we are cool!

today we got air conditioning. best thing eveeerrrr. we have been waiting for this day for a long, hot time now, so it certainly deserves a blog post.


we're all just so darn happy!

we did a little bit more unpacking today and somehow ended up taking these pictures of henry in the meantime. please be mine forever, king henry.

he kills me. happy weekend, folks!

henry update

the good news is, henry went to work with daniel this morning. the bad news is, henry went to work with daniel this morning and now im missing him.

i think it's time for me to give you a little up-to-date on him.

i was very fortunate that i was able to nurse henry all the way through my pregnancy with charles. i am so impressed with the things my body can do sometimes, like make a baby and feed another baby, all at the same time. then when charles came out, henry started nursing even more because of all the new milk! the only thing better than nursing a baby is nursing two babies. #itsthetruth.

i felt like such a mother.

henry has nursed this long because i felt like we should. he still needed it. but then the day came last week, that i knew would come eventually, the day that i felt like we should stop. he was ready. (even though he thinks that he still needs mommy's milk every morning at about 4:45am, ah!).

i had a feeling we were going to stop, and every time i would think of it, my heart would physically hurt. it was terrible. last wednesday night we had a crazy storm here in campinas. tons of rain, thunder and lightening. after henry's shower, scriptures, and prayer we cuddled up on my bed and watched the storm through the window. i had the feeling that that night would be the last time i would nurse him to sleep. he suggeled up next to me and nursed and fell asleep with the rain and thunder beating on our window. i cried as i held his perfect little body in my arms. i cried because i knew that was the end of one of the most beautiful phases in my life. henry was the one who made me a mother, i learned what it meant to nurture because of him. i cried because i love, more than anything, the opportunity that the lord has given me to raise my own two, perfect boys.

and it was over, just like that.

the next night henry wanted to nurse again, but i knew we shouldn't. i let him cry in his crib as he fell back asleep. and me, well, i sat by his door with tears running down my face. it was sad and painful. 

i can't believe sometimes how much love is inside of me for that little being. when i met daniel- i had the same feeling, i didn't even know it was possible to love another human that much. then as my baby boys have come into my life, my heart just keeps getting bigger, and deeper, and stronger. i suppose this is how we learn about the endless love that our father in heaven has for us.


life is a beautiful thing.

xxx,

h

when it all began...

.

first sunday.

 the neeleman's had an awesome first sunday in our new city.

we found out that our stake had stake conference on sunday so we went to the beautiful, (beautiful!!) stake center here. i was wondering the halls/empty classrooms and turning on all the fans for henry most of the time, but it felt good to be there.

after lunch we headed to the reservoir down the street from our house. we spent a good amount of time feeding the geese while i told the boys about me beloved pet goose alberta from my childhood days. she was a beaut. we walked around, people watched and had lots of good familysations. we also memorized a scripture. oh, and the weather was perfect.

hope you had a good as well,

xoxo

oi oi oi

hiiiii. henry just went down for his nap so charles and I wanted to give you a quick update. we moved two days ago!


i.am.so.happy.


we are now 4 minutes away from daniel's work, (not a million years) living in a super cute little apartment that is brand new (still has that new house smell, my absolute favorite, i wish there was a purfume that scent because i would wear it. love it that much) with no lizards no roaches and I have only seen one mosquito.

boom.

i saw daniel 3 times yesterday and already once today. its totally dreamy.  and the biggest mall in south america is right down the street. yep. in fact me and the boys decided to go check it out yesterday and then couldn't find our car for an hour! we made it to our car just in the nic of time, the biggest storm i have ever seen hit about 3 minutes after we found our car. miracle.

anyways, gostamos campinas! so happy we are here.

xxx

tonight.

 it's friday, friday. friday. (remember that rebecca black song, the absolute best). boys are asleep so it's just me, the computer and the mosquito's. liven' large. today was an interesting day. my days usually are, i mean they really are not interesting at all, so i think a lot, and in doing so, i learn things. 

