Now Playing: Sunday Feb 20
I walked to the baby house to visit Eli today since we don't have a driver on Sundays. He wanted to walk the entire time today except instead of me holding him and walking, he wanted to do the walking. I definitely got a workout since he can't walk on his own yet. Met two couples to eat dinner and then we called it an evening.
I walked to the internet cafe but there is only one computer that I can access my hotmail account from and it is being used by someone else, which usually happens to me every other time that I walk here-a little frustrating but like everything else over here, all you can say is "Oh well".
The days go so slow here that sometimes you go to bed early just to get the day over with. I keep telling myself-deferred payoff eventually. Two more weekends and then we will fly home around March 8th.

Now Playing: Friday February 18
Eli was in a good but lazy mood today. He wouldn't let me sit down and was only happy if I walked with him. I feel like I am now fit to walk the mini-marathon.
Went to the Central Museum and learned the history of Kazakhstan. All of us Americans are going to meet at Mama Mia's tonight to say our good-bye's to Becky and Lexi since they will be flying out tomorrow.
Tomorrow we will visit Eli and then we are without a driver for the rest of the weekend. Our driver works another job and isn't available every third day so it can make for a very long day since I have read all my books and there is no TV channels with English. I am not an opera person but one American said it is a good thing to go to and is interesting even if you don't like Opera and only costs $3 so we may go to it Saturday night to pass some time.
Hopefully about two more weeks.

Now Playing: Thursday February 17
Eli played for about an hour today and fell asleep on my shoulder the remaining hour. He has had a cold and hasn't been as playful lately. This is the first time he has allowed me to cuddle with him. He is usually too nosy in his surroundings to allow me to hold him for more than 30 seconds. He is fine though. You know how colds can make you feel.
Earthquake update-A blue screen with white font kept appearing on our television every 30 minutes and Mom and I wondered if it could be something we should know about. Patrick and Patty from New York called and said their translators father-in-law is a seismologist and told her another earthquake was on the way and it was going to be an 8 on the rictorscale. I was really concerned and scared but tried not to show it because I could tell mom was really worried. I called my translator to confirm the message and she stated it said something else-Never the same answer twice over here. Patrick called the embassy to see if they had any information and they had not been notified of anything. I felt relieved but placed our passports, moneybags in my backpack(without mom knowing it) and slept with the backpack next to me in case we needed to evacuate in the middle of the night. We American friends agreed to meet at the embassy if anything happened. There was no huge earthquake but my translator told me today that we have had 12 since the big one the other night but they were so small they couldn't be felt.
We may visit the Central Museum today. Hurry up March 7th or something close to that date so we can get home.

Now Playing: Tuesday February 15
I woke up a little tired today due to lack of sleep. Becky's got custody of her daughter(Eli's girlfriend) yesterday and her sister was flying in at 11:45p.m so I babysat for Lexi while she picked up her sister at the airport. Got home about 1:30 a.m and was woke up at 5:30 by an earthquake. I was half asleep at first and thought maybe I was dreaming but noticed the entire apartment was moving and I could hear the glass shaking. It only lasted about 30 seconds and got up to see if mom felt it too. I layed back down but couldn't get to sleep because I was thinking that I had always heard there is always an aftershock. I also thought about turning on the news but I wouldn't understand it since it was in Russian. My driver told me it was measured at 4 or 5 on the rictorscale(hope I spelled that right) but I can't find anything about it on the web today. I just know I am definitely ready to get home because I would much rather face the Hoosier floodings that occur than an earthquake.
Went to see Eli and tried working with him on crawling a little more. I think he will not improve until I get him home. If I set him down in the crawling position, he does this fake cry because he knows I will pick him up since I don't want the caregivers hearing him crying and possibly come in and take him. After we visited Eli, we had our driver drop us off at Becky's'sd apartment so I could drop off the umbrella stroller I brought so Becky's could borrow and mom and I walked to a mall nearby.Found out the landlord will not approve switching cable company's so we can have English channels so it is going to be a long month of February. Oh well-I'll do more reading. If anyone has seen the movie Groundhog Day-I feel like my life is the sequel to that right now but I know it will be worth it once I get home.

