Happy June and July (delayed posting)

Greetings, friends!  Hope you have all had meaningful time with family and friends over the holiday.  Finley and I had big fun at the Credilles' in Belmont, MS on the 4th.   We had lots of traditional foods and a spin on the water slide.  Finley is a natural water bug!  After just a short while, Finley was going down the large slide with a little help and didn't panic (mom did!) when she went under water.  I think she will be swimming in no time!  The second pool experience was at my Sissy's for our mid-week family celebration.  She went under the water more times than I can count.  This girl is toughening me up - that is for sure! 


Just to catch you up on a few of the happenings of the past couple of weeks... Finley will be able to start the hospital daycare on August 8th.  Praise the Lord!  The few weeks between when I return to work and starting daycare, she will stay with Stephanie Moore.  Stephanie and Chris Moore adopted a little boy from Nepal in January.  So thankful for the opportunity for Finley to get to know him better.  We had a couple of good visits with the Moores.  I think it will be a good transition for her to stay with them for a couple of weeks before going to daycare.  Finley has met several more family and friends and is really adjusting quite well.  She is initially shy and then is often playing after a few minutes and blowing kisses/waving by the time we leave. We visited with Papaw Jack and Nanney Lou Lou.   We also had some Mexican with Uncle Ed and cousin Joey.  Good visits!  We also had a work shower that was tremendous!  Finley was ripping up and down the halls by the time we were done and has slowly figured out that all the stuff in her room from the shower is for her!  It's so cute!  She tried on her beads and dress up shoes - it looked great over the pajama bottoms she was wearing!  That girl is gonna master some high heels in no time.  Such a girly girl!  I can hardly keep up.   I am so grateful for the friends I work with (you guys are great!).   If we haven't gotten a chance to visit with you, hang on...   Week before last we didn't do much visiting as we kept Ava (a sweet labor of love) because she had pneumonia and we couldn't get out for her safety.  We have been to the pediatrician and have gotten the 2 year immunizations (5 sticks).  She cried with last 2 shots.  Pitiful.  She ran low grade fever and walked stiff-legged for a couple of days, but now seems much better.  We met with Dan Davis, lawyer for our re-adoption.  Last Thursday she officially became Merritt Finley Thomas. No longer is she Diksha Balika, although she usually calls herself "Diksha".  On the day of adoption, she did look at a picture and say "Finley" for the first time.  Yay!  It feels like a final piece to a puzzle.  While MS does honor foreign adoptions, it is easier to re-adopt to change her name, get the SS card & MS birth certificate, and register for school, etc.    Another big milestone was our first day at Sunday service at Hope Church.  Finley did quite well and met several sweet people our first day back.  She didn't make it through the whole service, but we came close.  There was a brief outburst when she signed and said "eat" and didn't get immediate results.  A brief exit from the service let her calm down and then we were able to return.  We will work on tolerance for this.  Finley did seem really interested in the worship music (and the flash cards that Connie brought!).  She has now been to a second Sunday service.  I will spare you the long story and just give the abbreviated...  Last year some time I heard the song on the radio "While I am Waiting" by John Waller.  I was so moved by the lyrics that I printed them off and posted them on my computer at work.  I read them everyday.  I had already committed this adoption process to God.  However, from reading the lyrics I made a conscious decision to actively praise God while I was waiting for the process.  It just gave me the happiest heart.  I continued to hold that song close to my heart throughout the whole process.  On our first day at church after returning from Nepal, it was posted in the bulletin that John Waller was going to lead worship at Hope Church this past Sunday!  You can't tell me God isn't in the small things!  I am so amazed and John Waller was so spirit filled - it was a tremendous service!
A few new lessons by Finley and for Finley...

• I have been depriving the poor child of the kind of rice that she likes.  You should have seen her eating like a man at Shogun and noodles at Mt Fuji.  Although, she was a little freaked out about the fire. 
• You can fall down multiple times a day and be okay, even a few face-plants.  I am attributing this to her dare devil instincts.
• Finley is learning the hard lessons of sharing.  She hasn't quite learned that the whole world doesn't belong to her.  She experiences repeated disappointment, but is getting better. 
• Finley's theory on food.... give it to me often.  I will try almost anything (sometimes 2 or 3 times), but if I don't like it I am going to expel it immediately!
• Finley loves being a helper and would like nothing better than to deliver something to the garbage can. 
• She is growing attached to all animals, but especially Charlie and Obie (dog and cat) and Rudy and Squeeky (dog and cat). 
• She would rather eat off mommy's plate rather than her own! 
• Finley can label about 5 body parts and is saying a few phrases in addition to several signs and single words.  She continues to amaze me every day!
• Sleep is improving but still a challenge.  More on that later.   

For those of you who don't know, I had a wee bit of a challenging week.  Monday I backed into Jeff's (Credille) car in their driveway and on Tuesday I ran over their cat!  Pathetic!  Squeeky lost and eye and has his jaw wired shut, but he is alive! It is looking up right now!  I will end with a few pictures to catch you up on this amazing little girl.  I can't wrap my brain around all of the progress she has made.  Thank you for continuing to remember us.  Love. 

Finley's first day at Hope Church.

The sweetest girls in the whole world celebrating Independence Day.



Sweet Finley



Finley with friends, Morgan & Steven at Ella's 1st Birthday Party.  She loved the fondant but not the cake!