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Fantastic Family Time
June 2, 2009

William Locksley Niednagel is, as you can see, doing just splendidly. :-)

Tis' amazing being a father, and now more than ever he truly feels like my son. Thus far he is a pretty mild mannered, serious little boy, with strong legs and arms and an incredible ability to move his head. He typically wakes up twice in the night around 2:30 and 6:00, enjoys taking baths, and has a thin layer of brown and blond hair. To the right is a picture of me as a newborn, which you can expand by clicking. I was 8 pounds, 11 ounces, and in some small ways he at times looks like a thinner version of me. We haven't really looked at Meliss'a baby pictures yet, so there may be some similarities there. He makes us laugh all the time with his cute little facial expressions and sounds. He's just precious.

In case you missed the last blog post of the birth, CLICK HERE.

Must be off! Having the Thomases here was such an enourmous blessing, and thank you so much to every one of you for your service and sacrifice each and every day while you were here. Made things SO much easier. I'm doing my best now to fulfill your roles to Meliss (not nearly comparable!).

Lord bless you all!


Little Willy in his hammock. Kinda looks like superman on planet krypton.


Further out. Tell me that doesn't look comfortable.


Precious.


William says he's tired of wearing clothes that don't fit him. Says it makes him look like a weirdo. Pretty vain at such an early age.


I wove you!


Hi Mama Moneeka.


Grandpa, back from travels, sees his newest grandson for the first time.


The real superman from planet krypton (on the right). Micaiah's just a poser.


Ok, we're both posers.


Again, the pink and yellow ... and blue thing ... pays her respects.


Lori Voeller stops by from Jer & Danni's to see Willy Locks. He later told me he couldn't believe they were wearing the same thing.


A delivery from the Longs! What could it be now? (80s song plays in the background)


Oh my goodness ... just so incredibly well done! We hired Landon and Bryson Long to build us an 11-foot long, 4-foot wide table a month or so ago ... and they didn't disappoint. Thank you SO MUCH for this beautiful gift that we pray shall bless hundreds of people for years to come.


Dessert and fellowship.


Locksley puts it to the test.


Make no mistake. He's signals the clear OK.


Amidst the madness, pop took us out to play a little golf on a gorgeous spring day.


Jeremy came within a foot of a hole-in-one on this 180-yard shot!


Neighbor Bob joins us. A tip ... always kneel and align your putts like this to make people think you really know how to play.


Dad ... the ever showoff.


Time to go pick up Pa and Matthew in St. Louis! Fun time!


Pa sees his little Willy Locks for the first time.


Couldn't get enough of him.


Shopping at Soft Surroundings when a bunch of ladies came over to see the newborn. I just gave them the Brad Steele glare and they were soon gone.


Thing 1 and Thing 2 in front of the official PF Chang horse.


That's a hip mother.


Meet me in St. Louis!


(car in background) ... "I'm telling you, mom, that was Brad Steele! Turn around!!!"


Couldn't go to St. Louis without spending the weekend with the Z family. Micaiah celebrated his 16th birthday, hence his mother approaching him with a cake.


The Thomas tradition of eating the cake face first with your hands held behind your back


Before I got married I knew full well things would always be cramped with the boys around.


Hannah holds William.


Rebekah holds 8 cartons of ice-cream. Now the big question ... which would you rather hold?


Such fine, respectable young adults.


I say, someone just made a most comical jest! Aha ha ha!


Such fine, respectable old ... I mean, mature adults.


Grief, how many pictures do we have to see? You know, that's really rude.


Ok, well since you came here for William anyway, here's another "Aww" shot.


Time for a luau! The boys horked my Hawaiian shirts.


Aloha, grandmother Babs.


Apparently the table conversation wasn't stimulating me.


A little ping pong. Good seeing you again, Jared and Justin!


Oh no, is that a copperhead? Yep. Beautiful, deadly snakes.


I told the boys they could either kill it or put it in an igloo for me to drive up the road to release. They chose the latter, and with apparent pride.


All the guys teamed up to make a path to our compost pile. Thank you SO MUCH!


William gets his check up. He gained an entire pound in 1 week! Praise God, as that was some weight he needed to gain.


It's true ... white men can't jump.


Matthew impersonates William ... or William impersonates Matthew?


Time to visit the home of Laura Ingalls Wilder in Mansfield. She wrote all the Little House books here. To answer your dumb question, yes, that is a sincere smile.


Her home. The two Things need a little mental help.


We're a family.


Blowfish kiss.


The boys just couldn't get in the mood without playing a little dress up.


Yes, everything's a conspiracy. Who would have ever thunk the tender author of the Little House books would be a member of the infamous Eastern Star (version of the masons)? Thanks to our undercover reporting, you now know the truth.


And dear Almanzo, Laura's husband, also a mason. Yes, by now I was definitely getting the creeps.


In front of the house Laura's daughter, Rose, built for her in later years. She eventually moved back to the white one cause it felt more like home.


To the one who knows ...


Back home ... I HAVE A SON!


For Melanie's 21st birthday we drove down to a nearby creek to enjoy some incredible chocolate cake.


On the way there's this incredibly spooky looking house. Sometimes there's a car parked in front of it, and sometimes not. One of these days the boys and I are gonna pull a Hardy Boys and see what's really going on behind those windows and doors.


The tradition continues.


Can't think of a better place to eat cake.


I think I'm gonna puke.


All the ladies lookin' so fine.


You had a baby two weeks ago? Hard to believe!


Thanks, boys, for the epic, cinematic droplets of water.


William just needed to wake up ... and there was only one way to do it.


lol, look at the reaction. The little yeoman fell right back to sleep five seconds later!


"I say, Pip, t'was an extraordinary time in the land of Ozarka!" - "Yes, Merry, and we shall return again someday soon. Indeed we shall."

Thanks for stopping by!