Claire Turns One!!

Miss Claire Abigail turned one last Friday, the 28th! I can't believe how fast that year went! I swear I put a baby to bed Thursday night and woke up to a little girl on Friday morning.Steven had to work that day, so I got to have her all to myself for most of the day. It was a pretty low key but fun day. We had a yummy breakfast of birthday waffles, then later that day went out to my friend's to make her big cake. That evening we all went to dinner with Grandpa Steve and then Steven and I took Claire swimming at the new Aquatic Center. It was the first time we'd been and we thought it was pretty nice. Overpriced, but still nice and the water was the perfect temperature. Claire wasn't too sure at first, but once she got used to the water she LOVED it! She was kicking her feet and waving her arms, almost like a doggie paddle. It was super cute. The she figured out how to splash and was a splashing maniac! It was a fun way to spend her real birthday with just our little family.
My friends Trish and Paula make these super cute outfits with appliqued onesies, leg warmers, and tutus. Perfect for a birthday girl! Unfortunately you can't see just how cute it is because a certain little girl is too busy to let her mom get a good picture!Best pic of the cute little fishy on the front I could get.

Claire's birthday party was Saturday afternoon. We decided that it would be easier and more convenient for everyone to do it then instead of Friday night. We had decided on a butterfly theme, mostly because I had a small butterfly cake pan :) Creative, I know. Like I said before, my friend Evee helped me make the big cake and I am SO grateful for her help! Without it, Claire would've had a pretty lame cake :) I did figure I could decorate her small cake on my own, but clearly you will see in the pictures that cake decorating is not my calling by any means. I think it turned out decent though. I also made the banner, my attempt at being crafty :)

Everyone arrived around 1:00 for the party and we ate a delicious lunch of pulled pork sandwiches and all the fixings. After lunch, Claire opened her presents. She remembered what to do from Christmas pretty well and it was fun to watch her!

And surprise, surprise....she got spoiled. Then we sang Happy Birthday to her. She wasn't exactly sure how to blow the candle out (even though we had coached her) so Treyson and Kennedy helped her. At first Claire was a little timid about digging into her cake, but once I gave her a little taste she was all over it. And she kept eating, and eating, and eating! I'm pretty sure she ate way more chocolate cake than a one year old probably should! We actually had to take it away from her and that, with the combination of nap time approaching fast, really didn't make her happy at all!

Then it was off to the bath and down for a late nap before going to Dylan's basketball games. After she woke up and everyone was gone, we realized in all the craziness we hadn't gotten a picture of all of us together. Lame. Thank goodness for the self-timer! Ugh.

We had a fun couple of days celebrating Claire's birthday and are grateful for all who came. She is surely a loved little girl! Happy birthday Miss Claire! We love you so much and can't believe you are one year old! You bring so much joy to our lives everyday!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was pretty relaxed for us this year. It is usually spent at Steven's grandparents with pretty much all of his family; however, this year they were sick and unable to host. Becky hosted instead and it was just Steve, Becky, Dylan, and our little family. It was weird not to have the rest of the family there but it was a good time.
We started out with yummy appetizers and some visiting. That was followed by a couple rounds of White Elephant (aka Yaaankee Swap for my fellow Office watchers). Of course, Claire got to got first and go figure chose the present that was just for her. Her very own cell phone. She loved it, but still prefers my phone unfortunately. After the game we relaxed, played with Claire, and visited some more. Then it was time for the traditional lasagna dinner which was delicious. After dinner we relaxed and watched whatever Christmas movie was on TV and then read the Christmas story from Luke.

She sure loves her Daddy!

And her Uncle Dylan!

This is Claire's favorite place to play at Grandma's. She loves that she can see herself and whoever else is in the room.

Claire showed off her walking skills, with a little help of course.
Christmas Eve Family Photo. Not the greatest, but the best we could get with a wiggly baby!

After the festivities were over at the Hultgren house, we headed over to my parent's house for a little while. My family used to always visit my Hitz grandparents on Christmas Eve, so since they've been gone not much happens at my parent's house. We let Claire get her wiggles out, get a few rounds of patty cake in with Grandpa, and loves from Grandma, Grandpa, and Braden. Then we got her jammies on and headed home so Santa could come. Like I said, a pretty low key Christmas Eve for us this year.

Santa, Gingerbread Train, & The Grinch

Because we were all sick, we missed our ward party this year. This meant we missed seeing Santa there. Luckily, Santa came back to town and was at one of the stores downtown one Saturday. We took Claire down to see him and weren't quite sure what to expect.

At first she was kind of stoned faced and just stared at him.

Then she kept looking at us, the photographer they had, and just around the store. She did this for about 5 minutes, despite our attempts to get her to smile.

After awhile, something finally made her laugh and she giggled/smiled for a good couple of minutes. She was quite the little ham.

And then she started pointing and talking to Santa. It was like she was explaining to him what she wanted. Cute! These pictures aren't as good as the ones we got from the photographer, but they tell the story better.

