mcmannus family

Micah's Birthday Party

2009-07-27T18:18:00.000-07:00

Even though Micah's birthday was on the 17th, we just had his party this last sunday at the park at the end of our street:

Andre and Kristin made Micah's cake, it was not just a cake, it was a veritable structure! very tasty too....

We're Back!

2009-07-17T06:03:00.000-07:00

Micah loves anything involving a ball, these days bats are his favorite, Joe is very excited that Micah seems to be a lefty so far, because according to Joe that gives him an advantage as a baseball player (and also means he takes after his great grandpa "Oso" whom we miss very much.

Micah and Joe playing with the cars that Aunt Mary and his cousins sent, Thank YOU!

Micah's new book (we're trying to expand his attention span when it comes to reading)

and its a........ another bat! now he has 5... this is out of control :).....

Today is Micah's Birthday, and I've decided that i will promise to post to this blog at least once a week, so those of you who have given up on it, please give me one more chance :)

We woke Micah up with a little cake (actually i think it was just a pile of icing with a tiny cake buried somewhere in there) and a couple presents, he was pretty groggy but very excited.

Micah is blessed with good friends like Eden and Lorien and his cousins whom he loves very much..... (piling on Joe below)

Every day stuff

2008-09-25T04:06:00.000-07:00

The kids (and a number of adults) had a great time at Jossy's party, complete with a bouncy House!

haha... pure joy

Jossy's soooo cute!

the girls in the hammock... Jossy kept closing her eyes, and Alexa and Lorien kept insisting on patting each other's head.

Micah looking very small.

This is my crew that i hang out with three mornings each week, Eden (5mo), Lorien (2yr) and "My Micah Moo" (as Lorien likes to refer to Micah..)

Bubbles, i just hope swallowing soapy water isn't that bad for us....

This is Micah this morning, he's into EVERYTHING! note the stains on his clothes that are a result of him finding a bowl filled with like 20 cherry tomatos and and then proceeding to pop open each and every one........ of course he has no interest in eating them.

Micah and Lorien watching baseball with their Red Sox gear!

Those shopping carts at Shaws are always a hit!

eating whatnot

2008-08-26T15:24:00.001-07:00

it's always an adventure when it is time for Micah to eat...

summer whatnot

2008-08-06T18:32:00.000-07:00

We wouldn't want to break the trend so... we waited awhile in between posts! Yeah, sorry... we get a lot of complaints that we are not 'responsible bloggers' if you will. Oops.

Well... pictures of the summer thus far: trip to Ocean City with the Ebersole Family, Micah's first taste of chocolate cake, and just hanging around the home in Beverly here...

pictures of Micah's first birthday party, family reunion and other whatnot forthcoming awhile so stay tuned...

baseball and the beach

2008-06-21T13:26:00.000-07:00

Micah is catching baseball fever...

he just needs to figure out how to play

we enjoyed a Saturday all to ourselves by going to the beach...

visits

2008-06-15T05:27:00.000-07:00

busy...busy...busy

lots happened the past few weeks! Micah is now walking all by himself... sorry that we don't have pictures of that, whenever Micah sees the camera he zones out. Anyway... following are pictures of friends coming to visit and going down into the city, Mom and Dad coming up for a week, and then just some random stuff.

I remember a time in my life when my life wasn't going anywhere, just living one day to the next without a plan or much thought to my future. I'd just gotten out of college and had spent a summer running around North Carolina climbing mountains, jumping off waterfalls and riding my bike... then reality began to set in that I couldn't do that for the rest of my life, so I went back to Pennsylvania. I guess for some reason I figured if I returned to a familiar place I'd be able to find some answers... wrong. But I did find, or rediscover, a family that cared about me and was concerned for me. And the Patton's took me in for a few months until I could get my head on straight. They helped me find a job and I affectionately became known to them as the 'basement dweller'. Up until that point the Patton boys, Jake, Dean and Gib in particular knew me only as their spanish teacher, but we became pretty close. The Pattons helped turn a turbulent and confusing time of my life into a blessing and good memory. So the whole Patton family was up for a visit a couple weeks ago and we spent a day together down in the city. All these pictures were taken on the USS Constitution. Micah went on a boat for the first time, he thought that was pretty neat.

another recent visit we had was with Mom and Dad just last week... we got to see them for a whole week. It had been almost half a year since I got to see my folks. And they were especially excited to see Micah. I've noticed that Micah recognizes and likes all his grandparents, but is particularly fond of his grandfathers. We went to the children's museum and ate out at Woodmans in Essex together.

and just this past Monday was Angela's 26th birthday ... yeah!

a couple more pictures, and then that's all for now...

trampoline!

