4 months

We are growing by leaps and bounds in the Thurman house. At 4 months, Addison is 16lbs 5oz. and 26 1/4" long.

Tonight I went through our normal ritual of putting Addison to bed: First a bath, then a story. Turn on her CD and lay her in her crib. Rattle her bear and give it a kiss. Rattle the bear and let the bear give her a kiss. Wrap her arm around her bear. Lean over, give my girl a kiss. Lights off.

But tonight Addison was unhappy. After running a fever all day from her shots yesterday, she was just grumpy and whiny in general. I tried talking to her and smiling. You'll do literally anything to make your child smile. But it wasn't until she heard her daddy sneeze all the way downstairs, that her frown went away. Not JUST went away though - she laughed out loud. It made me laugh too. So then, of course, I spent the next few minutes in a fake sneezing fit just to experience that giggle again. So precious. So much fun.

My Big Girl

If you're having a bad day or even thinking about having a bad day..please, look at this picture. OMG, she melts my heart everyday with that smile.
Addison is getting to be a big girl these days. She's managed to keep her head up and not wobble too terribly much while "sitting" up. She's doing very well in her Bumbo chair. She actually loves to sit up. Straight up. No lying back, no laying down - straight - up. Get's a little precarious when you're holding her, but as we all know, babies get their way!
I registered her for school yesterday as well. By school, I mean, Mother's Day Out. Two days of play starting in August. I'm so excited for her. By then she should be getting very mobile. Although I wonder at this rate. Still no signs of her wanting to roll over. Sometimes I think she'll just take off walking and skip the whole roll over/crawl thing all together.

My husband shot a guy...

Almost a year ago, my husband shot a guy who broke into our car in my front yard and stole our GPS.
Today, while Michael and I were outside before lunch, a young black man approached us. He introduced himself as "that guy you shot". It was our burglar...coming to apologize. He said that he felt bad for bothering us and not that he wanted to get shot, but that because he did, it changed his life. He told us that he'd joined the army and starts his service in May after paying off his court fine. He showed us the scar from where the bullet went clear through his leg. And then he apologized once more before he went on his way, by foot, up the street.
I know I personally have a hard time believing that people, mainly black males have any motives other than bad ones. This is based partly on experience and partly on what I see and hear on TV. But today, I met one named Jeffery who practically thanked Michael for shooting him because it was the catalyst that prompted him to change. It took a big man to walk back up the driveway of a man who had shot him and an even bigger man to apologize for the whole thing. Truly, it was an amazing conversation from someone I'd considered in the past to be pretty worthless. I guess people can change. Gives me a little different perspective on mankind at the most and a new hope for the bunch in the least.

Busy Busy

Our social calendar is starting to fill up again. It's been on sebatical since Addison was born. However, tonight we attended a wine and chocolate tasting at Earthfare. Tomorrow my sister and my neice will be spending the night. Then I have a wedding shower to host on Saturday. To top it all off, we decided to go to the "Night of White" benefit dinner for MCG Children's Medical center on Saturday night. It is at the Pinnacle Club which is pretty neat. But it also requires something semi-formal. All of my dresses are too small in the bossom area these days so I have to trudge through racks and racks of dresses trying to find something that fits my new "mommy" shape. It's really interesting to weigh the same as I did pre-baby, but find that things don't fit anymore because it's all been rearranged. Should be VERY interesting after child #2 (if there is one) to see what my body has morphed into then.
In the meantime, I've got my fingers crossed that there's a cocktail dress with my name on it hanging on some clearance rack at the mall...its my only hope!!!!

Charlotte, NC

This past weekend, we celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary with a trip to Charlotte, NC. We chose that destination because frankly...we'd never been before. Our room was beautiful and the bed was so comfy at the City Center Hilton where we stayed, that we spent a lot of time just catching up on rest. Addison stayed with her Grandma and Great-Ma while we were gone. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be to leave her, but the closer Sunday came, the more anxious I was to see my baby again. We also visited Concord Mills; absolutely the biggest outlet mall I've ever been to. I can see many more trips in the future to shop at the huge "The Children's Place" store. Probably the highlight of our weekend was a Brazilian steakhouse : Chima. It was really really fabulous! Just an entirely different dining experience. Michael and I love new things especially in the realm of food - and this was it. We ate so much we were miserable. So - here's my recommendation: Take a trip to Charlotte. It's 2 1/2 hours from Augusta, Carowinds is nearby, the downtown is cute and new and clean. It's full of great places to eat and museums and tours by foot or horse drawn carriage. I give it a 9!