Awesomtistic!

We met Randy and Janet Tomlin two seasons ago when Randy was Josh's pitching coach with the Potomac Nationals. Randy played in the big leagues with the Pirates in the 90's, was the pitching coach at Liberty University for many years, and is in his third year coaching in the Nats organization. He is the pitching coach in Harrisburg this season.

Josh has learned a lot from him both on and off the field. Last year when Josh was going through a rough period on the mound, Randy took time out of his busy schedule to write him an incredible e-mail, encouraging and admonishing Josh to stay focused and not lose heart. It made a huge impact on Josh. Janet has become a dear friend of mine and I consider her a big sister in the Lord. She has taught me so much about being a godly wife and mother and doing both in baseball. We got to see them when we were in Harrisburg earlier in the season and I was able to have Janet over for lunch in Bowie right before we moved to Norfolk.

Randy and Janet have three children- Coy, Ellison, and Quaid. Coy was diagnosed with autism at age three. He is 16 now. Coy is an absolute delight to be around and the love and acceptance his family has for him is an incredible witness of God's power and glory. In word and deed, they live out the truth that autistic or not, Coy is perfect just the way he is.

This month the Senators hosted an Autism Awareness Day and asked the Tomlins to participate. They made this video, which played on the jumbo-tron during the game. It is an amazing video and will bless you immensely. If you know anyone with an autistic child, please pass it on to them as well. It will encourage them and fill them with hope.

(It will take a few seconds for the video to start, after you push the play arrow.)

Senators Autism Awareness Video Tribute from Aaron Margolis on Vimeo.

Busted

O.k., o.k., I confess. I didn't post the article. About a month ago, the Baysox asked me to do an interview about being married to a professional baseball player, life with a baby at the ballpark, etc., etc. Nicole Rodriguez, another pitcher's wife, spent the afternoon with me and was gracious enough to stay at the apartment with McKenzie while I drove over to the field for the interview. I didn't know what to expect as I have only interviewed other people, never vice versa.

I was nervous about it, and prayed a ton beforehand. Thank you to my prayer warriors who interceded for me as well. The Baysox Communications Manager Tom Sedlacek conducted the interview. He had some great questions and did a great job. I wasn't sure if the interview was going to be published online or in the programs they hand out at the games. Several weeks went by and Josh moved-up to Norfolk. I figured that since we were not on the team, they probably wouldn't publish it. I was wrong. Last week, the article was on the website, where some of you found it. So, if you are curious and you haven't already seen the interview, you can check it out here.

Bellies and Baseball

This morning during my daily round of news gathering, I stumbled on this article about a promotion done by the Brooklyn Cyclones, the short-season A ball affiliate of the New York Mets - Cyclones celebrate expectant moms "Bellies and Baseball" night includes Lamaze class, craving station. I had to laugh. Only at a minor league ball park would you see this!

Along other fronts, McKenzie and I are bachelorettes for a few days while Josh is on the road in Gwinnett, Georgia. We will meet him Thursday in Raleigh, North Carolina where we will be staying with his aunt and uncle and their two kids. I told McK we were going to go see Seth and Soren in a few days, forgetting that a 2 year old conceives time solely in PAST and PRESENT. Big mistake. Every few hours she asks me when she is going to see "Seth and Sowen" and every few hours I have to explain what day-after-tomorrow means. We are so excited to be able to see and stay with family! We miss everyone so much during the season.

In the mean time, we are trying to keep ourselves busy. Yesterday we went to the Virginia Zoo. McKenzie liked the animals, but she was far more interested in the fountain play area in the center of the zoo. We saved that treat for last. She was sopping wet when we left. This morning we dragged ourselves out of bed early (7 o'clock is EARLY in baseball) and ran to catch the ferry to downtown Norfolk.

The MacArthur Center Mall (named after General MacArthur) was hosting a special kids event at California Pizza Kitchen, where for $6 kids got to tour the kitchen and make and eat their own personal pizzas. While it seemed a bit out of whack to be eating pizza at 10 in the morning, McKenzie didn't mind a bit and happily devoured her Hawaiian pizza with great gusto.

She is already down for her nap and I think I might sneak in a doze myself. I don't ever sleep well when Josh is gone; between too much coffee and bad dreams I only logged about four hours last night. When we wake-up, we need to go get the oil changed. The trusty 4-Runner is still going strong at over 182,000 miles. I have fun pictures of the last few days. I'll try to post them later.

Ta, ta for now!

Here, There, and Back Again

The past week has felt like a mad dash. McKenzie and I drove to Norfolk on Thursday. Josh arrived at 4:30 in the morning Friday. We had games all weekend and then packed-up, checked-out, and drove back to Maryland after the 1 o'clock game on Sunday. Monday morning we were up early to pack the apartment and help our friend Ken load the furniture he and Karen loaned to us.

Everything was finally canceled, closed, returned, and completed by 3:30 when we finally got on the road to Gainesville. Traffic on the Beltway is rarely ever cooperative, but even with rush hour traffic we made it in an hour and a half. Just in time for some yummy BBQ and then a Potomac Nationals baseball game with Ken and Karen. We saw lots of old friends from Potomac including one of Josh's former coaches. It was wonderful to see everyone and catch-up a little.

McKenzie had a marvelous time giving her Daddy a little insight into her regular game-time escapades. She spent the majority of the evening playing with a little boy in the next section. At one point, Josh had her come sit with us because she was throwing a baseball. McKenzie doesn't toss a baseball, she throws it overhand and as hard as possible. That becomes problematic when the baseball is real and there are people's heads in close proximity. After about a second sitting down she says:

"Can I go play with the wittle boy, Mama."