2008-05-30T13:14:00.000-07:00

Micah discovered how much fun a trampoline
can be... he just needs a little help cause he's so
clumsy!

back in beverly

2008-05-09T07:08:00.000-07:00

So we moved back to Beverly this month, moving with a child is definetly alot more work than when childless ... i know thats obvious, but it hadn't occured to me before. We're thankful to be closer to church, friends and family and also thankful to the DeFranza's for letting us live in their in-law apartment so we can save for this year we'll be living here. It's small but cozy... who needs space anyways? According to my sociology classes "space is a function of power" , and since we live not according to the standards of this world, "Downsizing" is not a big deal because we don't judge sucess as the world does.

On to more important things: Micah. very big, he can crawl at about 10mph and is doing some serious experimenting with standing alone...

we're blessed to have a such a happy little boy

Joe is very happy these days, a son and a dog (which belong to the Defranza's) what else could he want?

Micah's new thing at our new apt is to stand on the futon (which is our bed/couch) and fall down, he laughs and gets up and does it over, and over, and over again.

We've not forsaken you!

2008-04-07T17:51:00.001-07:00

Hey all, there's probably only two people who actually check this blog anymore since we've neglected it so. But just wanted to do a quick post... i'm at gordon library... our internet is down, but we'll be back in the blogging business come next month when we move to our new digs... so please be patient!

here's a quick pic of Micah and his friend Rummy the pooch.

another first...

2008-03-09T15:21:00.000-07:00

Micah is sick for the first time...

it's really hard to see him be so miserable... he had this terrible cough (still does a bit) and he'll kind of whimper after every cough cause it hurts, he probably feels like crying and screaming but that would hurt his throat, too so he doesn't... but he's such a trooper, he keeps smiling and being a really good kid, it's a little funny actually how he will cough and whimper and then laugh and clap his hands together.

and he is out growing all of his clothes so fast... he can finally fit into the little blue outfit his grandmother bought for him with the writing on the shirt that says "just hand me the cookie jar and no one will get hurt"

Micah is really getting into reading, too (although you wouldn't know it from these pictures cause he is staring into the bright light of the camera) but we got him this new book all about Jesus and he likes it a lot.

new sneakers for a new season!

2008-03-06T09:22:00.000-08:00

Micah was pumped to break in his new kicks...

the Red Sox figure to be the team to beat again, so we figured it was time to get Micah ready for the season... seriously though, when you think about it, what good are shoes for a kid who isn't walking yet? I mean, Micah can almost crawl... but what's he need shoes for? And it seems as though Micah inherited McMannus feet (and no, I'm not talking about fungus, as some of you dear people so sincerely refer to as "Joe Toe"...) cause he has huge arches in his feet that make it almost impossible to find shoes that fit him, and if the shoe does fit the foot then it does so without socks..... well, if nothing else, he sure looks cute in his sneakers!

baby steps towards mobility

2008-02-26T05:44:00.001-08:00

yay for cousins!

missing anything?

2008-02-23T10:09:00.000-08:00

sometimes Micah wakes up from a nap, or I get home from work and it seems like he changed so much in the few hours that I was away from him. Makes me wonder if I'm missing anything... and how much, too much?

decent snow storm last nite put me out plowing from 3pm thursday to 5am friday... seemed as tho i'd been away for days, and when i saw him after he woke up in the morning it felt as if he had changed a lot and is growing up really fast.

my mother always tells me that it goes by really quickly and to enjoy it, looks like she's right... just sometimes wish that life didn't require so much work and time spent away from home in order to make things happen.

well, off to new things for the day... Angela is upset because the dish soap she bought at the dollar store doesn't get dishes clean, oh well... the Red Sox started spring training and that means it's time to get ready for a new baseball season, last year Micah was pretty aloof to baseball:

maybe this year he will be a little more interested!

