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!

4 months

Claire turned 4 months old on May 28th. Yes, that was awhile ago but we've been busy! We were actually in the process of moving out of our apartment in Cheyenne on that day. Anyway, better late than never. Claire had her 4 month checkup a few days before she actually turned 4 months because I wanted to get it done before we moved. At her appointment she weighed 12.5 lbs and was 23.4 inches long. I can't remember the exact percentiles (don't worry, I wrote them in her baby book) but both were around the 25th percentile.

All smiles on her 4 month birthday. Even though Mommy, Daddy, and Grandma were busy packing and cleaning.

So exhausted from all the hard work!

Just playing and entertaining herself, which is basically what she did all day. She even put herself to sleep for naps. She was such a good girl!Last night in Cheyenne. It was a long day for her, too!

At 4 months, Claire is learning and growing more everyday. She started rolling from her belly to her back about 4 days before she turned 3 months old. Soon after that, she was getting really close to rolling from back to belly. Well, the day after her 4 month birthday she did it! It was minutes before we left our apartment. I guess she wanted to reach that milestone before we moved! Now she sometimes rolls around, but mostly once she gets on her belly she scoots forward and in circles. She's getting more and more mobile everyday and it scares me!

She started out under the toy on her back. It only took about 5 minutes for her to scoot to where she's laying in this picture.

Claire has definitely found her voice and talks and sings all the time. She's been laughing more the past few weeks, too. It's been fun for us to see what different things can get her laughing. She's still super slobbery and usually wears a bib all day so her clothes don't get soaked. She puts EVERYTHING in her mouth and usually only wants her pacifier to chew on during the day and only really uses it for soothing at night now. Last week, her gums were quite red and irritated and she was SUCH A BEAR for a few days, so I'm thinking it won't be long until a tooth breaks through. Not sure how I feel about that yet, it seems pretty dang early for teeth.

Her sleeping habits have definitely improved since we've moved. Now that she has her own room and her own crib she's only spent one night in our room with us, and that was when Steven was gone overnight. It was definitely time to get her a crib as she was outgrowing her bassinet. So far I think she likes it. I think she's enjoying actually being able to move around in her bed :) She slept through the night for the first time on June 9th! She went down around 9:30 and didn't get up until 6:30. It was so nice! Sadly, it hasn't happened since :( She is also starting to get on more of a schedule as far as naps go, which is nice for mom.

As far as eating goes, Claire is still exclusively nursing. Her doctor in Cheyenne recommended waiting another month or so to start any cereal since she is still thriving on breastmilk. We are planning on trying cereal after she turns 5 months, which I guess is only a couple weeks away now :)

I could go on and on about all the fun things Claire does everyday but I won't. I just can't believe how big she is getting. We love our baby Claire and are enjoying watching her learn and grow!

Graduation, Mother's Day, Birthday, Moving, etc etc

This girl needs a crib!

Wow, we have been busy and have lots of blogging to catch up on! Where to start...Steven's graduation I guess. Steven graduated May 8, 2010 with his Doctorate of Pharmacy degree. His graduation was held in the Arena Auditorium with the other Health Science programs and was first thing in the morning at 8:30. We(Us, Steven's parents and Dylan, my parents, and Steven's grandparents) all had to leave Cheyenne by 6:45 AM which was not the most fun part of the day. Anyway, Senator Enzi was the speaker and then luckily the School of Pharmacy was the first. Claire was a trooper and slept from when we left Cheyenne until about 10 minutes before Steven was hooded, and then about 5 minutes after he was done she got hungry. Perfect timing baby! It was exciting to watch Steven achieve a goal he has been striving to reach for so long. All of his hard work, late nights, and super early mornings paid off. We are so proud of you, Steven! It was nice to have family here to support him as well.

blurry, but getting hooded

Yay, no more school!!

