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Where does the life insurance fit in? Immediately?
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You really should have some life insurance since you have children. Do you have life insurance through your job? That may be enough for the time being while you focus on other priorities.
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Should we look into online banking? Which companies are good to look into? What are the pros and cons of each?
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As Ima points out, online banks offer the best savings/money market accounts. The other thread Ima is bumping to the top has some good info.
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Should we put some of our emergency fund into CD's? (I'm thinking keep 3 mos expenses accessable, and put another 3 mos expenses in a short term CD)
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My opinion, no. Put your money in a high yielding savings account (paying 5% APY or so). CDs aren't paying much more -- at least not enough to justify locking up your emergency fund, in my opinion. Also there is good reason to believe the rates will go up more in the future.
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What kinds of retirement accounts are there, and which one is the one that you don't pay interest on before contributing? Is it Roth IRA? and how exactly do those work? does it matter which company we open it with? or which company manages it?
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The retirement account that you contribute to before taxes is a 401k (or 403b or traditional IRA depending on your circumstances). You contribute to a Roth IRA after taxes are taken out. Both are good, but in different ways. A lot of people will immediately say you need a Roth, but in some circumstances contributing to your 401k would be a better choice. Especially if your company matches contributions.