The latest

Here we are in the backyard searching for birds, one of her new favorite things. This also showcases one of the most recent efforts on my part to contain her unruly shag by using the dreaded side ponytail. Hey, whatever works, right?


Well I thought I'd update folks about the Hall family in general since it's been a while since we've had a family-wide post.
On Friday, Galon and Susannah left me in the dust (happily, it seemed:) to travel to Florida for the weekend to attend a wedding shower for his little sister and meet his future brother-in-law.
Although the idea seemed like a good one months ago when the planning began, as the date of departure neared I didn't like having my two most dearly loved family members not needing me for the adventure.
However, when I had a girls weekend in early February it was clear that Susannah and Galon did great together and had quite a lot of bonding (thanks in part to the effort of my mom who helped out for a little bit.) So who was I to be a stick in the mud this time?
Part of this most recent adventure included a well orchestrated surprise on the part of Galon's mom, whom Susannah knows as Grandma. Galon's dad was going to drop her off at the airport to go get Galon from inside meanwhile he'd install the car seat.
I'm not sure how all the details worked out, because reportedly what Mom said when she saw G and S was "where's Maggie?" which doesn't sound very surprised to me... but I'm anticipating details when the pea and pod return this evening.
In other baby news, I figured I'd update folks with what our little monkey is up to these days:

At nearly 16 months, she like to feed herself using a fork or spoon. She does this using a bowl of oatmeal or sliced bananas nicely. Other food that has been less succesful include corn, noodles and peas. In an effor to "stick" the food like she see's us do, she often pulverizes it.

For a while her favorite word was "some." She'd walk around observing whatever other folks were doing or eating or holding and then reach for the object/food/cat and say "some?" It was cute but got old pretty quickly. Now we've learned the signs for please, thank you and sorry which is funny because for thank you, you're supposed to put your palm to your chin and the move it downward towards the floor.... she does that to the other person's chin instead of her own. Oh well... she appears to be getting the idea.

She likes playing with Shiloh the dog mainly when there's a ball involved but also if she can sit on Shiloh in some way. Billings the cat is getting his fair share of attention when Susannah went through week-long phase of trying to pick him up by his fur. Owie. Luckily, both pets are pretty mild mannered and usually are in the same room with Susannah by choice.

Susannah likes being outside especially when the neighbor boys (who are 5 and 8ish) are playing with something particuarly dirty, like gravel or sand in the driveways. Typically when we get home from daycare/work we have to get the dog from the kennel in the yard and then we play a little before going in the house. Lately, little miss has been throwing a pint size kicking fit each time we have to go inside. Lovely.

We did pick a dress for the upcoming flower girl appearance and it arrived in the mail this week. It wasn't one of the ones from the previous blog but did look like a compilation with eyelet and 100 % cotton. It's very cute and I just hope I can iron it sufficiently once we get there in April.

Susannah is officially weaned. Over a gradual month or so, she's just been not nursing regularly and this week she's officially not nursing at all. She much prefers to wrestle with Dad or the cat in the mornings in the bed than cuddle with mom, so that was sort of the end of that. I'm kinda sad, but happy to because it means my tolerance for personal space issues has gone way up.


Well- I'm trying to think of other milestones that might have slipped my mind but they have officially slipped. So I'll post some more soon along with some recent photos, but all in all, February is shaping up to be a nice month in the Hall household, all things considered.

a spirit that is not afraid

So. If you click on the link above, you may be disheartened and confused as I was upon reading the editorial in last week's Plainsman, the weekly student run paper at Auburn University.
After switchning my major from pre-vet to agricultural communications, I began the routine (starting with that horrible spelling class) in the journo classes.
Part of that included a sememster of work at the Plainsman, which morphed into a several year stint including a paid position as "assistant news editor" (not sure what that meant, except that I did everything the news editor told me.)
I learned a lot and loved the stories I got to cover while there, which included when VP Dick Cheney visted Montgomery and a steeplechase (not related...)
This was all under the supervision of an academic advisor, Williams, who really let us do our own thing until we ran into a stumbling block that one of the senior editors couldn't solve.
I can't really speak for the advertising side of things because I recall just a few meetings that involved the whole staff and not just the 20+ editorial staffers.
However, upon reading this most recent editorial revealing, on the front page above the fold, all sorts of internal issues I am just a tad disheartened.
First because that paper has a strong foundation of good editorial judgement, which such a move isn't categorized as. Secondly because the hard working folks who are still trying to make a go of it have probably been penalized in part because of the action (however well thought out) of the editorial board.
And finally, the multiple-Pacemaker-winning Plainsman touts a "spirit that is not afraid" but being fearless doesn't equate to being careless in every case.
I hope folks who support the paper, incluing me via weekly readings online, will continue to do so regardless of this recent hiccup from the management.