The next day was my first Mother's Day! Baby Claire woke up at her usual 7 AM, but Daddy got up with her and let Mommy sleep until 8. It was wonderful! When I got up and came out of the room, Daddy had dressed Claire in a special outfit. It helped that Grandma and Grandpa Hultgren and Dylan were still here, so Daddy was able to make breakfast for everyone. It was yummy and Mommy sure appreciated not having to cook for everyone! After saying goodbye to everyone it was off to church. Claire was a perfect angel at church and didn't fuss at all. If only my primary class had been angels that day, too :) After church, Steven had to get ready to head up north to start his new job the next day. But not before giving me my gift from him and Claire. I got an adorable homemade card, a cute book, and a gift certificate for a necklace from The Vintage Pearl. I picked this one. After Steven left, Claire was such a good girl for the rest of the day and was super cuddly. I am so lucky to be her Mommy! My first Mother's Day was great and definitely one to remember!As I said before, Steven started his job in Powell the Monday after graduation (May 10th). So far, he loves it but we knew he would! His day off the week was Tuesday so he went looking for a place for us to live. He ended up finding us a brand new, never been lived in duplex. We were kindof hoping for a house to rent for awhile before we buy, but this place was too good to pass up! Once we get moved and unpacked, I'll post pictures. Claire and I made the long drive to Lovell on Thursday and I must say she did AWESOME! She slept and played and only fussed a little when she got hungry. It took a little longer than usual because of having to stop to feed her, but she was great. Friday after Steven got off work, the two of us left for Billings for my birthday. We left Claire with Grandma Becky overnight! I was pretty nervous about it, not because I was worried she wouldn't be ok, just because it was the first time. I was proud of myself for not calling every hour! We only called once in the morning to see how her night was. For my birthday, Steven got us a jacuzzi suite for the night and we relaxed all Friday evening. It was nice to be able to get some good sleep! I have been in desperate need for new clothes but wouldn't let myself get any until all the baby weight was off. I still have about 5 lbs to go, but on Saturday morning Steven took me shopping. I got tons of good stuff and even hit some great deals! It was nice to be able to spend some alone time with my husband and I enjoyed it very much! We headed home around 1:30 and were both ready to see our baby girl! Becky and Steve said she was a good girl and they had so much fun. Unfortunately, we have no pictures to document this first in her life. Oops. Sunday was my real birthday and it was also a wonderful day filled with family. My mom made me a delicious dinner and I got some fun gifts. Thanks to everyone for making my 25th a great one!

Claire and I came back to Cheyenne Monday morning so that I could be to work Tuesday. Steven will come home tomorrow night and we'll spend most of the weekend packing up our apartment. He has to go back to Powell for work Mon-Thurs and will fly back here next Friday. My mom is coming Wednesday to help me with the baby and last minute packing/cleaning. We are hoping to get the U-haul packed up Friday night and get on the road Saturday morning. We have really liked living in Cheyenne, but are really excited to be in Powell closer to family and start a new chapter of our lives there. I'm pretty sure I won't get around to posting anything again before we move, but once we get everything set up in Powell I'll get right on it! I'll leave you with a picture of our little cutie in the bath!

Back Blogging - Claire's Blessing

We blessed baby Claire on Saturday April 3rd in Lovell. We had decided it would be a lot easier for us to go to Lovell than have all our family come to Cheyenne, and honestly we aren't particularly close to anyone in our ward here. We had originally planned on doing it the weekend before that but Steven's rotation schedule didn't really allow it. Since it was Easter weekend, we were able to have an extra day at home so it actually worked out better. However, it was also General Conference weekend so we weren't able to do it during a sacrament meeting. Instead we did the blessing in the Relief Society room before the priesthood session Saturday evening. Steven gave Claire an amazingly beautiful blessing and I'll always remember the things that were said. Of course it made me cry, as well as about every other woman in the room :) Before everyone got there Claire had started to fuss so I took her in the bathroom to change and nurse her but nothing would calm her down. I finally got her settled down a little and she was fine until about 1 minute into the blessing. Then she started screaming! Steven had to stop and find her pacifier but then she fell right asleep. I was so glad she didn't cry through the whole thing. After it was over, of course it was picture time. In the rush of getting her ready, I forgot the camera! Ugh, I was so mad at myself! Luckily, pretty much everyone else had their cameras so there definitely wasn't a lack of pictures. That's partially why it took me so long to blog about this because I was waiting for pictures from family. After way too many pictures, the guys went out into the cultural hall for priesthood meeting and the rest of us were trying to get ready to go. I realized I had left some stuff in the bathroom so I ran to get it. When I came back into the Relief Society room, Steven's mom was holding Claire's dress up. Apparently while I was gone, she had a major blowout! The worst one up to that point. I guess that's why she was so upset! Luckily Becky was able to save her dress, but her onesie and tights were pretty much covered in poo. We had to completely undress her and it took all the wipes I had to clean her up. I had to wrap her up real good in a blanket to get her back home, it was awesome :) Definitely memorable! Anyway, it was a great evening and we were so blessed to be able to have so much family there to support us.

