Tristan's update

Tristan has been extremely busy while taking all classes for this final semester at night, so he can work during the day. He is working for the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee doing investigative work. This is a current job for an attorney, so when he graduates and passes the bar he can continue to work there. He is really enjoying this job so far and we are very thankful to have a job at this time for our family. We are planning to stay in the D.C. area for the next "while" and will stay in our current townhome in Alexandria, VA.

Tristan was able to attend a Dad and Me day with Benson at school over a weekend. Benson wanted to take a picture in front of the trains and trucks....his favorite thing to play with at school.

For Valentine's Day Tristan took me to see the Washington Ballet perform Rock 'N' Roll. They performed pieces to Beck, The Rolling Stones, and a live local group. It was amazing and Tristan enjoyed it as much as I did.

Reagan's "Mama's girl" days are over. She loves her dad. This has become difficult because she goes four or five days without see him during the week. But during the weekend she soaks in all time she can.

Brittany's update

I have taken a huge step back from work since Tristan has been gone so much this last year of law school. Since I have been feeling much better lately, I've been trying to develop some "talents." I have been cooking a lot more and trying some new recipes.

Everytime I use basil, Benson gets so excited and says, "Mom thanks for cooking like Natalie."

If you don't know, Natalie is my very talented sister in law who grew her own garden last summer while we all lived at Moms' and cooked with basil just about everyday.

I got these wipes cases about a year ago and finally put scrap fabric on them to give to friends as gifts. (:

I wanted to try something different for Reagan besides the one dress I know how to make. I found these two new patterns on Etsy and was very gutsy to try them all by myself without any mom supervision. Those of you who sew can see that they are very simple, but this was still a large feat for me.

Reagan wasn't in much of a modeling mood.

This pattern was more simple, but I still managed to get the lemons upside down.

For the apples I decided to use the standard dress pattern I have and I loved the way this matched perfectly with the shoes Mom sent me from a thrift store in California.

I am also venturing into making coordinating quilts for Benson and Reagan since they will be sharing a room soon. I have everything cut out and that was already a huge job. I expect that to take up most of my time for the next while.

Benson's update

Benson started preschool in February and he absolutely loves it! It is three mornings a week and he loves to tell me all the things he learned and show me all the pictures he colored. He finally has his colors, letters, and numbers down. He has a music class there where he sings songs and loves to play the drums. He goes to their library once a week and he gets to check out a book for the weekend. Sometimes he chooses a book he already owns. (:

His first day of school.

A picture with his teacher and teacher assistant.

He is usually a very good helper and a good big brother. We are still working on sharing though. It is common for him to tell me he doesn't want anymore babies when he is asked to share with Reagan.

He is still filled with personality and carries on conversations with every single person he sees who will stop and listen to him. He loves his books, his tools, his doctor kit, and riding his bike outside. He still loves to sing and dance and play guitar.

Reagan's Update

Reagan is now walking, talking, playing games like hide and seek and peek a boo, and defending herself from her brother. She is still an extrememly happy child, but she has the Atkinson attitude and has no problem making her voice known. She is also very sensitive or tender hearted or as I say, "a big baby." She cries at the littlest thing but it only lasts for a second and then she is back to giggling. She loves to play outside, read her books, and dance. She is no longer in the 90% of weight, but holding strong at 77%. Her height is still and always has been under 20%.

As we prepare for a new baby, I am hoping this is a good sign of things to come.

This is a video of some of her "first" steps taken a few months ago.

She can now say: Mama, Dad, hi, yeah, more (when pertaining to food), and book.

Update

Here is a very quick update of the last 10 months of our lives.

Benson turned three.

Benson and Reagan's only cousins came to visit. For Tristan's birthday we went to the Boise State vs. Virginia Tech game.

We made a trip to Morgantown, WV for a WVU football game.

We also made a trip to New York City with Grandma and Grandpa Leavitt.

We spent the Holidays in Idaho and West Virginia and all of those pictures are saved on our external hard drive, which the cord for seems to not be working right now.