Our family of four became a family of five! We are so excited to finally have our baby boy on the outside (and boy, am I glad to not be pregnant anymore!). Ian Robert McLean was born Monday, November 17th, at 1:29 AM. The labor was eerily similar to my labor with Serena - it took all day to go from 2 to 3, with strong contractions all along (that didn't seem to be doing anything), and then BAM, it progressed quickly after that. Ian was posterior (his head was down, but he was facing my stomach instead of my back), so I had back labor the whole time. He finally turned at the very last minute. I found out later that the cord was wrapped around his neck when he came out, but thankfully, it didn't cause him any problems. He nursed right away and was calm and happy. The midwives left Kevin and I with the baby for the first two hours after his birth, so we could snuggle together. We were so lucky that everything went well and he was born healthy and perfect! So much love for this little guy!

Caroline has been a bit preoccupied of late so I, Kevin, will fill in for her during this post.  My wife is away from her computer as she has been spending her time feeding and caring for our newborn son!  Ian Robert McLean arrived early Monday (1:30 A.M.) and was delivered at the local hospital in Saint Cloud.  Both mother and child are healthy and resting (well at least Ian is getting some rest) at home after a 3-day stay in the hospital. 

Last Friday, knowing that our baby-free evenings were limited, we visited a favorite restaurant of ours, the Creperie of Saint Nom la Breteche. During the year in which we lived in Saint Nom, we would often walk down the street to the Creperie after work to enjoy a traditional crepe dinner.  Caroline's mother, Sue, is in town to help out with the new baby and the five us enjoyed a night out together. A few pictures below.

I finally made it to the end (sort-of)! From the very beginning of pregnancy, it seems like you've got your eye on the prize....the DUE DATE. Even knowing it's just an estimate, we count down the days, getting more and more excited as we approach that day. Well, that day was yesterday, and there's still no baby. I'm trying to be patient, but it sure is hard! I can't wait to meet our little guy. Of course, when he does come, I know I'll miss all the kicks and rolls I get to feel inside me...there's nothing like that feeling. My mom has been here, keeping me busy while Kevin and the girls are at school. We've cleaned, made some freezer meals, shopped at the local market and eaten lots of ice cream. The hospital bag is packed, the nursery is ready, and we are all just waiting for Baby McLean to show up. He still doesn't have a name (which has been stressing me out for months), but we're hoping that we'll just know when we see him. If not, we may have to pick a name out of a hat -just kidding (sort-of)!

Even though we've been through this baby thing before, in a lot of ways it feels like a whole new world. Our girls are so grown up and independent - it'll be so strange to have a tiny human around again! I love that this baby boy will have two smart, creative big sisters to cuddle him and teach him things. As he grows up he will always have them as examples and will be so loved. 

Last week Kevin and I went to the Passenger Concert in Paris. I was expecting a band, but it turns out Passenger is a British guy with a guitar (Kevin's the one who knows about music...I'm pretty clueless). About a month earlier, Serena came home from school and told me that she was invited to go to the concert with one of her friends (she and Kevin both love Passenger).  She had mentioned the concert to Kevin, suggesting that we might like to go, but she told me that he thought I would be too pregnant and tired to go.  So, he never mentioned the concert to me but....I went ahead and got tickets.  The day before the concert I told him about it and he was so surprised and excited! I met him at school and we got one of his colleagues to take a couple pictures of us. The concert was great (except for the super rude people behind us who WOULDN'T STOP TALKING! - seriously, they were so annoying). We probably won't make it to any concerts for a while after this baby comes, so it was nice to have one last night out in the city.