Friends

2008-02-14T07:46:00.000-08:00

Micah really enjoys watching other kids, probably can't wait till he can run around too.
Henry comes over on Thursdays and they really enjoy playing together! Micah thinks he's the coolest!

baby butt... (this posting inspired by Jossy's naked bum on Kristin's blog)
although i must admit that Micah's skinny butt just can't measure up to Jossy's chunky tush!

Sarah and Micah, they both look a little dazed....

daddy's little boy

2008-02-13T08:03:00.000-08:00

It's cute how little kids have a different relationship with their dad's as opposed to their moms. Now, don't get me wrong, i know Micah likes me too, i mean, i am his source for his every need at this point, the kid can't help but be fond of me.... but he just gets so excited to see Joe.

It's like he knows when he sees his dad that he's going to get thrown up in the air, shaken and tickled (which might explain why he usually does not settle down enough to take a bottle from Joe, cuz he thinks it's play time and not feeding time).

Maybe it has to do with the fact that Kids see less of their fathers, generally, so it just makes Dads more special, who knows....

the protegee.. never too young for a baseball cap (according to Joe)

and by the way.... Micah's first sylable is:

da da da.... fitting

self feeding skills

2008-01-28T10:08:00.000-08:00

Micah loves to try to do things on his own these days.. he's getting pretty good at figuring out how to take the bottle...

takes him a few tries though...

"which end goes up?"

success!

so proud of his accomplishment!

yummy in my tummy?!?

2008-01-27T16:46:00.000-08:00

Micah is a really good eater... even when he doesn't enjoy a certain 'item', (see below) he still sucks it up and chokes it down. His 'not-so-favorites' include sweet potato and applesauce. Actually, he probably likes just about everything, the problem is probably that he is expecting what he previously has and we change it up on him. One thing we are definitely not going to try again is sweet potato mixed with plain yogurt. That sounds wretched really, that was Angela's idea not mine... just to set the record straight! sweet potato with boring old plain yogurt? stirred up together??!!?? Can you blame him for responding like this?

poor guy..... oh well, eating things you don't like at least builds character!

We're Back!

2008-01-24T15:55:00.000-08:00

I (by "I" i mean Angela, Joe is the usual blogger in this house) realize that by now you must have despaired of all hopes of ever seeing another post on this blog and for that we have a very good reason. Our computer had crashed and we were down for almost a month, but last week, thanks to the kindness of a friend, we are back in the "online community" (i think that's an oxymoron actually... but anywho).

Without any more ado (what exactly is "ado"?) here's some pics: Joe thinks i have too many unecessary parenthesis in my posts (have no idea what he's talking about.) So we finally put that little bathrobe on him for the first time the otherday, and we realized how utterly unfunctional a bathrobe is for a baby, seemed like such a great idea when we bought it pre-birth.... oh well, the things you learn... it also was a bit too short for him (if you know what i mean...).

hmm. joes not here and i don't know how to turn pics right side up (should i wait or just post... ahh i'll post, you all can turn your computers sideways)

Comming next: Micah's Introduction to the TOOTHBRUSH (so in real life i try not to go on and on about all the little details of Micahs daily life, but on this blog, i'll indulge myself since you all can just turn it off at will if it gets too much ) .....next i'll describe the cutting of each of his five teeth and the evolution of his bowel movements from meconium (green newborn poop) to it's current state! ... hehe... just kidding.

Verse for today: "For of old, no one has heard, or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen, a God besides You, who acts on behalf of those who wait for You." Isaiah 64:4

merry christmas and happy new year!

2007-12-29T12:11:00.000-08:00

it was an eventful week... lots of 'firsts' for us as a new family: our first family roadtrip (down to PA to see family), Micah's first Christmas... and lots of new people he meet (as well as people he met before but of course he doesn't remember so he met them again!)

it was great to be able to see family over the holiday, especially with our son for the first time... it was special to see Micah with his Great-Grandparents. Lots of driving though, and it's always kind of bittersweet to be at home.

We hope your holidays were blessed and that your new year is filled with God's peace and joy.

new skills

2007-12-20T07:05:00.000-08:00

Micah has discovered.....

reading

and sitting

how exciting!

oompa - loompa doompa-de-do

2007-12-15T16:36:00.001-08:00

Micah's got this funny blue oufit (with big buttons on the butt) that makes him look like a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory oomp-loompa... pretty funny, just wish he would smile for the camera instead of looking like a deer in the headlights every time the flash goes off.

pajama party?