Nobody got pictures of just Claire in her dress and I was going to do it after we got home from the church. But then the whole blowout happened, and I had to try to take some when we got back to Cheyenne. Every time I tried, she was NOT interested! These are the best I could get!

She's thinking....Seriously Mom?

With Grandma Becky right before the accident!

Claire and Grandma Hitz

Claire's other grandma (my second mom) Kathy

I'm hoping my mom has a better picture of the three of us, cuz this one isn't that great.

My sister got her this pacifier just for her blessing. It says "Heaven Sent". I thought it was adorable.

2 Months

Claire is 2 months old today! I can't believe that 2 months ago, my baby looked like this:

and today she looks like this:

She is growing more and more everyday. She doesn't have her 2 month check-up until next week, but according to Wii Fit Plus Claire weighs about 10.5 lbs! Pretty much all of her newborn clothes are too small now. She has been a lot better during the day and isn't as fussy, which has been nice for me. She is really a good and happy baby as long as she has a full belly and clean diaper. Go figure. Claire still sleeps well during the night, usually only getting up twice to nurse. She doesn't love her bassinet so she sometimes sleeps with Mommy and Daddy. We're working on trying to get her to sleep in her own bed all night. I went back to work on the 9th so Claire has been going to daycare on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. I was super nervous about this but luckily we found a great daycare with wonderful workers. Claire has been smiling and giggling a lot lately. She is super slobbery and likes to blow bubbles. She still likes being on her tummy and loves to play with Dad when he gets home. She is excited to take her first trip to Lovell this weekend (wish us luck!) and can't wait to see her grandparents and FINALLY meet her Aunt Kyle, Uncles Jordan and Lynn, and her cousins. Here's some pictures of our little cutie from the past month, enjoy!

One Month!

**Warning - this post has tons of pictures! I can't choose just a few, she is too dang cute!**

Claire was one month old last Sunday, the 28th! I can't believe how fast that month went and how much she's grown. She had her 1 month appt on Monday and weighed in at 8 lbs 14 oz (23rd percentile) and was 21.5 inches (65th percentile). I was surprised at her weight, she gained over a pound in 2 weeks! I shouldn't have been so surprised because this girl loves to eat! Luckily, she only wants to eat every 4-5 hours at night. Too bad it's not that way during the day. For some reason for the past couple weeks she hates the daytime. She is fussy, likes to be held most of the time, and eats every 2-3 hours during the day. Granted, she was a little congested for about a week so I'm hoping she'll be happier now that she's feeling better. I have to give a shoutout to Kristin for lending me her Sleepy Wrap. Thank You! I am finally able to get things done around the house during the day! At one month old, Claire has stared to smile (haven't caught this on camera yet), is overall pretty strong and can hold her head up really well for her age, and likes to be on her tummy. She has her dad wrapped around her little finger. And maybe her mom, too :) She is so much fun and we can't get enough of her!

Sleeping in with Daddy

Ready to go to church for the 1st time

Better Late Than Never

On Thursday, January 28th, at 1:40 PM our lives changed forever! Now that my computer is functioning properly I can finally post all about it so here goes! Be prepared this will probably be long, my labor was NOT a short process! I don't expect everyone to read it all, but I want to get it all down.

