The Aagard Family - December

Here's your monthly update:

Michael



** Traveling once for work this month - to LAS VEGAS ** Taking a TRIP WITH SHELLEY to Washington D.C. this month - WITHOUT THE KIDS!!! ** Going to see the TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA with Shelley as well ** Putting up CHRISTMAS LIGHTS on the house and planning the ANNUAL AAGARD LEAF HARVEST for the same day ** Installing a CEILING FAN in the once-was-a-dining-room-is-now-a-playroom or so help me!!! (Put to the Monsters' Inc. tune...) ** Has his SISTER VISITING for Christmas this year - and looking forward to seeing her ** Going to be spending more time WITH HIS FAMILY this month than he probably has these last 3 months combined!!

Shelley



** Has gratefully discovered the magic that is SILK CHOCOLATE SOY MILK - and before you get started on how soy isn't good for you, let me just say that I've already tried the almond milk, won't try the rice milk, and a little bit of soy until this baby is born isn't going to kill me! Don't take away the one luxury I have!!! ** Um, do the words "IT'S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR" mean anything to you? ** Finished CHRISTMAS SHOPPING (suckers!!) and looking forward to WRAPPING PRESENTS ** So excited to be getting a REAL TREE this year and can't wait to smell that evergreen smell every morning ** Leaving the girls for 2 NIGHTS for the first time in my life to take a trip with Michael - and actually not too nervous about it (we'll see...) ** Planning a BIRTHDAY PARTY for Shaelyn, a CHRISTMAS PARTY for preschool, and cleaning the house for out-of-town guest(s) - yes, possibly more than one! ** Feeling BETTER for the first time in my pregnancy, only to get a cold and lose the new-found energy ** Feeling the BABY KICK more regularly - my favorite part of being pregnant!!

Shaelyn



** Turns FOUR this month!!!! ** Is the best "PRETEND PLAYER" I know - right now is playing "Baby Jesus" with her nativity set, and has been going strong at this game for an hour all by herself ** Has discovered the magic of PLAYS - after being in a Thanksgiving play for preschool, wants to put on plays all the time ** Enjoyed seeing a SESAME STREET SHOW at Christmas Town - which was, of course, a play!! ** Has learned how to WRITE ALL HER NUMBERS this past month in preschool, and is now counting to numbers HIGHER THAN 20 - tonight it was to 74 ** Getting better at motor skills she was lacking, like CUTTING PAPER and WRITING HER NAME - because she is finally willing to do it! ** READING BOOKS to Rachelle - one of the sweetest big sister activities she's participated in yet ** Still stubbornly refusing to CLEAN ANYTHING, but a new incentive program I'm starting this month might help with that ** Is obsessed with BEST FRIENDS, and who her best friends are - currently, they are (according to her) Savannah, Miss Jessica, and Rachelle - only one of those is accurate (her sister) ** FAVORITE NEW BOOKS/DVDS: Richard Scarry's Busy Town ** FAVORITE CHRISTMAS SONG: Zat you, Santa Clause? by Louis Armstrong (no joke!!) and anything from the Nutcracker Suite ** FAVORITE NEW LOVEY: Pink Care Bear - and she doesn't go anywhere without it

Rachelle



** Is in her LAST MONTH (or so) of being 1 - turns 2 in January!!! ** Current love: MR. POTATO HEAD - and I am constantly hearing the phrase "Help you, Mommy, tay-toe shoes" ** Other current love: DRESS UP ANYTHING - and has taken on her sister's desire to wear something dress up over jammies every night to bed ** Has learned how to tell KNOCK-KNOCK JOKES (because her sister is currently obsessed with them) - my favorite of her's recently: "Knock knock, who's there?, Cookie, Cookie who?, Cookie Monster!!!" and laughs like an insane person ** New (old) toy discovery: KITTY CAT KEYBOARD - this was something Shaelyn got for her 2nd birthday, so the age-appropriateness is right on. Rachelle loves talking into the microphone and making all the songs play with a "meow" sound ** MEMORIZING the LYRICS to every song she hears ** Following her sister's (bad) example and BECOMING BOSSY - telling me when I can and can't sing along with songs, when I can and can't tell knock-knock jokes, that I can't help her wash her hands... It's like re-living Shaelyn's 2-year-old life!!!! AAAAHHHHH!!