2007-12-15T16:25:00.000-08:00

what better thing to do on a snowy night than to have a pajama party?

mom's visit... feet and friends

2007-12-03T10:01:00.000-08:00

just last week Mom was up for a visit... for a whole week! we had a lot of fun together... too bad Dad couldn't come, too.

in other news Micah has discovered his feet, he likes them very much...

and he likes it when his friend Henry comes over to visit and play...

well, that's all for now...

surprise dinner and new tricks

2007-11-11T16:33:00.000-08:00

last thursday I finished my work early and I knew Angela wasn't going to be home yet, so I ran to the market and got some salmon and stuff (salmon is Angela's favorite), rushed home and cooked it all up and set the table just in time...

we can get so busy that we don't often sit down and have dinner together, so it was a fun change of pace.

and in other news (that means, Micah news, cause we know that you all really just check in here to see what's new with Micah right?... right?!?!?) Micah has discovered his tongue and his legs are strong enough to keep himself up for a little bit (with a little help to keep him from falling side to side!)

jumpin', rockin' & devo's with dad

2007-11-06T13:00:00.000-08:00

Micah is growing up sooo fast... all the little new noises he makes, he's a lot of fun just to sit and listen to. It makes you wonder if he's trying to communicate with you, or if he's just having fun squealing and laughing... whatever it is, they are the best sounds in the world.

But that's not all, Micah has been discovering all sorts of great things to do to pass the time, such as...

... hanging out on the rocking chair ...

... playing in his brand new jump seat ...

... and having devo's with Mom and Dad.

little man micah

2007-11-01T09:35:00.000-07:00

these days he really enjoys looking at the view out from our bedroom window He will gaze intently out the window for a long time, then laugh out loud for no reason

I put him in his high chair for the first time, he kinda just flopped back and forth, i guess it's a bit too early for that.

little man no more

2007-11-01T06:26:00.000-07:00

the other day i started going through Micah's clothes and putting away stuff that no longer fits, it was kinda nostalgic, i can't believe the little man is already growing so fast, almost four months old, i guess it's official that he's no longer a newbie, but a bonofied baby.

This has been a very exciting year for Joe once again, with the Red Sox sweeping the championship. He's convinced that the Red Sox purposefully win on years that are significant for us as in 2004 (when we got married) and now the year of Micah's birth. it's all about us, of course:)

well, let me try to post some pics, im not so good at this stuff....

alright this is not letting me do it (or more likely im doing something wrong) I'll try later.. cuz i know all anyone cares about are pictures....:)

growing up!

2007-10-13T14:37:00.000-07:00

look at what Micah can do (with just a little help from the special seat)... sit up all by himself!!!

here are some other pictures... man, Micah is really cool.

anatomy of a yawn

2007-10-09T11:06:00.000-07:00

thinking about Micah all day...

makes me excited to see him again, and it's always fun to come home at the end of a long day at work and hang out with my boy, just sometimes I need to get past feeling a little drained (Angela is pretty sneaky with the camera sometimes, this time catching me in the middle of a big yawn... that wasn't very nice)

date night at fenway park

2007-09-30T14:49:00.000-07:00

for the first time since micah was born we got to go out on a date... the whole night, just the two of us! .......... almost forgot what that was like! So we went to Fenway Park to watch a Red Sox game. We go to about one game a year... the night before on Friday the Sox had just clinched the division title, so Fenway was a buzz with all the excitement of the first divsion title since 1995... on top of that it was a good game, too as they came from behind to win 6-4.

We asked the people sitting next to us to take a picture... they seemed reluctant to oblige, as you can see with how the first picture came out (I know Angela is short, but hey come on, it shouldn't be that hard to get us both in the picture right?!):

So when Angela asked them to try again... I held my breath, but it came out better the second time around:

a hat, a pumpkin, and a picnic in the park

2007-09-29T13:33:00.000-07:00

funny how the little things in life can bring so much happiness... Micah has this hat that hangs on a hook over his changing table...

pretty exciting, isn't it?

Micah also enjoys pumpkins and picnics at the park...

