Happenings...

We're getting settled in here in Great Falls...  :)  Feels good to be back in Montana...

Ben says: "ha" (hi), "bru" (brother), & "Mama" (we're pretty sure he really means it - he only says it when he sees me or wants me), he really enjoys feeding himself (and Mama), likes to stand and get his groove on, and has discovered the joy of playing roll the ball with me...

Michael's really into: tortillas (at almost every meal, he's gotta have one), doing the ponkin (pumpkin) dance (he totally made this up himself & it's ADORABLE), writing "spells Michael" & listening to me *try* to do Mary Poppins (& Julie Andrews) justice by singing "Stay Awake" at bedtime (his current favorite).  He's also into making Marvel/Star Wars stew...mmm...

These boys bring me joy daily and leave me in awe at the things that they pick up on and I just really love watching them experience things for the first time.  Makes my heart happy...

Oh my WORD...

First of all, ladies, let me say that there are PLENTY of women to dress up as for Halloween, if you so choose to dress up at all.
And to you, costume companies - you need to stop making female versions of all the male characters.  If a girl is geeky enough to want to be a storm trooper, she's going to want to be the real thing, cuz I don't remember seeing the storm hooker in the movie.  (Or from other stories - Green Hooker, or the Flashette...)
http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Wishes-Female-Storm-Trooper/dp/B00BZ5X9E8/ref=sr_1_850?s=apparel&ie=UTF8&qid=1381075953&sr=1-850&keywords=adult+costumes

http://www.amazon.com/Flash-Secret-Wishes-Costume-Large/dp/B003O2S6S4/ref=sr_1_3?s=apparel&ie=UTF8&qid=1381076803&sr=1-3&keywords=adult+costumes+flash

http://www.amazon.com/Green-Lantern-Costume-Small-Dress/dp/B005KSVG6O/ref=sr_1_3?s=apparel&ie=UTF8&qid=1381076835&sr=1-3&keywords=adult+costumes+green+lantern
(I'm not bagging on you, Amazon...)

These aren't the only absolutely RIDICULOUS costumes out there - there are "slinky" versions of just about all the male characters you can think of.  Again I say, there are so many amazing women characters out there to dress up as - let's represent ourselves WELL ladies!  (If you dress like a storm hooker, you can't get upset when people don't take you seriously!)

This week in the Aagaard home...which is now in MT

Conversations with Michael:

M: "What are we watching?"

Me: "Nothing...  What do you want to watch?"

M: (doesn't miss a beat...) "Some Captain America would be nice."

...

M: "What does a mustache say?"

Me: "I don't know... What?"

M: "That's a lot of hair! HAHAHAHA!

...

Me: "What's goin on with your bottom?  Is your butt okay?"

M: (usual response is "nothin..."Today's response is...) "No - it's kinda ITCHY!"

...

What's in with Ben:

• cheddar cheese
• egg yolks
• Rice Krispies
• gettin' his groove on!

I love these boys...  

I need you to know...

There's not ONE member of my family that's not vague or stoic with most of the things/happenings in our lives...  I can't tell you how frustrating this is, but I also can't say I'm not the same way...must be genetic.  So this is a hard post for me to just lay out there...
We're moving soon.  Far, far AWAY.  While I'm excited at the adventure before us and the people we'll be getting to see more of, I'm so so saddened to be leaving the family and friends we have here.  I have a sister and a brother & his family in this HUGE state of Alaska that I won't get to see NEARLY as often, certainly not as often as I'd like (cuz that'd be every day), we have a church family that we grow closer to all the time & now that relationship is coming to a halt.
I wish, dear family and friends, that we could all just BE in the same place...SEE each other every day. I want you to know that I'm not this selfish little girl who's too busy to spend time with any of you - NAY - I long for more time with you all!  It's a poor excuse to say "I just got too busy" but you wake up and life happens, and then before you know it, the kids are asleep and all you have energy for is to brush your fuzzy teeth and climb the stairs to bed...
PLEASE KNOW that you all mean the world to me, and if I could tell you to your face without crying or feeling like the socially inept person that I am I'd do it!
Jeff & Tricia & Adam & Ash & Brad & Josh: I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!  I'm going to miss seeing you all!  I get so excited every time we get to drive your way and I can barely contain myself in the seat!
Lisa: I don't know what we're going to do when I just want to drive up the road and hang.  You make me laugh so much and you ALWAYS make me feel special...  And every time a car drives by our house and Michael says "it's TT!" I just don't know how I'm going to be able to tell him it's not so...
I'm not trying to make any of you feel bad - just know that we love you so much and miss you already! Just in case I'm too vague or stoic (or inept) to tell you - I love you!

This week...

Ben's been rolling over more & more & even sat up for a few seconds by himself...  :)  Also, at dinner one night (brekkie for dinner) we had little toothpick forks in the banana slices & Michael took 3 of them out & stuck 'em between his fingers like Wolverine...  Lovin' these boys!

Benjamin Daniel

Stealing a few quiet moments at the end of a busy day, I'd like to introduce you to our newest addition, Ben.  He joined us here on December 27th (a whopping 3 months ago) and has been keeping us smiling, crying, laughing...on our toes for sure!  I'd always wondered how mommas did it with more than one, since Michael took ALL my attention.  I'm loving figuring it out!  I obviously haven't had time for blogging, or I'd have posted some sweet pics sooner.  ;)
Here's our little man, over the last 3 months (sadly, nothing sooner than 6 weeks - we lost all photos of Ben prior to that point)...

Little man in his outfit from Auntie Colleen

I'm thinkin'...I'm thinkin'...

Obsession...

...with...

...feet...

Sportin' his sweet hand-me-down LOTR onesie

Mama, gimme some space - my friends are lookin'

So sweet...brings my heart joy

I promised with the last blog entry that I would write about what I had learned at the Women's retreat I attended last fall...then life happened...literally.  :)  We moved out of our home that we weren't sure was going to go through with the sale, so we hadn't packed yet (just in case), we welcomed our second son into the world (we love you Ben and are so glad you're here!!!), we all got really, really sick (flu, pneumonia, RSV for Ben, sinus infection, colds), BUT here we are - alive and kicking and grateful to be getting over the latest cold!
Anyway, excuses aside, I've finally found some time to blog.  Guess where my notebook is with all my notes from retreat?  Upstairs in the same room as my toddler who's avoiding sleeping - so I'm not going to go in there and give him ANY more excuses to get outta bed...  ;P  And there's another excuse...
It's all good - I can wing it:
At retreat, I learned that I need to ask for help.  I learned that I need to immerse myself in Christ.  I need to feed myself, daily...or I will starve.  I learned that I teach by how I live.  How am I living?  I learned that you can't "self-help" your walk, you need others.  I learned that I NEED TO BE TRANSPARENT!  That's my biggie.  Stop pretending every thing's perfect and just be me with the people in my life.  There's no need to be "an Eeyore" about things, but I need to be transparent, and know that the people that love me will love me anyway.