"No. Daddy said you need to stay here."

"But he's a good wittle boy, Mama."

I couldn't keep a straight face and she eventually went back to play with the "wittle boy." Josh will happily to return to the bull-pen Thursday and leave the McKenzie chasing to me. "Your the pro," he said.

This morning Josh and Ken played golf and McKenzie and I went to Target. We will be leaving for Norfolk in another hour or so. Josh will play catch tomorrow and hopefully we'll get to escape to the beach for a few hours in the afternoon. The normal routine starts again on Thursday. We will be staying with family friends who live just across the Elizabeth River from the field and who we are hugely indebted too.

All in all, it's been a great week. It was incredibly hectic, but it was a grand display of God's gracious guidance and perfect timing, for which we just thank and praise Him. We could not have timed this more perfectly. Please continue to keep us in your prayers- that we keep our eyes on our Savior, that we are bold and gracious witnesses of His greatness, and that Josh continues to be a faithful and diligent asset to his team.

Here are some pictures I took over the weekend in Norfolk. Enjoy!

Going to Charlotte's Web

McKenzie wants to go to Charlotte's Web. Not because she wants to see the perspicacious spider, or the gregarious pig, but because her daddy is there. Before I utterly confuse you, let me explain where Charlotte's Web is and why Josh is there.

Josh left on July 4th for a 3 day road trip to Altoona, Pennsylvania. The Eastern League selected him a few days earlier to be All-Star and play in the All-Star game in Trenton, New Jersey. We were humbled, excited, and honored. So off he went to Altoona while McKenzie and I had a little Baysox girlfriend/wife 4th of July party at our apartment. The weekend flashed by and before we knew it it was Monday afternoon and we were looking forward to be seeing Josh late that night.

At 4 in the afternoon my phone started ringing. It was Josh. Josh NEVER calls me once he is at the field, particularly in Altoona because they don't get any reception in the locker room. I knew something was different. After our usual "Hi. What's up. Not much" prelude, he told me that the Orioles had just moved him up the triple-A Norfolk Tides.

Hurray!!! I'm so proud of you!! came tumbling out along with a lot of "Oh, wows!" interspersed with all the other things you say when you are happy, excited, proud, and nervous and don't really know what to say, while at the same time your mind is racing about moving, apartments, schedules, travel, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

So getting down to the facts...he would come home with the team that night as planned and then fly out of Baltimore Tuesday to meet the team in Charlotte, North Carolina. He got in at 2 in the morning and we all went home and collapsed in a complete state of exhaustion.

Morning and laundry and getting him ready to go came quickly, but we were so thankful that we had a few hours together as a family. Josh and McKenzie wrastled around laughing and howling. They snuggled and read books and were silly. Crumbled in a heap together on the couch, Josh told McKenzie that he was going on a BIG AIRPLANE to Charlotte.

"Kinda like Charlotte's Web," he told her.

"I want to go to Charlotte's Web," she said.

"No. Just me. You are going to meet me in Norfolk on Thursday."

"YouNorfolk?"

"Yes. Norfolk."

"Oh..."

So after we took Josh to the airport and throughout the rest of the day, she kept asking to go to Charlotte's Web to see daddy and play catch with the guys. I kept explaining that we weren't going to Charlotte but that we would see daddy in a few days in Norfolk, which was followed by a lesson in how to pronounce it.

Last night we went to the game here in Bowie to see our Harrisburg friends who were in town playing the Baysox. McKenzie had a fabulous time playing with the kids and I had a fabulous time letting someone else chase her. There is nothing quite so refreshing as seeing friends you have known for more than a month who know who you are and where you are from and what you do the rest of the year. We left in the 7th inning to come home and listen to Josh's game in Charlotte.

Not more than 10 minutes after I turned on the radio at home, the announcer in Charlotte began to analyze the literal Charlotte's web that a homely spider was building in front of the press-box window. He was so entranced by the web that he occasionally got behind in his pitch count. Pun-manship is practically de rigueur in the world of sports broadcasting. No self-respecting sports announcer can resist the opportunity to capitalize on a pun.

Looking past the web, we finally found out that Josh was warming up in the bull pen and would most likely pitch the ninth. The Tides (that's us now) were up 8-4. As expected, Josh came on to finish the game and as the announcer so colorfully said "fanned the side," which in normal English means that he struck out the three batters he faced.

McKenzie and I fell down on our knees and thanked the Lord for such a great start to this next phase. We know this promotion is entirely from Him and according to His plan and we are just praising Him completely for it.

All season I prayed that if and when we got moved-up that the Lord would shepherd the timing. He has, completely and entirely. We signed a three month lease on our apartment. It is up July 15th. Josh will now have three days off for All-Star break and will not play in the Eastern League All-Star game. He is ineligible because of his promotion. That will allow us to pack and move-out together, which is a first in our married life. We have family friends in Norfolk who are helping us find a place to live.

We are blessed beyond belief and are just in awe of God's graciousness. We know that this has nothing to do with us and everything to do with the revelation of His glory, which we pray is magnified through us.

Thank you for all your prayers and support and please continue to pray that we are a blessing and light and that the Lord strengthens us as a family for this next phase. Also pray that Josh continues to be faithful and steadfast in his work and that he is able to efficiently and effectively accomplish what he is asked to do.

Off to Charlotte's Web