3 Strikes...

Oh how I wish I were referring to baseball right now! Benjamin has strep throat again for the 3rd time since April 2nd. Ahhh!!! I feel so bad for the little guy. Once again he finished his antibiotics on Tuesday and started with a sore throat 2 days later. Once again we went to the doctor where they did a throat culture that came back positive for strep. The only "good" thing in Benjamin's eyes is that now Brent and I need to have throat cultures done to make sure we aren't carriers (we don't have sore throats, but could be carriers) that keep reinfecting him. Hearing that we had to be "gagged with the sticks" brought a smile to his face. Well I'm off to taking good care of my little patient--lots of jello, soda, and TLC!

April Adoption Update

Giant Pandas are native to central western and southwestern China

Still waiting! The latest update from our agency was that they received 2 days worth of referrals. This means that China has issued referrals through October 26, 2005. Our log in date was January 24, 2006. The current wait time from log in date to referral is 18-19 months and increasing. We are hoping that May will bring a bigger batch of referrals to speed things up! We'll post another adoption update mid-May or as soon as we get another update. Thanks for your continued prayers!

A New Little Kreider!

Brad, Bradi, Raegan, & Sydney KreiderWe have a new member of the Kreider family!!! Sydney Marie Kreider was born April 11th at 11:04pm in Michigan. She is 7 lbs 15 oz 20". I was able to talk with Bradi today and she said that everyone was doing well. Bradi's good friend Brenda had this picture posted on her blog. Thanks Brenda! Big sister Raegan was happy to see her new baby sister. Sydney is a Kreider, check out that head of hair! Don't you just want to comb it and put a bow in it! Congrats Brad, Bradi, and Raegan! We wish we could be there to see you! You'll just have to give the girls extra hugs from Uncle Brent, Auntie Kristin, and Benjin!

Painting Easter Eggs

Last night Benjamin's baseball practice was cancelled due to the cold weather. Yes, it was a chilly 37 degrees with snow flurries here. What happened to spring?!? Anyway, we called my brother to see if their family wanted to come over for supper and paint Easter eggs. We had fun eating Chinese food, kids playing, and of course painting Easter eggs too! It was great to hang out together since we missed the Wile Easter last week (Benjamin is feeling better now, and no one else got his strep--bonus!) Sometimes last minute plans really are the best! Thanks Jon, Becky, Ethan, and Emma for a fun night!

Kreider Katch-up...

Before...

After...

I am so excited to finally be able to post an update! Between our computer issues and me being on the couch from surgery it's about time! (Although, my free time today is because Benjamin's home with strep!) As you can see Benjamin has his braces now. He got them on back in February. He has been doing great! The highlight for him is having the colors changed on his braces.

Check out our "Grand Champion"! Benjamin goes to a Wednesday night program at our church. One of the highlights is the Pinewood Car Derby Race. Each boy is given a block of wood. They draw on their car shape and the leaders cut it out. They get to sand them, paint them, and decorate them all there (this prevents it from being a competition between the dads! :-). We prepared him before going, you know the whole this is your first year, there are other boys older that you, etc. He prayed at supper that night that he would win. Well, you go #95! Benjamin ended up racing and beating his age group, the older boys, and finally the leader's car that is the "example car" (it hasn't been beat in 3 years). Can you tell we are proud parents! Congratulations Benjamin!!!

A March snowstorm! We ended up with around 10 inches of snow on March 16th. Brent and Benjamin went out and built a really cool fort while I rested inside from my surgery. It wasn't long though until it melted. They had fun!



Starting the room...Yes the mess in the picture to the right is the start of our daughter's room. I had to take a before picture. Brent started painting. He has the trim and the first coat of paint on the walls done. It looks great. No more pics though, until we are all finished--furniture, curtains, etc. You'll just have to wait! More suspense!

Well, we hope this post finds you all well! Benjamin started baseball last week, so I'll look forward to posting some of those pics in the future. Hopefully, we'll have another update from our agency in the next week or so. I'll post an Adoption update then. Have a great day everyone!