It's been awhile...so I'll try and catch up

Wow! Christmas Break was a little hectic! We began our journey back to KY by loading two kids (under the age of 20 months!), 4 suitcases, a diaperbag, purse, stroller, carseat...need I go on... into the car and headed to the airport. I think next time we travel I am going to make a strict "no shoes policy" for everyone. I mean come on- I am not hiding a bomb in Ava's shoes. And if airport security even had an idea of how long it took us to convince her to even put them on, they would have mercy on us. So here we go... first take off mommy and daddy shoes, belt, empty pockets, large jewelry. Then onto the kids- Ava gets out of her carseat and runs like a toddler who has sipped one cup too many of fermented apple juice through the security point- only to be escorted back to me so that I can remove her shoes. All the while Daddy is working on getting Tal out of his carseat without waking him- not an easy task when his sister is screaming at the top of her lungs while I try and put her shoes BACK ON! So we are already exhausted and we haven't even begun! I once had someone tell me to just sleep on the plane- they obviously don't have children! Once we got past security, having already explained to many people that we need the water to make the formula and the liquid tylenol for teething, we were on our way. The plane rides- yes we had a connection- were uneventful for the most part. It was great to be home!

Baby Tal on the plane

Ava Ryan on the plane- she didn't much like the idea of sitting down!!

Over the course of 3 1/2 weeks our family visited 2 sets of grandparents, 3 sets of great grandparents, a great, great grandmother,and a few friends. Who says holidays are for resting?? The kids had a great time and enjoyed all of the extra attention. Ava even learned how to feed herself with a fork and spoon and say a few more words like baby Tal, peas (please), carseat, and NO!! She particularly enjoys saying the last one!

Granna (or nana as Ava calls her) playing Santa

Ava and Chelsea playing Santa

Tal's first Christmas

Ava's Christmas PJ's (look at the butt!!)

Sisters!!

Mommy and Talmage

Opening presents

Aunt Laura with Tal

Grandma rocking Ava

Aunt Kacey with Tal

Come on, Ava! SMILE!!

Granny Buck holding Talmage (her favorite thing to do!)

Hanging out with Granna and Papaw

Tal's first Christmas with Dot DawAva Ryan with Cousin Elijah Clay

All of those fun Christmas toys and all Ava wants to play with is an empty milk jug!

Ava with Uncle Adam

Tal's present bagTal with Papaw: I think it is hilarious when he crosses his eyes!!

Ava Ryan playing with her buddy, Cooper

Ava and Cooper wrestling with Matt

Ava and Cousin Emma at the bowling alley- Ava thinks if she holds the i-pod up to her ear that she'll be able to hear the music
Maguet grandchildren- look how tall Ava is!!

The Maguet gang
Granna, Papaw, & Aunt Kacey at Tal's baby blessing
Tal's blessing

Ava on her way to Western KY with Granna and Papaw- they stopped off at Wendy's for some chicken fingers and french fries!!

Mammie (great, great grandmother), Ava, and Daddy Buck (Great grandfather)

Is this present for me?

Mommy and Ava

Aunt Katie & Tal

Ava with 2 great grandmothers (Granny Buck and Dot Daw)

All nine Maguet's together at last

Papaw with Tal (great grandfather)

Granna with the girls

Granna holding Tal on his 1st Christmas
Mommy-Anne (great grandmother), Daddy Buck(great grandfather), and Baby Talmage

Papaw spending time with Tal
Grandpa (fafa) and Ava

Ava and Mommy just hangin out

Tal with Aunt NeNe

Tal and Aunt Karol

Daddy with his hands full!

Uncle Ryan and Ava Ryan

Christmas Morning smiles:)

Playing games at Gatti's

The boys: Jason, Matt, Cameron, Tal, and Ryan

Aunt Kacey met us at the airport to say bye bye

However our visit came with a couple of trials and much sadness as my grandmother, Grandma Marr, passed away a few days after Christmas. I was very thankful that she was able to visit with Ava and Tal during our time home. She will be greatly missed.

Louie with Grandma Marr

We also found out that Talmage has a rare metabolic disorder called galactosemia. This is a disease where the body lacks the enzyme to break down lactose (to make it as simple to understand as possible) and therefore he cannot have any form of milk product or he could get very sick. After a lot of tears and many nights spent on the internet (only to find out worst case senario information) we took him to an endocrinologist for further blood testing. The results were more than we could hope for. We found that he has a variant form of galactosemia called duarte galactosemia. Basically, this type only requires that he be on soy formula for the first year of life, then after another blood test and a "milk test" he should be able to be on a normal diet for the rest of his life. We were so lucky and relieved that he didn't have Classic Galactosemia which is the type where all dairy would have to be removed for the duration of his life. So we dodged a huge bullet. I always wondered why Matt and I were in TX and now I think that I have my answer- TX is only one of a very few states that test newborns for metabolic disorders twice (once at birth and again at 2 weeks). Had we been in KY, we might never have found this given that it didn't show up on his first test, and could have a very sick little boy on our hands.

So now we are back in TX and back in the swing of things. Being a mother of 2 young children is not an easy task. The house is always a mess, it is never quiet, and someone is ALWAYS hungry! But I wouldn't have it any other way. I enjoy seeing them grow and change everyday and know that I will never have a chance to get back these precious moments. So I am trying to drink it all in and take lots of pictures which I will post very soon!

Home Again- hey, where is everybody???