i will tell you what i learned. first of all, we're moving. we have been trying to move to campinas for over two months now because that is where daniel works. we live about and hour and a half away and therefore never see him. this week has been especially bad, i mean leaves at 8 am and doesn't get home till almost midnight bad. poor henry hasn't seen daddy all week. and since yarlies and i get up during the night, we get to see him a little bit but hello, certainly not enough. it's terrible, absolutely terrible. i married daniel because i wanted to spend all day everyday with him, to raise children with him and kiss him all the time..and none of that is happening! we are all packed up and suppose to move tomorrow. then tonight i got a call and said it is delayed again, and we can't move in until monday ( we are been doing this since december 1st!).

secondly i feel like i am a terrible mother. i shouldn't even admit this, but we have had mcdonalds for dinner two days in a row. the.worst. mcdonalds in brazil does seem a little better than in the usa, but you guys, it's still mcd's. i never cook anymore, i suppose i have had one too many sightings of 'roaches in the kitchen. i lose every bit of my appetite. then today i wanted to go play in the sprinklers (hose, actually) with henry and then i stepped on a giant brown hornet and my foot swelled up like a ballon and i was out for the afternoon. henry was sad. since i couldn't walk, we watched way too many curious george episodes. 

yarlies, well he is the best baby in the world. i went to put henry to bed and left him on the coach (for maybe 30 seconds) in which he of course figured out how to roll off onto the hardest tile floor in the world and got the biggest goose egg in world. 

i felt terrible. 

so we went for a walk. as i was walking the talk from elder holland popped into my mind. he talks about our savior and how he walked alone along the path to calvary. he says, "trumpeted from the summit of calvary is the truth that we will never be left alone nor unaided, even if sometimes we may feel that we are." and that thought brought me peace. i could literally feel the love of my savior surround me. i knew that i wasn't alone. he gave me my daily bread, that was all i needed. god is so good, you guys. he knows what we need even we don't ask for it. 

 then tonight i had such a sweet moment with henry. it was bedtime and we had showered and said prayers and it was time for scriptures. he laid in his crib and listened. as i was reading the book of mormon to him, the spirit filled the room. he was quiet while i read. as we read it was so clear to me that i have a divine purpose in what i am doing each and everyday. it may seem mundane or boring or hard or lonely somedays, but raising two little boys is the work of god. it really is.  peace filled my heart and love poured from every fiber of my being for my little henry. he has a great work to do in this world. and i get to teach him that. as my eyes filled with tears, his big brown eyes looked into mine. i saw purity and strength and so much love. overwhelming gratitude came over me, i am so grateful to be a mother. i am so grateful that i can spend all day everyday with two of the the cutest dudes around. they are perfect and i know i will miss these days tremendously when they slip away. because they will, they will grow up. so tonight and tomorrow and every other day ahead i am going to cherish these days when we spend all day everyday just us three. what a beautiful blessing i have been given. motherhood. i love it. 

these pictures are from our trip to utah. kaori took them. thanks k bear.

my favorite little face.  

xxx

here and there and then over there.

hey there. we are back from all our christmas adventures and finally almost caught up on our sleep as well. we fist had a blizzardy blast in utah, and then a holiday hooray in the domincan republic. i have a lot of pictures and i do i do want you to see them all, but you will have to wait because i haven't had time to really go through them. for now here are a few from the iphone (isorry).

it sorta felt like we were on an airplane for the majority of our trip (and we sorta were) so hence the airport shots. the last leg was the worst. we left the domincan republic at 6:30 am saturday morning and didn't arrive home until 2:00 pm the next day. yikes. dr to nyc, nyc to brazil. with delays and layovers galore. but it was worth it. we loved seeing family. we loved spending all day with each other and not having to go to work. it was all wonderful. hope you had a merry mess as well.

happy new year!

xxx