Now Playing: Valentines Day
Happy Valentines Day everyone
Just got out of court and it is now official. The court only lasted about 10 minutes and it wasn't very stressful-I think because others I have met here have told me what to expect.
My driver mentioned we would need to celebrate by getting a drink and she said my driver would appreciate it if I bought him a couple of drinks. My thought was-"Isn't it suppose to be the other way around?" Oh well-no big deal. I'm just tired of spending money and ready to get home with Eli. I don't have custody until the passport is processed, which I am told will be around March 1st-with a big emphasis on "probably". I am headed to the babyhouse to give the director, doctor, children and caregivers their gifts and then to celebrate a little-not much though since mom is with me and I need to be on my best behavior, and mom needs to be on her best behavior too.

Now Playing: Saturday Feb 12
Thanks to everyone that has sent e-mails or has posted a comment on this website. It is definitely exciting to get a message or e-mail. I've met alot of nice couples and single mom's and am posting a picture of Becky Poole and her daughter. We've hit it off really well, she is an ex-hoosier and use to live in Jamestown and teach in Crawfordsville. Eli and her daughter, Lexi, are in the same group and 1 month apart. She visits Indy every summer and plan to get together every summer. She and I are already playing matchmaker for Eli and Lexi. I've posted a pic of Eli and Lexi's first picture together-getting them ready for their Prom picture pose one day :) To go to the picture page, visit https://kwoodward2005.tripod.com/elijacobwoodward/

Eli is showing more progress in being more comfortable with me every day. He now smiles when he sees me and we have him giggling out loud. He thinks it is funny to act like he is feeding me his bottle. We are meeting everyone at the Ram store mall tomorrow and am finally meeting up with Pat and Patty, a couple from New York that I spoke with before I left.
Eli's birthday is March 10th and I think it is possible we will be home around March 7th, give or take a few days, so he will be at his new home for his first birthday.
Court is Monday at 11:00-(Midnight Sunday night for you)and I met my translator that will be in court for me. She reviewed the questions the prosecutor will ask in court. I'm not really nervous but I usually don't get that way until I am actually in the situation. After Eli is legally pronounced mine, we will go back to his baby house and have cake with all the caregivers and children in Eli's group to celebrate.
Went to the War Memorial today and saw the eternal flame and statues. Very impressive.
I'll post again after court so stay tuned.

Now Playing: Friday February 11
Update on plans-I figured up the 30 day passport application process for Eli and I wouldn't need to arrive back in Kazakhstan until around March 9th so yesterday I went to KLM and changed our departure date to Feb 15th and I would fly back by myself to bring Eli home.
When I saw my translator after I changed the departure date, she stated I would need to be back here March 1st. My first thought is why did she not tell me that before I went into the KLM office. I went home and wrote everything out so I could see it on paper. I would only be in the U.S for about 10 days before having to return again so we have decided to stick it out here. We got lucky today because I talked KLM into not charging the $200 charge per ticket to change the travel date again. Yesterday we were told I would return on the first and it would take no more than 5 days to process everything from signing the adoption decree to taking Eli to the S.O.S doctor, etc... Today, we again asked our translator and she stated we should be done around March 10th-which is not 5 days.
For anyone that is reading this blog and plans to travel to Kazakhstan to adopt, know that the children are healthy, clean and are well cared for. But be prepared to spend more time than expected and know that there will be changes along the way. If you expect that up front, it will be easier when you arrive.
Other suggestions:
-Request cable in your apartment so you have English channels.
-Confirm if your in country adoption fee includes your apartment fee.
-They don't give receipts when you pay cash for the adoption fee and apartment fee, so be prepared to request they write one out.
-I was told I needed to take Travelers Checks to avoid carrying so much cash. Confirm if that has changed because I had to pay for the Travelers Checks in the U.S plus pay 1.5% when I cashed them for tenge so I lost around $400.
-Eating in restaurants-the tip included on the check does not go to the waitress-it goes towards the cooks, dishwashers, etc...
See you sometime in March-I'm going to order cable T.V because I can't stay here another month with only one channel in English, which is Eurosports and it repeats sports news every 30 minutes.
Dad-you should have plenty of time to complete the Honey-To-Do List Mom has probably left for you to do.
Love ya

