The dresser! ...and the room:)

Alright... here is the dresser as we received it from my parents! It was mine and then my sisters and I'm sure it was an older persons before that because there was some 1970's olive green paint about 4 coats down! My brother and I stripped the paint and began HAND SANDING after I broke my dad's sander 2 minutes into the job...shhhh.

I put on about 5 coats of this dark stain and really worried that it wouldn't look good. However after 2 clear sealer coats, it looked really nice!

So after 3 trips out to Granite Falls, $60 in supplies and about 15 hours of stripping, sanding, staining, sealing and papering and hardwaring knobs, Kepler has a very nice dresser with A LOT of sentimental value:) I also included a shot of his room so far!

We are getting closer folks! This part of the wait is so much more fun because I have tasks to do to prepare for him!

I have also been reading two amazing adoption books: Attaching in Adoption and Toddler Adoption, the Weavers Craft. I highly recommend them for anyone who is adopting!

THE call!

We got the call at 3:55 this afternoon! We have been matched! I was driving into our parking lot at home when I recognized the number on my ringing phone. I answered trying to be calm thinking that they could just be needing something from us. I asked, "Do you have a referral for us?" and the sweet lady at the agency, Tami replied, "Yes I do!". I turned off the car and my mind went a million different directions as I tried to figure out the best way to hear this information. I wanted to be with Amos but he was still at work. I told Tami, "I'll drive to his work! I'll be there in a half hour!" But she said she had to leave at 5:00. Traffic could be bad and I decided I was in no condition to drive! I was shaking and out of words when Tami told me she could put Amos on a conference call with us and then email us the pictures and records. I ran upstairs and opened the email while Amos did the same at work. We saw the face of the sweetest little 11 month old boy I've ever laid eyes on! He is sitting in a little plastic chair and he is not sure if he likes the camera or not!
He is healthy and we are full of joy at the thought of bringing him home into the Kallen family! I can't post names or pictures yet but I assure you, Baby Kallen is on his way!
We will officially say yes tomorrow in a conference call and then send off some paperwork and $5000. We will wait for our court date and then I will make travel plans to be in Ethiopia for the court hearing. This is usually about 2-3 months from now. I will get to meet him and see him for a little bit before I have to return home. We have to wait about 3 weeks and then I travel with my sister to pick him up and bring him home!
I have never felt this much joy before. The only thing that will top this is holding him for the first time and then stepping off that plane with him and having Amos see him for the first time.
Thanks for your prayers everyone! Continue to pray because we have TONS to accomplish in the next few months!

A little change

Okay, a little change is happening. I have been thinking about this the last couple of days and finally got a chance to run it past Amos and he was okay with it. We are officially changing our request to be matched with a child 9-16 months old to a child that is 0-16 months old. I think our age bracket before was too narrow, possibly making children that may be available not eligible to be matched with us. As it stood before if a child became available that was 6 months old, they would not call us because we asked for a child at least 3 months older than that.
I was thinking about our old age bracket and thought about the 2 trip rule. Due to the 2 trip rule, our child will be about 4-5 months older when we bring them home than we originally thought with the 1 trip rule. I think this wider, age window MAY help us get matched more quickly and help our child be closer to our target age spectrum when they arrive home in the US.