Benefits

Lucian's interest in photography as of late, has some pretty great benefits. We have amazing shots of our kiddos. With the focus on Kyle lately, we did a little shoot with Claire while the equipment was still set up. I love these shots of Claire being herself.

Just a quick snap shot of the babies after a bath.

And Spencer has snuck in the mix as well. He's much easier to direct;)

Keeping Up Is Hard To Do

Where to begin? Two young ones at home has certainly added to our lives. Kudos to all you parents out there, it's an exhausting job. Kyle is wonderfully sweet and we so enjoy snuggling with him. He is pretty laid back and has a very squeaky cry.

With Lucian back at work, I am learning to balance a newborn and a 2-year old on my own. I've ventured out to run a few errands with both of them (grocery shopping this morning). It is a bit more challenging and I'm adjusting to the fact that it takes me 3 times as long. I much prefer when Lucian is with me:)

Claire is getting over her jealousy and continues to hug, kiss and care for her little bro. Our biggest issue is teaching her what gentle really means when she is touching Kyle or crawling around near him. Here she is "entertaining" Kyle with a finger puppet. See what I mean?We've tried to do some special things for Claire to help her adapt to her new role/position in the family. I must say, she is doing great.

We played outside in the first big snow.

Nana Barb and Papa Joe came to visit. Papa was pushing her in a laundry basket.

And we went shopping for a princess dress.

Below are highlights of some restaurant outings. We celebrated Lucian and Papa Dave's birthdays out for sushi with Lucian's family. Lucian's birthday is today, so the kids and I are meeting him out later for Vietnamese food.
On Saturday, Lucian and I ate out with Claire and Kyle, our first solo attempt. Both of them were amazingly well behaved. Here's Claire enjoying some ice cream.
Sorry this post is a little choppy. It's been been hard to keep up and there's so much I'd like to share. We'll see how things progress.

Little Miss Big Sis

Claire was very excited to have her little brother home, help out and hold and hug and kiss him. However, a week of big sister bliss abruptly came to an end sometime last week. Fortunately, Lucian was still home with me to tag team the issue. Mainly she has been unpleasant, not listening and making a huge scene at nap and bed time. I think we are on an up-swing now and luckily she was just acting out towards mom & dad and not the baby.

I can't really blame her, it's a very big adjustment when you were once the center of attention. We are focusing on quality playtime and all of the things she can do being a "big girl". It seems to be working.

Lucian is back to work this week and we've decided to send Claire to daycare once a week. She had a great time there on Tues. catching up with her friends and spending a day away from her brother. I'm sure she'll come around by the time he moves into her room, right?

Big sister Claire

I gave Claire a pedicure last week as a special mommy-time activity. She loves her "pretty toes."

She still loves to hold and kiss baby Kyle

Our little performer. Here's a little video of Claire's latest concert.

Kyle's Photos

With some new photography equipment (thank you Santa) and a week home with Lucian, here are a few images we've been able to capture of Kyle.

We left the tree up just for this shot. What a great present:)

Banana Kyle

First bath

Our sweet baby boy

Our New Holiday: December 29th

We welcomed Kyle Reed McAfee into the world Thursday night. He arrived at 9:40pm weighing 8lb. 10oz. and measuring 21 inches. His official due date was Jan. 6th, but it appears he couldn't wait to meet us. We are so in love with our little man.

I started having contractions around lunch time on Thursday. Mind you I had a doctor's appointment at 11am that day and was dialated about 2 cm with no clue what would happen once leaving the office. I tried to lay down with Claire when she napped around 1:30, but kept having some pains. As with Claire, I was unsure that they were even contractions or that they were the real thing. Once they started, they happened about every 5 minutes, so I took that as a cue to finish packing our hospital bag and change the sheets for Aunt Mimi to stay, just in case.

Lucian started texting family to let them know, even though I said I'd rather wait. By maybe 3:00 or so, I was convinced this was it. At 4pm we called the hospital and they had us come in. I was around 5 or 6cm upon check-in and Lucian and I guessed we'd meet our little boy before 11pm.

One last bellly shot

Unfortunately, my Dr. was on vacation, but I was familiar with the Dr. on call. I wish they had called her in a little earlier, as I had to wait for her to arrive while I was ready to push. That was by far the hardest part. It was all worth it, however, as we met baby Kyle at 9:40pm.

