figured it may rain a bit, but nothing more than maybe a light drizzle. Oh my goodness gracious were we completely mistaken. It poured like I haven't seen in...at least a year. Maybe four. I'm certain we were standing in the middle of a hurricane. At least that's what it felt like. But before the madness fell over us, Adam pitched probably the best he's ever pitched before - if we're just basing that off the results he acquired. In two innings of work, Adam struck out every single hitter he faced. Six hitters. Six outs. It was the most impressive I've seen him and we were sure proud of his effort. He faced a lineup of Detroit Tigers, and though not all their guys made the trip, he was able to offer the Marlins another glimpse of his potential. And for that, we're happy!

Our prayer for Daddy is that he'd always have a clean heart, but a dirty slider. This is a prayer our pastor and mentor from college - Josh Martin - has been praying over Adam for the past couple years, and ever since, we've made it our own too!

His line:

2 IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 6K

Not too bad, Dad! Especially in the rain! He threw 29 pitches total - 22 for strikes - and worked all of his pitches in, which is something he hasn't done in a Grapefruit League game yet this year.

Wish we could've seen him progress through the next few innings, but the rain had other plans! This is just the beginning of our soaking afternoon. The wives and families got trapped under a section of bleachers for right around 30 minutes, all with drenched babies, drenched strollers, drenched clothes, and drenched faces. We were a sloppy, dripping mess, but at least we didn't get struck by lightning! Gah! 

Adam is scheduled to pitch again (we think) on Thursday against the Twins. He'll try for another 5 innings, that is, if the rain will let him have them! Here's a few articles:

http://m.marlins.mlb.com/news/article/168162342/marlins-conley-dominates-in-rotation-bid

http://miamiherald.typepad.com/fish_bytes/2016/03/adam-conley-strengthening-case-to-be-in-starting-rotation.html

Day Sixteen Hundred and Forty-Eight

The Saltwater Fish

He's a Fish on the field.

And he's a fish in real life too!

The man loves the water.

Even more so now that we converted our pool to SALTWATER!

Clean(er) swimming, healthier bodies!

Yesterday, Adam cleaned the pool, vacuumed the pool, and completed the necessary checklist to have officially converted our-once chlorine pool to a saltwater one! We're so excited about this transition and look forward to relaxing and super fun days poolside!

...Excited about everything but the temperature of the water. Turns out 78 degrees is a little to chilly for this Florida BABY!

Dad Life! 

There's been LOTS of this happening all around us and we're quite smitten by it! Love seeing dadas loving on their babies! And if you did a double take...that's Channing in the middle! Kyle, Sue, and Channing are staying with us these next two weeks, as the Mets facility in Port St. Lucie is only 20 minutes from our home! Amelia's bestie...all the way from Idaho! We're happy to have them here with us and grateful for a home that we can open up to them. Praise God - this is exactly what we hoped and prayed our home would be used for. 

(And hiiiiiii Baby Landon - don't worry, I couldn't forget about you!)

Night from Mama and Nakey Girl!

__________________

Also, Adam pitches tomorrow against the Tigers at home at 1:05. If all goes well, he should go five innings AND hit too! Go Daddy!

Day Fifteen Hundred and Forty-Five

The Firehose

It's like trying to drink from a firehose, this conference.

SO much information in such a short amount of time. But it's welcomed, absolutely, and we're SO thankful for the wisdom received, the truths revealed, and for the baseball couples we get to share it all with! This year, two other Marlins couples and our chaplains all attend - a first for us! It was a sweet time of learning more about Christ, more about our brothers and sisters, and more about how we can become better servants to our teammates and friends and spouses in this season of life we're in.

We sure loved having them all by our side this week. And Amelia says, "Especially Casey. He's always giving me a hard time, but I could tell I had him wrapped around my little pinky finger."

So grateful for Miss Wendy and her servant heart! 

We've got the best Marlins' ladies Bible study in all of baseball because of this woman!

Three PAO conferences in the books for the Conleys and Johnsons! This year, with our baby girls!! We love you three and love that we have best friends in life AND in the game who know exactly where we're at. What a blessing you are to us. Can't wait for more babies, for more conferences, and for more pictures just like this one.

And then, we said goodbye to PAO and the Ritz Carlton at Reynolds Plantation and headed back home. But not before lunch paper shredding with the clan.

I call it a mess.

She calls it art.

As long as she's content, I'm happy with either.

Though, I'm not so amused by this.

Our girl LOVES to pull at her socks.

At ALL times.

It's pretty cute though. 

Just annoying when you're putting a tiny sock onto a huge foot 58 times a day.

But at last! We're home!

I think someone's as excited and ready to be home as we are!