A few days later, we did our annual gingerbread night. Steven and I have done a gingerbread house together since we were dating so it's because somewhat of a tradition. Last year we did a mini village that turned out to be not so much fun, so this year we decided on a gingerbread train. It was much better! Claire was zero help, but she was there. I had given her a wooden spoon and pot to play with while I made dinner earlier and she was still pretty entertained by that. She was interested in the candy, go figure, so she got a taste or two. I thought our finished product turned out pretty cute. We were especially proud of our caboose full of "coal" (my idea) and the "smoke" (Steven's idea) coming from the engine. We are excited to continue this tradition again next year and see if Claire will be more into it or not. One evening a couple of days before Christmas, I was busy wrapping caramels and Steven trying to get a few presents wrapped. Claire was busy getting into EVERYTHING and so Steven decided to put on How the Grinch Stole Christmas for her. He put her in her bumbo and gave her a couple crackers. It was so funny to watch her and she was so into it. At first she didn't even notice we were taking her picture. A few nights before this, Steven had built a blanket fort in her room and we all got in it and watched Merry Madagascar together. Isn't he the funnest dad?! Claire loved that too and, of course, I didn't get a picture. That seems to be a theme around here.

I still have Christmas Eve and Christmas Day to post and like I said before, I told myself I'd do it before the end of the year. But, Steven came home early today and wants to go on a date tonight, so it probably won't happen :) Eventually it will. Have a safe and happy New Year!!

Decorating the Christmas Tree

***I have some serious catching up to do here, so please bear with me. I promised myself I'd at least get this month done before the end of the year. Nothing like waiting till the last minute :)

We had planned on getting our Christmas tree up the Monday after Thanksgiving for FHE. We had the tree and all the decorations out and ready; but for some reason or another, it didn't happen that night. So, we planned on the next night. Needless to say, Claire and I were sick the next day. Then Steven got it, then Claire again, and so on. We finally got around to doing it on Sunday, December 5th.

Claire was such a big help getting all the decorations out for us. She even played with and tasted them to make sure they were all ok :)

She actually was really fun. She got to put her very own "Claire's first Christmas" ornament on the tree, but I forgot to get a picture of it. (Don't worry that she got 3 more personalized first Christmas ornaments! I have no idea what I'm going to do with them all, but it just goes to show how she's not spoiled AT ALL.) It was fun helping her put the ornaments on the tree and even more fun trying to keep her from taking them right back off. Eventually she got bored and decided she liked a small snow globe better. At least it kept her busy long enough for us to finish decorating the house. I have to give Steven a shout out on the outside decorations, too. They were great! Sadly, once again, I didn't get a picture. I know, I'm that awesome. All in all, our first Christmas decorating experience with a small child was a success!

Claire's 1st Halloween

Our Halloween week was a super busy one! We had something almost every night last week and for us, that's very rare. I had CPR recertification on Tuesday night and Steven was on call. Becky and Dylan came over to hang out while I was gone and to watch Claire just in case Steven got called in. Wednesday I spent most of the day in the kitchen making cinnamon rolls for our ward party. Thursday and Friday were filled with chores and laundry and Friday night we had family pictures taken in Lovell. (I can't WAIT to get them!!) On our way back into town we stopped and got Pizza on the Run and then came home to carve our pumpkins. Claire loved watching us and "helping" with her pumpkin. She had to go to bed before they were done so she was excited to see them and play with them the next morning.

Saturday we cleaned up outside in the yard a little and then made sugar cookies to decorate. Too bad we never got around to decorating them. After that we got Claire decked out in her Halloween costume and headed to the Trunk or Treat. This was the first one we have gone to. It was crazy! We got one of the last parking spots left at the very end of the parking lot and we still ran out of candy about 15 minutes into it! It was fun to see kids from our primary classes dressed up. Claire was closely watching all the kids reaching in the bowl for their candy and eventually dived in for her own piece!

After watching the costume parade, we headed to Lovell. Claire got quite the stash of candy for a nine month old who can't even eat it! First stop was Great Grandma and Grandpa Christensen's house. Claire had a great time sitting on Grandpa's lap eating a roll and watching Grandma make her a goodie bag. She gets super excited when she eats and grabbed the roll and took a couple quick big bites before we could get it away from her. We didn't realize she had actually gotten any pieces in her mouth until a few seconds later when she started full out choking. Scary! Luckily we were able to get it out quick. After that we decided we should probably head out :)

Next stop was Uncle Jordan and Aunt Angie's house. (Jordan got married for those who didn't know! Post about that coming soon!) Claire had fun playing with them and once again got a goodie bag. Then we headed over to Grandma and Grandpa Hitz's. Claire was excited to see her favorite cousin Ross the vampire and had fun with grandma and grandpa. She had the most fun with grandma's dog Libby. She loves following her around and gets super excited when Libby plays with her. I don't even like dogs, but it's pretty cute!

