Poor Bentley

Poor Bentley... He has hit the teething stage. I can't see any teeth trying to come out, but his gums are definately bothering him. He is chewing on everything and drooling like crazy. When you rub his gums he gets aggitated like it hurts. And if he can grab onto your finger it better be clean, because he will put it straight into his mouth and go to town on chewing it. He has finally discovered how to roll all the way over. He's been able to roll over for a while, but his arm underneath always gets stuck under. This morning he woke me up at 5 to eat and he was screaming. So I made a bottle, went into his room and he had rolled over all the way onto his tummy and he couldn't get back over. I am trying to teach him how to sit up by himself. He has no balance so far. He will sit up alright if I am behind him. But with no support he will fall instantly. I hope he gets the hang of it by the end of August. We are going to try and get family pictures done but I want him to be able to sit up so he can be sitting in this own pictures. We will just have to wait and see.

A little on Rykkar, he is fully potty trained! Yay! He doesn't wear diapers at all. He doesn't have accidents at night or bedtime and he always tells us when he has to go. All I can say is thank goodness for flushable wipes! Toliet paper does not do to well for wiping... Got to make sure we get it all lol. Because Rykkar was such a big boy he got a special surprise in the mail from grandma. He loves to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, so Gradma sent him a big stuffed Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, he loves them. Thanks Grandma!

I am doing well just missing Utah and our family and friends. Trying to get used to Josh having to go out in the field. Josh has been working non stop. His battery is preparing for their deployment to Bulgaria. So Josh has been out in the field every day. We also have a few overnight stays out in the field for Josh. That's gonna suck. I don't know what I am gonna do when he is in Bulgaria for 30 days. Makes me wonder how hard Afghanistan for a year is gonna be. I know I have a lot of support, and we'll be in Utah for 3 months at a time twice so we'll only be alone for like 6 months. We'll just have to take it one day at a time.

Hoorah for Rykkar

I am so proud of Rykkar he is now officially fully potty trained. He will go by himself, recognizing when he has to go. He also sleeps in his underwear, no diapers at all! It's nice only changing 1 bumb...

What's happening here

A little update on what we have been up to out here in Germany... We had a nice 4th of July. It would have been much funner in Utah with our family but we made due. We had a bunch of soldiers over and had a BBQ and everyone just hung out in the backyard. Rykkar did some swimming in his froggy pool in the backyard and Bentley just hung out. Fireworks are illegal to sell here so we couldn't even have sparklers. But the Army was allowed to put on a firework show for us. They set off a bunch of big fireworks around 10:15. They were nice and Rykkar liked them until they started to get loud and huge. Then he just clung on to Josh saying "I want daddy". It was cute. Bentley is getting huge and is really putting on the chunk! Rykkar is really cute with Bentley. Now that Bentley is getting older and he's not so fragile Rykkar likes to play with him and snuggle him. He brings him his toys and addresses him when he's talking to him. Rykkar is doing very well at potty training. He will now go poopy in the potty. He does great and will go by himself, but Mommy isn't allowed in the bathroom. He shuts the door and tells me "No, Go out!" It's so funny... But whatever works. He loves to flush the potty and wash his hands by himself. Rykkar is really in to coloring right now. He loves the color wonder books and markers by Crayola. I like them too because he can't ruin anything with them. Rykkar also loves playing with the "kids" Savannah and Mckenzie that live 3 doors down from us. They love to play in his room with all of his toys while a movie is going on on the tv that grandma gave him. Bentley can roll over but no sitting up yet. He loves to chew on anything he can find. His favorite is the front of his onesie. He puts his thumb under his onesie and lifts into his mouth. From there he will suck and chew on it until the entire front of him is soaked... Josh is doing well, just living the life of a soldier. The Army is not as fun as life as a civilian but we're hoping that once our 3 years are up we can move back to Utah and Josh can get a job as a police officer. We have started to meet some decent people which is hard to find over here. I'm am doing well. Basically just being a mom to 2 beautiful boys and a wife to an amazing man. I am very proud of myself for actually losing weight. I am only 5 piunds away from my prepregnancy weight and from there I plan on getting down to my previous weight before I had Rykkar. I never realized how easy it is to lose weight if you do it the right way. Eating right and small portions is the simplest thing. I go on little walks with the boys and that's the extent of my work out. I'm sure if I worked out harder the weight would come off even faster. Cutting simple things out of your diet like soda and sweets makes a huge impact on your weight. Doing these simple things allows me to lose between 1 and 2 pounds a week. On another note, It gets hard every day knowing that I am one day closer to Josh deploying to Afghanistan, but I try not to think about that too much. We like to look at these few years as a stepping stone to Josh's career as a police officer and an experience to enjoy. We really miss Utah and our family and friends. Civillians really take their lives for granite. Before we were in the Army I never understood the sacrifice that soldiers and their families give. Now that I live the life it's so much more clear what we really give up.