Now Playing: Thursday February 10
Got to share Eli's 11 month old birthday with him today. Gave him a couple of Cheerios to celebrate. After the visit, I went to the KLM office and changed our airline tickets to fly home next week. I will meet with my coordinator tomorrow to confirm when I will return and try to get them to commit to how long I will be in country. Met three fellow adoption mother for lunch. Jennifer from Atanta, Shannon from Michigan and Becky from South Carolina-she gets brownie points since she use to live in Crawfordsville and went to Ball State. Yeah!!! A Hoosier-kind of.
Everything has gone smooth for me and I really can't complain, especially after hearing two horrendous stories from Shannon and Jennifer's experiences while here. Knock on wood that everthing continues to go smoothly for me. Nothing is complete until I get Eli on U.S soil so until then, I will not allow myself to relax after court Monday, when he is officially mine.
The highlight of the day is visiting Eli, of course,but besides that, meeting with the other Americans is definitely uplifting and it's like we have our own little support group.
Tomorrow's agenda-Visiting Eli, touring museums and then meeting Jennifer, Becky and Shannon for dinner at Mama-Mia's.

Now Playing: Wednesday, February 9th
Today was a good day. A couple of friends have called me here and it was good to hear from them. Eli was in a great mood-isn't he always-ok maybe I'm a little biased. We did some sight seeing today and headed into the mountains to see the ski resort and the worlds largest outdoor ice skating rink that the olympians train at. I was writing a note in a pile of snow and take a pic of and Sergei(our driver)pushed me in the snow. I told him in America we say that he will be getting a "payback" for that. Ate Kazakh food today. I think I read too much about the only meat over here is horse meat. I had mutten kabobs and they were very good.
Coming over here, I was praying the 14 day period after court would be waived and I could bring Eli home with me on this trip. My court date is Feb 14th and I've been told the judge I have does not waive the 14 day period so we are flying home without him-poor little guy. In about three weeks, I will fly out here by myself, stay for around 5 days, and bring Eli home. I was told about escort service but haven't got good vibes about that service. I feel it would be most secure and healthiest for Eli for me to bring him home.
Met a single mother from South Carolina, who has returned for her 2nd trip. We are going to do lunch this week and the remainder of the time, mom and I will continue to tour the city some more. Going to the Moslem cemetary to look at 4 million dollar gravesites tomorrow and we are going to visit the Art and Music Museum. Part of me wants to sleep to make the days go faster and for Monday to come and go so we can be on the plane homeward bound (of course after I have a conversation in babytalk to Eli assuring him I will be back for him)

Now Playing: Monday February 7th
Sundays I do not have a translator or driver but mom and I ventured out, caught a taxi, went to church and then visited Eli. After that we went to the Ramstore mall, window shopped and ran into a lady from Michigan who is adopting from a different baby house. We had coffee and cake with her and spent about 2 hours sharing stories. Before I left for this trip, I communicated with a family from New York that would be here when I am. We lost contact but last night they called my apartment. It's a small world because the lady from Michigan told them about me and they asked if my name was Kim. All of us are going to meet for lunch later this week.

Monday-Eli was in a good mood-actually I have never seen him in a really bad mood-but I'm sure eventually I will.
After visiting Eli, we went to the SOOM store where there are many souveneirs. I learned not to point like I am interested in something because my translator thinks we are always wanting to buy and I am a tightwad when it comes to spending my money.

My court day is next Monday, February 14th. I mentioned paying an expedite fee in case there is chance of getting him home sooner since I have learned my coordinator personally knows the judge. If the judge would at least waive the 14 day period after court, then I would only need to wait for Eli's passport to be processed, which I understand Washington is visiting this week to resolve the 30 day passport application process. It use to only be 10 days until a new law which came into affect the day I got here.

If they don't waive the 14 days and nothing is resolved with the passport application process, I will probably fly home without Eli and either have to come back to bring him home or pay to have him escorted to the United States-which I will definitely get detailed information on before proceeding with that option.

Looking forward to getting home, sleeping in my own bed and getting caught up on the new television commmercials that are released during the Super Bowl since we could not view the game from here.