Here is a post from a month ago that I forgot to make public. :)

I am painfully aware that it has been ages since I have written. So much has happened and I wish I could have wrote about it at the time. This has been a Christmas vacation that was incredibly difficult, utterly beautiful and completely exhausting.

Priscilla all in all is doing amazingly well. She bonded with me right away in China and came around a lot with Mitchell. However, when we landed in Madrid and came "home" she was thrown for a loop. Initially she was thrilled to have kids around to entertain her and then she realized they were always there. These little people also wanted the attention of the two people she was learning to trust and rely on. She was not a big fan of sharing...in particular, my lap. She didn't want them to sit there or for me to give them any sort of affection really. All they wanted to do was play with her and love her up. The kids knew who she was and were completely in love with their new sister. Priscilla, however, had no idea who they were and wasn't necessarily very excited about them.

The kids were patient and would give her space, but this got more and more difficult as the days went on. She wanted me to do everything for her and it seemed like all the progress we made in China went out the window. On the plus side, she was more comfortable with Mitchell now and would allow him to hold her more. We pushed on and the distraction of the excitement with Christmas helped.

Then the sickness hit. We don't get sick very often, in fact until this we had only been to the doctor two times in Spain in nearly 3 years...for any of us. This time, however, we weren't so lucky. It knocked out all of us and has lasted at least 2 weeks. It started with the boys, then Priscilla, moved on to Mitchell and I and finally hit Adeline last. We took Truman and Priscilla to the doctor and were told both times it was a virus that was all over Madrid. Wait it out and treat the symptoms. Poor Priscilla had a fever for 4 days, a horrible chesty cough and a nose that was constantly draining. She was miserable. I knew she would get sick at some point, but I wasn't ready for it to happen 1 week after being home. Every comforting technique I had discovered that worked and she didn't hate, changed when she didn't feel good. She wanted to be in my lap or in my arms, but didn't want me to touch her, talk to her or look at her. She wasn't sleeping. At all. She woke up at least once per hour all night long. Naps weren't happening either. It was a heartbreaking time. I longed for something that would make her feel better, but she was uncomfortable and clearly when she had been sick before it had been very different. I cried, I prayed, I held her and kept trying. Finally, we started making a little progress and we found new ways to comfort her. Thank heavens because by now I was sick. Horribly sick and felt horrendous. We are so thankful that we didn't have plans this Christmas. We didn't have any travel we had to cancel or visits we'd have to miss. We were able to stay put, play games and get to know each other all over again. I suppose you can look at getting sick as a blessing in disguise. Priscilla now knows that we will always be there for her, especially when she doesn't feel good.

A few days ago we started feeling well enough to leave the house. Priscilla LOVES being outside and would prefer to be out all day. She loves going on walks in the stroller, loves going to the play ground, playing on the slide and swinging. She started letting the kids play with her at the park and it gradually carried over to playing inside as well. She allows them to carry her now and I can even leave the room for short periods of time when they play now! I am so glad they finally connected and she is enjoying time with them. Adoption is truly a blessing, but it is amazingly difficult as well!