Claire. The moment I met you, I swear.

I felt as if something, somewhere,
had happened to me, which I couldn't see.
And then, the moment I met you, again.
I knew in my heart that we were friends.
It had to be so, it couldn't be no.
Oh Claire. Claire ...
-Gilbert O'Sullivan

It became pretty clear very early this morning that Baby Claire was not going to be a shy one.  I got a wake up call from Josh at 5:40 this morning telling me it was time.  Now.  So I ran up the street to stay with Jackson.  Josh and Kristen left the house at 5:50 and at 6:56, Claire Elaine made her grand entrance into the world.  Claire weighed in at 8 lbs and 20 and 1/2 inches long.  I'm sure that her mother will remind her more than once over the course of the next eighteen or so years that there was no time for an epidural.

Jackson has stepped right up to the role of big brother.  We celebrated with some donuts before going to meet Baby Claire and Jackson immediately gave her a kiss and wanted to hold her.  I asked him what he was going to tell his friends at school about Baby Claire and he said, "She came out."  I guess that about sums it up.  He wasn't a big fan of the nurses at the hospital; he told us that he was scared of nurses and T-Rexes, but riding the elevator was a big hit.

Here are a few pictures of my beautiful new niece.