big boy, henry.

 so you know how henry keeps getting sick every 3 weeks? well we went to a specialist for him last friday to try and figure everything out. they said he might have strep or food allergies or a few other things that i had never heard of. yesterday we heard back from the doctor and she said he was strep b positive and then we had his blood taken so they can do more testing.

that wasn't fun for daniel and i, probably worse for us then for henry. he was such a champ, and he got a rubber ducky after from the nurse, and he loves it!

anyways, the doctor also said that the first thing we needed to do for him is get rid of his binki. ha! but i will have you know, its been 3 whole days completely binki free! but it's a new phase that mom over here is getting all sentimental about. my henry boy is so big now that he doesn't even use his binki anymore.

time is flying by, my little man. i sure am glad you're mine.

playing peek a boo.

"roll it, roll it!" his new trick.

then he gets sleepy.

xoxo

he's home!

 has it been two years already, ha! yes! i would say that two years has flown by, but really it hasn't. ok, it has a little (motherhood and marriage-hood is amazing and i cannot believe that its been two years already) but it sure took forever for this little dude to come home. hong kong was pretty lucky to have elder wright grace their land for 24 months. he is amazing. and really funny and super spiritual. sheesh.

on friday night we all took the train to the airport to pick him up. you can imagine the anticipation when all nine kids were waiting to see levi, not to mention the 26 grandkids that adore uncle levi  and the 4 new nieces and nephews that were born while he was gone, we were all just so super excited. as soon as we saw his little shoes step onto the escalator to come down out of security, we all started chanting "levi, levi, levi...!" ah! i of course totally lost it and bawled like a baby the whole time, but boy was it a joyous reunion.

on sunday he gave his homecoming address in our church and it was so beautiful. he is so humble and so in tune with what really matters. he has changed a lot in the last two years, he has really been an instrument in the Lord's hands and you could feel that as he spoke.

i am pretty proud to call him my brother. welcome home my little levi!

on our way to the airport.

 henry's fake smile. i die.

 one excited dad.

 and this is the whole fam on sunday. i would say we have done well with child bearing around here.

baby bump at 6 months.

 he is getting cute, huh? and he is a wiggly little worm. i hate to say it, but i kinda love being pregnant.

update // up-to-dates // two more days

well, here we are. at the zion ponderosa. (well we are back now), but what a treat! daniel raves about his childhood days at their ranch all the time. catching lizards, stargazing with his siblings, dutch over dinners, the orderville hike, fourwheeling, making tree-forts, chasing horned toads etc, etc,. neither of us could believe that it took two years before i saw it all, but saturday we made our way down to experience the magic.

the bad news...

henry got sick the day before we went down. really sick. this is his fourth time getting this in the last 3 months. it has been horrible. he gets a terrible fever for about 3/4 days and won't eat a single thing. then he gets a stiff neck. this time was so bad, he couldn't move it at all. it was so sad. we took him to our doc last time and he said it was a tonsil virus.

.sigh.

but it keeps happening, and henry nor daniel nor i can handle it again, so we are taking him to another lady who deals with baby tonsil removal on friday. so we will see. wish us luck, or prayers are better, don't wish them, just say them... yep, say a little prayer for henry, ok?

anyways (!!), the morning we were leaving to come home henry started to act like henry again. and today he was happy, healthy, perfect little h boy. thank goodness! so our time at the ranch was fun, but hard. herny and i cuddled in our bed a lot of the time. he spent almost every second either in mine or daniel's arms. but we did have fun, we were together with the neeleman clan and it felt good to be with family. it was also amazing to see all the places daddy has talked about and for him to show henry.

and the sunsets! sheesh! they were kind of amazing.

 then on the way home we got stopped by the tour of utah bike race. sooo, we we climbed through the barb-wire fences and played in the creek that ran along the road. it was a blast. this is daniel waving at the bikers. they loved us. oh, and baby boy #2 is making quite the appearance lately, huh?! he is a wiggler, too. i love it.

AND biggest news of all, levi comes home from his mission on....eh-ham..... FRIDAY! im freaking out. he hasn't met herny, they are going to be besties. i can't wait.

over and out.

xxx

dance break.

well hello there! it feels good to be posting. it has been way too long. i mean, way.

life has been crazy and its about it get a lot crazier. we are officially packing for brazil. yep. its really happening. we found out today that our container in which we are shipping all our stuff down in, is arriving in 4 days. no big deal. i hadn't packed a lick, that is until today. henry and i hit it hard. well we really didnt, packing is the worst! every time i open a closet or drawer or a cupboard things instantly started to multiply. it was insane magic. so after we packed our first two boxes, we needed a break, a dance break. so here comes the pictures. henry has been to more ballet classes then any other 15 month old in the world. he goes to almost one a day, either we are teaching ( i say we because when he comes, we're a team) or i am dancing and he is running around the studio.

so lately he has been walking out our front door (yes, he learned how to open it about a month ago) and straight over to our little balcony/ railing where he looks out and tries to find the birds flying around and then practices his moves that he learned in the studio. it is so funny. he is really good. i cannot believe how much he observes and then does. he is the best learner i have ever met.

man, i am the happiest girl in the world. really. i love him so much.

p.s. our flights to brazil are september 4th, we are just sending our stuff this week.

enjoy! 

^^first he stretches out.^^

 quick selfie.

 this one he let go of the railing and kept falling over. hence the blurr--he is so good!

 turnout!

^^this one is my favorite.^^

xxoo