"skills"

2007-09-25T15:08:00.000-07:00

Micah's got skills!

all kinds of skills... nun-chuck skills (sp?), cake building skills, drawing skills, mustache growing skills... etc. (if you're a big fan of Napoleon Dynamite, like we are at the McMannus household, you get the joke... if not, then 'duh! you're the lamest thing ever!!')

no, but seriously Micah is learning some pretty impressive skills at only 2 months old. By the way, he is now 12.5 lbs and 22 in. long! Big boy. Pretty soon I'll put him to work landscaping! Micah has learned how to roll over already! And he holds his head up so well! (We are easily excitable around here)

here are a couple other recent pictures...

catching up... again

2007-09-16T15:43:00.000-07:00

Micah has very proud grandparents...

he is changing so much these days... becoming more interactive (although the above picture might suggest that he still just sleeps all day long while occasionally waking up to eat... but of course this picture is a couple of weeks old cause it's been too long since we've posted), he's even starting to laugh which is so funny:

his smiles, laughter, and all the noises he makes in his attempts to respond to anybody who takes time to talk and laugh with him are really precious. Needless to say, it is an incredible joy, responsibility and blessing to watch him develop, grow and find his personality. Everybody wants to get a piece of Micah these days... Joss and Alexa took time to play with Micah today after church:

micah's best picture yet

2007-09-03T18:10:00.000-07:00

catching up

2007-09-03T06:17:00.000-07:00

so it's been a while we've posted....Michawn informed me that proper blog etiquette requires a posting at least once a week... we'll try to be more responsible bloggers...

Mom and Dad McMannus (known to their grandkids as Abuelo and Abuela) came to visit us for the last week, we had a really great time just spending time together which mostly involved Jonh and I trying to figure out why Joe and July were laughing hysterically. Mom brought Joe a jar of fart putty which was the main event for them... I will be looking to subtly make the jar get "lost" at the soonest possible opportunity. Friday afternoon after I dropped Mom and Dad off at the airport, Micah and I came home and the house felt very empty and quiet. We miss you and can't wait to see you again! (Micah especially misses the long walks with Abuelo).

Joe had his 27th birthday party last month, of course, Tink believes she has the rights to every birthday cake blowing out event :) she was a great help because it is doubtful that Joe would have managed to blow out ALL his candles on his own and might have forfeited his birthday wish...

At such a young age Micah already owns more Red Sox paraphernalia than anyone i know. Joe got him all dressed up for the upcoming games against the Yankees. As soon as he was dressed Micah spit up all over his new outfit, which of course was an omen of what was to come... Red Sox lost all three games to the Yanks.... bummer.. Joe was very distraught, but has since recovered.... in my more devious moments i have contemplated secretely buying a Yankees outfit for Micah and dressing him up in it... that of course might have a severe impact on Joes emotional health... ok this is a ridiculously long post. in honor of my Pennsylvania dutch family, lets just say this blog is ALL.

Micah already getting alot of female attention at Josh's birthday party. Sorry Josh, looks like Micah stole the spotlight at your party :)

one month old!!!

2007-08-17T18:31:00.000-07:00

Micah is one month old today... he's not very photogenic yet, he smiles maybe once a day so it's tough to catch a smile on camera... maybe soon. One month sure went by pretty quick (yeah, we know, it's only one month), will the time always go by so fast?

at the park

2007-08-16T12:39:00.000-07:00

the other day we were babysitting for Andre & Kristin,

we took Micah and the girls down to the park on Cabot St in Beverly.

Alexa enjoys summersaults...

and Joss likes to ride in the wagon (although I think she'd rather be outside of the wagon running around... but not yet)...

Micah is dedicated at church

2007-08-05T14:33:00.001-07:00

today Micah was dedicated to the Lord at our church, East Gate Christian Fellowship in Salem, MA. Our Pastors Lou and Gwen, and Micah's grandparents (Angela's Mom and Dad) Ken and Pam all prayed for Micah. It was special that Mary and Pete and their two boys got to be there to see Micah get dedicated.

after church the whole family went and had a cookout at Mom and Dad's house in Beverly. After lunch everybody had fun on the trampoline.

Mary, Pete, Isaiah and Elisha come to visit

2007-08-04T12:30:00.000-07:00

this weekend Mary (Joe's sister), her husband Pete and their two boys Isaiah and Elisha came to visit and meet Micah.