Day Fifteen Hundred and Forty-Two

The Firsts of December

Channing's first flight and Amelia's 20th! We all survived a 4 AM wake up call yesterday and landed in Atlanta (from Washington) a little after five PM, then rented a car and drove an hour and a half to The Increase Conference! Our babies are such troopers! This baseball life is exciting but definitely tiring at times!

Tiring especially when you get stuck in your high chair at dinner because your parents are too busy shoving their faces. 

Shame on you, Mom and Dad! 

Thankfully, we rescued her and after a small fit, she was back to being awesome again. Channing, beware of your neglectful auntie and uncle! Your parents would never do something so mean! ;)

We're here. We're safe. We're ready to reconnect with our baseball brothers and sisters and see what the Lord has for us here in Atlanta. 

And clearly, Whitacre is ready as well. He even took a shower last night in preparation for the big first day of PAO! 

Let the conference begin! And let the 25 Days of Whitacre-Not-On-A-Shelf begin too!

Day Fourteen Hundred and Forty-Seven

The Fifth Daddy Start, Second House Call, and Channing's Debut!

You thinking what I was thinking??

Matlock? Is that you? IN WASHINGTON D.C.?!

Yep!

Can you even believe it?!

This man is a wizard!

His beautiful sister and her two children live close to D.C. and he made plans long before to come visit them this weekend. Turns out...the Marlins were in D.C. to play the Nationals this weekend too! SOOOOO, he brought his family and his table and adjusted the Conley Three right before Adam left to the field!! Just...incredible! Lucas is SUCH a blessing to our family. I say it every time, but we are so beyond thankful for his care, his heart, and his passion for health. Adam is throwing harder than he's ever thrown (in August - 95s and one hit 96 yesterday!) and feels better than any other time in his career. We have a few ideas in mind to say "thank you" to our favorite doc, but for now, family tickets to BP and the game would suffice! Love you Lucas (and the rest of the Matlocks too!)!

Aaaaaand, your starting pitcher for tonight's game against the Nationals and Max Scherzer...

ADAM CONLEY!

Hey, that's my Daddy!

Everyone loves my Daddy! Even the Nationals vendor! GO #61!

Adam and the Marlins defeated the Nats in Game One of a three-game series at Nationals Park. He threw five solid innings of 2-run baseball, but ran into some trouble in the 6th. With bases loaded and nobody out, Adam was pulled from the game. I knew he was angry - I sure was - but up here, it's all about winning baseball games. In the minor league system, it's all about development, so they'll let you get yourself out of jams when you find yourself in one. I wish  they would've given him a chance to show his guts last night and fight his way from bases loaded, but I do understand. He came out with three of his guys on base, and thankfully, only one of them scored. Our bullpen pitched mightily last night to preserve the W for Dada! Yahoo!

(And sidenote: what's a Nationals game without the President's Race?!)

His line:

5+IP, 6H, 3R, 3ER, 1BB, 2HR, 6K and the W.

So proud of you, Adam! 

Interview:

http://www.foxsports.com/florida/video/adam-conley-says-he-s-still-learning-082815

Video:

http://m.mlb.com/mia/video/topic/8877454/v423396983/miawsh-conley-fans-six-in-five-innings-vs-nats/?c_id=mia

_____________________________

Saving the very best for last...

MEET CHANNING MAE JOHNSON!

Born yesterday, August 28, at 8:16AM, weighing 7lb 6oz and 20 inches long!

My best friend and her baby are doing wonderful - both healthy and beautiful as can be!

And want to know something INCREDIBLE?!

Susan was only 38 weeks pregnant when she delivered. Much of her pregnancy, she was worried that Channing would come before Daddy Kyle was back from rehab in Florida with the Mets. So yesterday at 9AM Florida time, she posted to our baseball wives group on Facebook that she'd been having contractions 8 minutes apart and wondering whether or not she should call Kyle home from Florida - since she's in Idaho. I checked Facebook around 11AM yesterday - just two hours after her original question was posted - and immediately called her to tell her to get Kyle home. But before I could utter a word, all I could hear was crying! Like, super happy crying! And between the tears, she said, 

"I JUST DELIVERED CHANNING ALONE IN MY BATHTUB AT HOME!!!!!!!!!!!"

Wait, what? You did what?!

Sure enough, just an hour after her water broke, and before her midwife or doula could get to her house (she was originally planning a birthing center birth), Susan delivered baby Channing ALL BY HERSELF in the Johnson apartment!! Four minutes after Channing's debut, the doula arrived to assist with everything else! Like, is that incredible or what!? Coolest, most amazing birth story ever!

Infinitely proud of you, Suey! Channing, you have one brave, resilient, and impressive Mama! ESPN, this deserves a story, yeah?!