MY FIRST CHRISTMAS

Hello, my name is Claire! As you can see, my most favourite thing to do is sleep. In the following pictures, I will actually be awake for the most of them, but trust me, not for long. Mommy and Daddy took these pictures of me for something they called "My First Christmas", but I'm really not to sure what that was all about. All I know, is that they woke me up for it. It wasn't too bad, because I got to spend time with my family and my cousin Jack. His mommy and daddy put a silly hat on him, just like my mommy and daddy did to me. It wasn't all bad, though. Apparently, you get presents on Christmas! I got a whole bunch of nice stuff from everyone! I hope we can do this again next year! Anyway, I'm sleepy again, so it's off to bed for me. Goodnight!

That's my cousin, Big Jack Stratman!

Sleepy Baby....

Claire and Santa

Sorry about the crappy quality of this image, but it was scanned in...anyway, here's Claire and the big guy. Nice expressions on the two of them, don't you think? It looks as though they've just had a spat and now are not speaking to each other...BEWARE OF GROUCHY SANTAS THIS HOLIDAY SEASON!

So, anyway, here she is. I feel that maybe I should begin all this with a little bit of backstory...

Tracie and I decided to get married this past May; In June, we discovered she was pregnant. (Tracie es enciente?! ay, mios Dios!!!) Apparently, because we had....oh never mind. The point is that she got pregnant,(Doctors now know what causes this condition.Contact your primary physician for more information.-ed.)and we were to expect a baby sometime around Thanksgiving. So, the wait began...Tracie was racked with morning sickness the entire time. I was racked with the usual neurosis of impending fatherhood.

We found out that we were having a girl and decided on a name...It derives from my Dad's mom, Claire, and Tracie's Grandmother and Aunt, Leva Lorraine. We kept this a secret until the very end, hoping every one would like it as much as we did.

Anyway, on November 11th, after 36 hours of labour, 5 i.v. bags, 2 bags of pitocin, 978 gallons of coffee, and entirely too many cigarettes (the last 2 were mine, not Tracie's) much panic and an emergency c-setion, Claire was here. And now, if I can keep up, she will be here as well, thanks to the power of modern technology.

CLAIRE'S PAGE!!

Well. Here I go. I've finally decided to set aside my luddite sensibilities and create a blog for Claire, taking the cue from my sister and her family, to set up a site of our own. Hopefully, I will be diligent and keep it as up to date as possible...but we'll see what happens.