We all went for a walk down to the lake that is behind our house, Isaiah and Elisha wanted to get in the water, throw rocks and look for frogs... give Micah a couple more months and he'll be excited about that kind of stuff, too!

naturally, everybody forgot their swimming suits, so the boys got all wet and then had to walk back home in their birthday suits... it was pretty funny.

happy shots

2007-08-02T13:54:00.000-07:00

first bath

2007-07-31T13:18:00.000-07:00

grandma came over today and gave Micah his first bath... it was exciting.

favorite things to do

2007-07-30T07:01:00.000-07:00

Micah's favorite things to do are..... (if he could talk he'd probably tell you that his favorite things to do are to sleep and eat, but since he can't talk we'll make it up for him)

1. go to church

there are lots of neat people at church, like JP and Mr. Emile

2. spend time with his family and friends

he likes to go for walks with his cousins, and last friday Octavio was in town all the way up from Mexico

one week old today!

2007-07-24T19:13:00.000-07:00

today, Micah is one week old... as you can see, he's very excited--->

such a milestone as Micah's "one week birthday" caused us to reflect on our son's life thus far...

seriously, it has seemed like a long week (good but long). Having Micah around puts things into a good and healthy perspective. Everything is different now... little things that we previously considered of great priority and importance and would stress us out, we think twice about all that now. And in the middle of the nite when Micah wakes up (which means we wake up, too!), sure it can be trying and tiring (and I'm sure it's only just begun, and there will be other challenges that come along with having kids other than having to wake up at 3am)... but what a tremendous joy it is to rush home at the end of each work day to get to 'hang out' with our son.

Anyway, following are some pictures of our time at the hospital that we didn't post yet. It's fun to think of "a week ago at the hospital": all the visits, how time seemed to stand still, spending time with Micah, the food (that's a joke... hospital food is not to be missed), the cot Joe had to sleep on (that's another joke... I would rather sleep on a rock than on those things). It was a really special time, at the hospital, and we'd like to thank everyone who blessed us during that time whether you came to visit or you were praying for us.

I'm sure Micah is thankful for you, too!

top left: Micah just born. top right: 'Uncle' Craig came to visit

bottom left: Uncle Andre and Cousin Alexa are excited to meet 'Baby Micah'

bottom right: Cousin Joss looks a little confused!

cousins

2007-07-23T19:41:00.000-07:00

on Monday Andre and Kristin came over and brought dinner.

Micah got to hang out with his big cousins: Joss and Alexa

First Church Service as a Family

2007-07-23T19:18:00.000-07:00

Sunday was an exciting day.

Micah went to church for the first time!!

first, Micah had to wake up (this took some time..........)

then Micah had to get dressed (he was excited!)

after getting something to eat, Micah was ready to go to church...

our first church service as a family!

Micah's Big Day!

2007-07-21T13:35:00.000-07:00

today was a big day for Micah!

Grandma and Grandpa came over to visit...

...and Grandma gave Micah a spongebath and parted his hair...

...Uncle Danny also came over and he took lots of pictures of Micah with his big camera...

Micah had a big day,

tomorrow Micah will go to church for the first time!

He needs to sleep so he'll be ready.

Check in again soon to see Micah's first church service!

angela on becoming a baby person

2007-07-21T09:01:00.000-07:00

I must confess that prior to Micah's arrival i did worry at times about being a mom since i do not consider myself to be a "baby person." My favorite age group for kids is 7 years and up, but, with Micah's arrival i cannot help discovering everyday how much fun it is to have this little person as part of my life and the joys and challenges of taking care of him. Pretty amazing that i love so much this little guy who caused me so much pain just a few days ago....!

2007-07-20T16:22:00.001-07:00

one more picture for today...

i think this picture is really precious

2007-07-20T13:53:00.000-07:00

this is the first picture of us as a "family"... we are so happy to have Micah with us.

We thank God for our son, he is a blessing and a joy to us.

welcome!

2007-07-20T13:26:00.000-07:00

welcome to the McMannus Family blog!
Angela and I decided to start our own page, we know how terrible we can be at communicating so we thought this might be a good avenue through which we can improve on keeping everybody 'in the loop' if you will. Especially with the birth of our wonderful son Micah just three days ago. Here we will write about our family, post pictures... you know, what not and so forth, etc...
thanks for visiting... come again soon to see what's the latest with Micah, Angela and Joe...