What's in a name?

It's been 10 months since I've last updated--Wesley was working on potty training. (He's accomplished that, fyi.)

In other news, I had a baby last week. I wasn't even pregnant the last time I posted. 

Claire Johanna was born May 18 at 3:26am. She was 11 days early (only a week ahead of her scheduled c-section), and still weighed a big ol' 9lbs 1oz and measured 22.5 inches. 

Anyway, as with Wesley, we kept her name a secret until she was born. It's hard enough finding a name that works in both languages (even so, her middle name is Dutch, so it's not pronounced like Jo-anna, but yo-hahn-na) and doesn't remind me of some kid I taught whose name I could stand to forget. It takes a long time for two people to agree on a name. Maybe it wouldn't have taken so long if I had pulled the, "I'm incubating her, so I can name her" card. Of course, when you keep a name a secret, it drives some people crazy, and some people throw out suggestion after suggestion trying to get you to slip up and admit that's the name. 

Two people--my mother and my Aunt Beth--did guess the name Claire. And they did so for the reason we chose it.

My all-time favorite book is The Time Traveler's Wife. I have read it five times and listened to it (courtesy of Audible) once. It still makes me cry, even though I know exactly how it will end. And the movie doesn't do it justice. Now, I know some [most] people who I've told to read this book end up not understanding why I love it so (save my mom; she thinks it's wonderful, too, so there), but it's hands down my favorite.

So it only made sense (to me) to name my daughter after the female protagonist--a woman with a strong enough backbone to stay true to herself and her love. A woman who found beauty in art and nature and exhibited compassion toward others. A woman who kept going when the going got tough. One doesn't have to turn to fiction to find examples of empowered, sensitive females; I could have named her Eleanor or Theresa (or a long list of other names) for the same reasons. But I always felt drawn toward Clare Abshire because of her relationship with Henry, and how they were unwillingly forced to be apart. Our Claire (spelled with the i because we preferred that spelling) will grow up knowing how hard her parents had to work to stay together, despite immigration laws and 4,500 miles of distance. She will learn to understand the sacrifices her father made moving away from his home, family, language, and culture in order to be with her mother and to raise a family. She will learn that love is a beautiful feeling worth having, even if it doesn't come easily. 

And that's that.

Here's to you, Claire.