Lydia Grace Baoxing Kemper

My friend Andrea's sister and brother-on-law just adopted a little girl from China. They are in China over Christmas picking her up and completing the paperwork to bring her back to the US. She is adorable and Teresa is doing a great job journaling their experience. I know a few people who have adopted already and their stories are so uplifting.

Here is their blogspot: http://lydia-our-treasure.blogspot.com/

Ice Storm

Whew! What a week! We got about 2" of ice and the electricity was out nearly everywhere on Tuesday. Wyatt and I stayed at the house as long as we could and then packed up and went to Derek's parents house - they have a wood-burning stove and a hot-water heater that runs off propane. Their electricity came on Tuesday night and has been on most of the time since then - our house is still out. Here are some pictures...

These trees were dropping limbs left and right, I was afraid to pull the car out of the garage to leave and have a branch land on me. There is our new garage, just in time!

A good picture to show just how much ice had accumulated on items.

Our antennae broke in half, the skinny evergreen is leaning with the weight of the ice and the tree is also dropping limbs, one was laying on the power line coming into our house - yikes!

The drive up to Derek's Mom and Dad's house. We had to do a little "off-roading" to dodge the broken branches and hanging limbs.

Another picture of all the ice the built up. The precipitation came down like rain and then froze when sticking to stuff.

First snow at 5 months!

Wyatt is 5 months old! At his doctor's appointment on 12-7, he weighed 18 lbs. 5 oz. and was 28 inches long! He is watching everything go on now - even the cats when they walk by. He is so smiley too, grinning at everyone who talks to him.

First significant snowfall of the year was this past week, Dixie is sitting on our kitchen table looking out the picture window. What a beautiful view!

Here are some of our cattle grazing in the pasture by our house. It was still spitting sleet and snow today - you can see it on their backs. US Hwy 71 is in the background, we have watched many people stop to scrape their windshields the past two days. Just a few miles up the road is Northwest Missouri State University - who played football on ESPN2 on Saturday. We watched the game on TV and saw the Bearcats win one to make it back to the National Championship!

Wyatt already got a Christmas present, it is this activity center where he can stand up in it. It has a lot of moving parts that Wyatt tries to chew on (no teeth yet). Derek put it together and did a great job - and with no help from Lindy.

So much stimulation, so little time.

MU vs. KU Football game

Derek and I had good seats, row 10 in the end zone - student territory. It was an awesome game and we were so tired the next day - but it was worth it!
M-I-S-S-O-U-R-I!!
We went with some of Derek's family: Denise, Dana and Dallas.
" Scoreboard, scoreboard, scorboard !!"

I took this video with my camera right at the end of the game, everyone was chanting "Number One!"

First Haircut

Wyatt received his first haircut (at 4 months old) this week. I took him into the barbershop on the square in Savannah.

Our friend Donnie Blair did great work!

Wyatt wouldn't let the cape deter him from trying to eat his fingers.
Mid-cut, Wyatt did great but tried to wiggle out of his Bumbo seat - what he was sitting in for the cut. He never cried, which surprised some of the guys in the shop.
" Why does this taste so funny? Why is my mouth full of hair?!" He ended up getting hair stuck to his face, hands and mouth.
"Who do I look like? Mommy thinks I am ready for the Navy with my military cut."
Donnie and Wyatt, our old neighbor Dana is Donnie's daughter. Donnie is a great Mizzou fan; when we were talking about the MU-KU game in a few weeks, he said he wouldn't go down there with that bunch of KU Fans around! Go Tigers!

4 months old!

Here are some random pictures from the last week or so. Wyatt is four months old and very fun! He talks and blows bubbles and likes to sleep on his belly. He will immediately roll to his belly if you lay him on the floor. Sometimes he gets he legs up under him like he is trying to crawl - watch out Mom and Dad!

Wyatt is blowing bubbles and makes raspberry sounds with his mouth - then ends up slobbering everywhere!
He can sit up when leaning against the back of the chair or couch, but will try to roll over (and off the furniture).
Wyatt and his first ride in the combine! Derek's boss Leon took us around the field a couple times while cutting beans. Leon and Wyatt are good buddies from way back.
Wyatt was pretty entertained with all the noises and action in the cab. That is until he got hungry and we had to go home. Thanks Leon, we hope to do it again!
Derek and Wyatt at the breakfast table dicussing the days work. I wonder if Wyatt would drink coffee from his bottle yet?

Happy Halloween!

Derek and I took Wyatt trick-or-treating this year. We didn't get around as fast as we thought and missed visiting a few people we had wanted to. Wyatt was very well behaved and got a few treats! He was a bat (if you can't tell) and the only problem was strapping him in his car seat with his huge stuffed costume.

Batman Wyatt at Grandma and Grandpa Holt's before we left for town.
Mmmmm, fingers.
Great-Grandma Vesta, Wyatt and Dad. Wyatt slept through most of his visit at Vesta's.
Wyatt and Great-Aunt Cindy - a great close-up of Wyatt (or little D).
Wyatt in his pre-costume Halloween wear. This is one of the few pictures I will get of Wyatt on his back anymore, he is rolling over all the time! And rolling clean off the blanket, his Mom taught him her log-rolling skills.