Claire got spoiled with candy again. By the time we headed back to Powell we were exhausted, but it was a fun night and I think Claire had a good time on her first Halloween! For our actual Halloween night, we spent it over at our friends house for dinner and fun with lots of friends. It was a busy busy week, but lots of fun!

Claire - 6 1/2 Months

Claire had her 6 month check up today. A little late, but not my fault. There were only 2 doctors taking new patients here and they both happened to be on vacation for the past 2 weeks. Here are her stats from this appt:

Weight - 11 lbs 15 oz (Less than 5th percentile)

Height - 24 in (Less than 5th percentile)

Head - 15 3/4 (Less than 5th)

In other words....She's TINY! We had been noticing over the last month and a half that she was losing her belly and rolls and were slightly concerned about her weight. They weighed her 4 times just to be sure. The Dr. said he's not overly concerned about it since she is eating well and is very active, but he wants to see her for a weight check again in a month. In he meantime, he said to fatten her up with larger amounts of cereal and vegetables. He said "I think she's just a compact little girl". I prefer petite over compact :) She's wearing mostly 3-6M clothes, but some 0-3M still fit her. Anything 6-9M she drowns in, obviously.

Claire actually turned 6 months old on July 28th. We went on a little mini vacation to Denver and for her 6 month birthday took her to her very first Rockies game. She loved it! We sat club level for the first time which was nice. It's a lot cleaner up there! There was a little boy 3 days younger than Claire sitting in the row in front of us and it was his first game, too. Claire was about half his size, but much more vocal! She was loving being outside and talked the whole game. It was a good time even though the Rockies disappointed us and lost. We also went to the afternoon game the next day. It was really hot and during Claire's naptime so she was a little whiney, but overall did well. We had to head back to Powell for Steven to be at work the next morning, so we left the game a little early and listened to the rest on XM while driving. Rockies won! Anyway, it was a quick trip but fun for our first little family vacation. We are looking forward to going to the Oregon coast next summer!

Claire's first tooth broke through the day before her 6 month birthday and her second tooth a few days later. She isn't the most pleasant teether, but who can blame her?! It took her a few days after her teeth popped through to figure them out. Her tongue was constantly hanging halfway out running along those little buggers!

Claire can sit up on her own, but usually doesn't for very long. She much prefers being on her belly. For the past week or so, Claire has been up on her hands and knees rocking back and forth. Yikes. She then moves her legs forward and pulls herself forward with her arms. Once she's figures out how to get those arms going at the same time, she'll be full out crawling. Yikes again! She's pretty much been getting where she wants to go by scooting for a couple months, but now she's so much faster! And can only get faster once she's crawling. I really need to baby-proof this place! I need to get some video of this, too.

As I mentioned before, Claire is a talker! She loves to make high-pitched screechy noises. Right now she says baba, nana, mama(unfortunately I don't think she's referring to me), and gaga. She also does this thing where she lets her tongue hang out while she does a fake belly laugh/cough. It's pretty dang cute :)

We can't believe Claire is almost 7 months old! It has gone by so fast, yet we can't remember her not being part of our family. She has brought so much joy to our lives. We love you, Claire!

5 months

Claire is now 5 months old. Plus two weeks. She is still as cute as ever, and actually, I'm pretty sure she gets cuter every day :)

Claire is doing all sorts of fun things at 5 months:

• Loves to play with her feet. She is constantly checking them out, and more often, sucking on her toes. Super cute. When she's doesn't have them in her mouth, she is kicking her legs nonstop. Again, super cute.

• Has become a bit of a Mama's girl. Most of the time I like this, but sometimes Mama could use a break! Other than her dad, she really only lets women (Grandma's really) hold her. She pretty much refuses to let Grandpa Hitz hold her, but will flirt and smile at him from a distance. She does this with her uncles, too. They've learned not to take it personally because usually no matter who has her, it's only a matter of time before she wants Mom again.
  
  
• Loves to be outside. Whether it's going for a walk, sitting on the swing, or even just helping me water plants, she loves it.



• Loves bathtime and could stay in there for hours if we let her.



• Pretty much sleeping through the night now. Usually from about 9PM-7AM. If she does wake up, it's just once to eat and then she's right back to sleep. She is also FINALLY in a pretty routine schedule as far as naps go.
  
  
• Likes to touch your face. She does this a lot while she's eating and when she just wakes up.



• Gives lots of smiles and has started belly-laughing. We love seeing what silly things we can do to get those laughs. Too cute! She also has the world's best pouty lip. Once she gives that, you know she's done. Seriously, I have to get a picture of it.
  
  
• Studies and watches everything we do. She's done this since she was tiny, but now it's like she's really studying and trying to figure out how she can do whatever it is we're doing, too.
  
  
• Scoots and rolls all over the place! She is definitely keeping me busy lately!
  

The past five and a half months have gone SO fast! I can't believe she will be six months old soon. We just love her and can't get enough of her!