He had Claire's familiar face (to me) but was a pound lighter and seems to have a smaller frame. I forget how small a newborn looks and feels. Even an eight pounder:)
We are learning his personality and soaking in this precious time. Claire loves being a big sister and has been an amazing help. She gives him kisses and hugs non-stop and is very attentive to her little bro. Here are a few photo highlights. I'm sure they'll be plenty more:)

Proud Dad

Spen is a pro at being a big bro. No surprise:)

Claire reading Kyle her I'm a Big Sister book

Proud Auntie. We are so grateful to Aunt Mimi for staying with Claire while we were at the hospital and bringing her to visit.

Meeting Nana Barb

And Papa Joe

The Countdown Begins

In the back of my mind, I've been focusing on making it until Christmas before baby boy McAfee arrives. There are plenty of things I need to get in order at work, some cleaning and furniture arranging at home, and general holiday preparations (gift buying and wrapping, baking, etc.). Oh, and choosing his name! We are still waffling. Realizing this weekend that Christmas is nearly here, I started to freak out a little.

Friday night I stayed up late wrapping all the gifts I had purchased. I was feeling pretty miserable and seriously wondered if this baby would make an appearance over the weekend. He did not. I finished gift shopping and wrapping last night, got my hair cut, got a pedicure (I need pretty toes to look at while in labor:) and I'm almost done packing my hospital bag. There is still cleaning and furniture arranging to take care of, but I suppose I could tell people what I want done while sitting cuddling our new baby at home. All in all, we are nearly ready.

Aside from the above, here's a few highlights from our weekend. Lucian participated in a bike ride called the Santa Rampage on Saturday. He and several hundred of his closest friends dressed like Santa and cycled around the city stopping at a few establishments for food and libations. A good time was had by all, although I think I put a slight damper on Lucian's time with planting the seed that baby may make an appearance this weekend. (I was feeling better Saturday and even better Sunday.) Sorry Lucian.


Aunt Mimi, my personal shopper, picked up a waffle iron for us on black Friday. We opened the box Sunday morning and enjoyed a great breakfast.

Claire chose whipped cream and chocolate chips for her toppings.

I went with syrup, powdered sugar, coconut flakes, butterscotch chips and whipped cream. Nothing fancy;)

After our breakfast feast, we headed to an ice rink to watch our friend Cait play hockey. There was also a speed skating event taking place, which was pretty cool to watch. We're lucky to have an Olympic training facility right in our backyard. Lucian used to opportunity to take a some cool photos.

Weekend Happenings

This post is a bit of a mish mash. Updates on all the things we've had going on. Two Saturdays ago Lucian, Spencer and Papa Dave drove to West Bend to pick up a swing set extended family offered us. Unfortunately, it had to be picked up on a rainy, cold Sat. in December. The guys were able to keep the majority of it in tact while transporting, so re-assembly went fairly smooth. We haven't had much time to enjoy it yet, but I'm sure it will be great come spring.

Thursday evening we headed to Spencer's winter band concert. Claire enjoys music and is now at a better age to sit through a performance. The music is also quite loud so she is drown out:) Spen participated as a member of big band (a before school "class" he is in) as well as a member of symphonic band. He's second from the end on the right in the photo below.

Here's a sample from the big band performance.


I had a Groupon I needed to spend at Whole Foods over the weekend. We planned dinner out on that side of town Saturday evening and headed to Whole Foods for dessert. They have gelato I am a big fan of. We picked up a few items and sat down in the café to enjoy. Claire also dove into the fruit she picked out in the store.

On Sunday, Aunt Mimi and I attended a cookie exchange at our cousin's about an hour away. We had to bring 8 dozen cookies to the party, and as you can see, left with that many as well. I'm grateful it motivated me to bake in a timely manner and now we have treats to enjoy and give away!

Lucian and Claire went to brunch with Santa while I attended the cookie party. Cousins Lucy, Lydia and Geremiah went as well. As you can see Claire kept her distance from the jolly man in red. We have been reading about him and watching Polar Express, so I thought maybe there was a chance she would interact. He even had M&Ms to give her, but it was a no go. I think we'll skip the trip to the mall for a photo this year.

Cousin Lydia had no qualms with Santa. She must have been good this year:)

Claire dancing near Santa