For about a week before she was born I had been feeling a lot of pressure and having random contractions, but nothing very strong or regular. Needless to say I was pretty uncomfortable, not getting much sleep, and was pretty much over being pregnant :) Steven was also getting impatient and wanting our little girl to come! So when I finally started having regular contractions early in the morning on Wednesday the 27th (exactly 39 wks along), I was pretty sure this was it. I didn't want to jump the gun and go to the hospital too soon so I got up and got some last minute cleaning done around the house while I timed contractions and before I woke Steven up. Around 8 AM they had been every 3-4 min for about 2 hours so I woke him up and told him we should probably get ready. By this time, I was excited but SUPER nervous and anxious at the same time. We got things ready to go, Steven gave me a blessing to calm me down a bit, and by 10:30 we were at the hospital. They hooked me up to the monitors and checked me. 3cm and 80%, same as I had been for 2 weeks. Since my contractions were still coming regularly, they wanted us to stay for awhile and see if anything would happen. By 1:30, not much had changed and they were talking about sending us home. Yeah, pretty sure they forgot about us a few times and we didn't actually get discharged until about 5:30 PM. Annoying. But it turns out it was a good thing, because we both hadn't eaten since that morning and were starving. We stopped at Taco Bell on the way home and by then my contractions were getting stronger but were still about 3-4 min apart. We came home, I took a shower and tried to sleep for awhile.

Around 8:30 PM my contractions were quite a bit stronger and I was definitely in pain! I toughed it out until about 9:30 and finally called the on-call Dr. She said she thought we'd be back and to come on in. By that time I was trying not to cry and contractions were coming every 2 minutes and lasting about 1 min long. We headed back to the hospital and by 10:30 PM, I was admitted and was for sure not going home without a baby! Since I tested positive for Group B Strep, I had to have antibiotics while in labor so they hooked me up to the IV. The contractions were coming faster and stronger still, but I wanted to see how long I could go without the epidural. Around midnight I was DONE and they called for the anesthesiologist. Half an hour, a little prick, and what felt like an electric shock later, I was in epidural heaven! We were too wired to sleep for a few hours, but eventually we both dozed off for a couple hours. Around 6 AM, I started noticing my left side was completely dead but I was starting to feel things on my right side. About this same time, the nurse checked me and I was still about an 8. She commented that if my water broke, things would probably move right along. The Dr. came in about at about 7 and checked me but didn't want to break my water, she wanted things to happen naturally. Yeah, I was annoyed about that. By this time I was feeling EVERYTHING on my right side and luckily when the shift change came, the new nurse upped my epidural dose. About 9 AM, the midwife on call came in and checked me and said "Let's break that bag of water and I bet things will start happening". She did, but things didn't happen as fast as I would have liked them to :)

Trying to stay positive, this was about 12 hours into it

By 11, I was getting super frustrated and just praying for someone to come check me. Shortly after, the midwife did just that and said the magic words: "Let's get ready to start pushing!" As freaked out as I had been making myself about this part, I was SO ready by this point. I started pushing right at noon, and pushed for almost 2 hours. Claire Abigail Hultgren finally arrived at 1:40 PM exactly! She weighed 7lb 3.9oz (not sure why it wasn't rounded up to 4?) and was 20 inches long. She was absolutely beautiful and surprised me with a full head of thick, dark hair. (I was sure she wouldn't have much hair at all, but Steven said all along that she would have lots of dark hair. He always has to be right!) Mommy and baby girl. If I look dead tired, it"s cause I was!!

After they cleaned her up and we had a few min with our beautiful little girl, one of the residents that helped with the delivery came in and told us they wanted to put Claire on IV antibiotics for 48 hours. This was because I got a slight fever while pushing(umm, who wouldn't?!) and she had a little fever when she first was born. Since I was GBS positive and even though I had gotten 4 doses of ampicillin, they just wanted to be safe. Poor baby, but whatever was best for her. Steven went with the nurses to give her a bath and get her hooked up to her IV. He helped with the bath and tried to stay for the IV, but after they poked her a few times to find a vein, he said he couldn't watch anymore.

Not enjoying her first bath. She still hates them!

Before getting her IV

After the IV

Look how huge that thing is! :(

So, there you have it. Two long days/nights and at least 18 hours of labor. Yikes! It was totally worth it! We think Claire is beautiful and we fell in love with her the second we saw her. The whole process was surreal. It's amazing how life can change in a matter of a few seconds and how someone so small and precious can bring so much joy!

Our first family picture!

**More about her first few weeks to come!**