oh my

my poor baby is having a rough couple days. when it rains, it pours, i guess. thalia caught a nasty cold somewhere over the weekend. she is so congested and stuffy. her nose is running and she is coughing terribly! i feel so bad for her. and on top of that, her second bottom tooth is coming in! i think more than just that one is coming in though because she has been chewing on her fingers and her toys for the past few days. you can just see the top of the second tooth. she is so pitiful! last night she didn't go to sleep until almost midnight! i had to lay with her on my chest on the couch for almost two hours. she laid there quietly, but she wasn't sleeping. then she woke up every hour and half!! not a good start to my first day back to work with her by myself! it actually went fine - until i got to work!
mondays are always really tough. in the morning i have overlapping staff meetings from 9-12. today the second one went over so i didn't get out until 1230. then i had to run and pump (sorry guys) before something else came up...lately i haven't been able to pump as often as i would like because my days are so busy. but i don't want "i'm too busy" to be the reason i stop nursing. i just think that is a weak excuse. anyway, once i got back from that i had to catch up on a ton of stuff before my back to back meetings at 3 & 4. then i had to finish a few things that needed to be done today...i didn't leave until 545!! whew! what a day. tomorrow is going to be pretty crazy too. hopefully wednesday and thursday should be better...then friday thalia and i leave at the crack of dawn for chilly willy michigan! yay holidays!
oh, i guess i didn't tell you the great news. i work for the Advair team, and under advair is an asthma person and a copd person. most of the work i have been doing has been for the copd person. well, that person is a contractor who came in to help out when another associate was out on leave. her contract ends at the end of december, but really she was done in the office last week. because i have done such a good job and have impressed everyone, they are putting me in charge of all the copd research!!! that is really an amazing responsibility, and the fact that i get that chance after only being down here for 3 months is pretty crazy. it is a wonderful opportunity for me to show my stuff and hopefully solidify a more long-term position here towards the summer. i really felt the pressure of all that today though. a number of reports and requests and research issues came up today all at once and i was feeling less than adequate. but my team is really supportive and they have been super helpful. it will be a lot of work, but i think it is going to be great!
chris went home yesterday :o( he said he enjoyed his week down here. it was really super nice having him here to help me straighten up the apartment and get caught up on some chores. not to mention thalia adores her daddy and she liked spending so much time with him. thalia did fine back at daycare today...her little friend was home sick so thalia got a lot of personal attention, which was good since she feels so lousy.
luckily for me, thalia fell asleep a little while ago. i know it is early but i am going to tidy up the kitchen and try to get some early rest myself. hopefully tonight will go better than last night. wish us luck!
we miss you all so much. hopefully we can connect with some of you over the holiday. if not, north carolina is about 30 degrees warmer than michigan and indiana right now :o) thalia and i would love some visitors!!

much, much love and very little sleep
c, c, and t