BJ....Susan....Damon

Month 5! Getting so BIG

2011-12-23T22:53:00.000-08:00

Damon Jay,

5 Months...I swear time goes quicker and quicker every day. You are getting so funny! Your little personality kills us. You are usually in a pretty good mood and smile and laugh, but the other night you were swinging and were almost asleep when your dad stood in front of you and started trying to talk to you. You just stared at him with the dirtiest look for quite a while and then turned to me and did the same thing. You looked back and forth at us until we decided to leave you alone. This went on for quite a while and we were dying laughing! We are so looking forward to what you will be like when get a little older. You are trying to turn over now. You have been able to go from your tummy to back but finally figured out how to turn from your back to your stomach...only once! Yay :)

You started eating rice cereal and you do really well with it! It is a tad frustrating for you because it is not very quick eating from a spoon. You seem to like it more each day! Your sleeping habits are still not the greatest and we are hoping you get it figured out...soon please! We adore you and are so happy you are in our life. Love you!

Month 4 and Our Cute Little Tiger

2011-12-05T15:56:00.000-08:00

Okay, okay I am SO behind! Damon has been 4 months for quite some time now...I am horrible at this whole blog thing. And I never did get around to posting anything for Halloween so I'll include those here as well. As many of you know Halloween is my all time favorite holiday. As a kid I started planning the next years Halloween festivities the day after Halloween. I couldn't get enough of dressing up and our school's Halloween Carnival was the best night of my young life! The holiday seemed to last all of October; I would bug my mom to put up early Halloween decorations and she would go all out. Even after I got older and she started doing less decorating for Halloween because we were teenagers I would try to talk her into doing more. It's kinda weird that Halloween is such a big deal to me because I am such a wuss about scary things. I do not watch scary movies and I close my eyes as I walk through Haunted Houses (which means I was a waste of money on Halloween dates cuz I never saw anything but the floor or the back of my eyelids). I even have to turn away from scary commercials...I'm a wuss.

This year for Halloween BJ had to go out of town so Damon and I took a trip up to Heber to party. Chito and Michelle threw a happening Halloween get together and it was so fun! Their place looked amazing and super scary (I wish I had a good picture) and they had some of the funniest little trick-or-treaters come by while we were there ha! Damon dressed up as a tiger and he was not a fan of his costume at all. He only wore it for a few minutes the whole night. He does not like having things on his head so the hood really bothered him and he kept trying to bite it. Even though he didn't like being a tiger I LOVED dressing him up for Halloween! I was so sad BJ missed it but we did get to FaceTime with him while Damon was in costume. All in all it was a pretty exciting 1st Halloween for the little guy!

"The Padre"

Cute outfit his auntie sent him

Halloween outfit from Grandma and Grandpa Hess

Well Damon,

You are 4 months...well almost 5 but your mother is not very on top of things so this is a tad behind. All of a sudden you are so active, alert and receptive. You talk to us all the time in your cute baby language and laugh sometimes. You laugh more for other people than you do for us :) You can roll from your tummy onto your back but can't quite figure out how to get from your back to your stomach. You are still constantly moving unless you are asleep and even then the tiniest noise will make you stir. Your hair sticks straight up all over your head and we cannot get it to go down. You are still a fan of football games on TV and now you pay attention to music and kick around when you hear it. Anything you can get your little hands on goes right in your mouth; your fingers, other people's fingers, toys, remote control...anything. You also have this fascination with the remote control! I guess you are just starting early!

For the most part, you are a happy kid full of smiles. Sleeping through the night is still something the 3 of us struggle with but we are hoping this improves since one of your parents is a lightweight when it comes to lack of sleep :) We love you so much and can't wait to see what you'll do each day!

4 Months Old!

4 month portraits

I love the faces he pulls

Halloween portraits

Happy little guy

Grandpa Kim can always get him right to sleep

A "sweet" new habit

Just posing :)

Uncle Chit's hat doesn't quite fit yet

A Week To Remember

2011-11-21T22:31:00.000-08:00

Wow...I thought I posted this weeks ago....ha oops

The second week in October was one I will never forget...Chito and Michelle were going to be married Saturday, October 15th, but our family had no idea just how special the week leading up to the 15th would actually be. Early Wednesday morning Allie called me and said that she was on her way to the post office because her mission call had finally arrived! She had been IMPATIENTLY waiting for a few weeks for it to come. When she opened it we were all so excited to see that she had been called to the Peru, Lima Central Mission!

This is very exciting because our Dad is from Peru and she will be teaching quite close to where he grew up! We couldn't believe it...little Allie going on a mission and all the way to PERU! I am thrilled...she will be a wonderful missionary and will be able to teach people that she already has a connection to. She will enter the Provo MTC in February and a few weeks later will transfer to the MTC in Peru before she gets to her mission. That same day we were blessed to be able to go to the Temple with Michelle for her first time.

Friday morning Damon went to play with Aunt Donna and Trey while Allie went to the Temple for the first time. Saturday morning we drove to the Salt Lake Temple to see Michelle and Chito sealed. The wedding was beautiful and the weather cooperated wonderfully for their special day. We took pictures at the Temple with the new Mr. & Mrs. Capunay and then drove to Midway for their luncheon and reception. Michelle planned the most beautiful reception! The lighting, decorations and music were amazing! They had a photo booth set up with frames so that people could take pictures-I loved it. She should definitely plan events for a living...my pictures don't do the place justice. It was great to see so many friends and family that we don't get to see regularly. CONGRATULATIONS CHITO AND MICHELLE!

Needless to say it was quite the eventful week! We are so blessed to have so many wonderful things happening all at the same time!

Oh Yeah!

First dance as husband and wife

Cami and Damon

Tucker, Hads and Caden were the best dancers out there! I wish I could get videos to work on here-I have the best video of Caden tearing up the dance floor :)

With the good-looking groom

Cutest little guy at the party

Month 3

2011-10-11T22:55:00.000-07:00

Damon,

This has been a VERY quick month! We have had lots going on. You are getting so big and so fun. You weigh over 12 and half pounds and last week measured 25 inches. You smile all of the time and only cry when you are hungry or too tired. You LOVE taking baths and your dad just taught you how to kick your legs so you splash water everywhere. Recently, you have been sleeping for about 6 hours during the night which has been WONDERFUL. My birthday was last Friday and you gave me an awesome gift of your own by sleeping 8 hours that night! It was amazing. Your dad and I actually had to wait for you to wake up in the morning which NEVER happens :).

You like watching TV, especially football and you get upset when a game gets paused while you're watching. You have been pretty good at going to bed each night at 11:00 and can put yourself to sleep now. This is a habit that I love because you are getting too heavy to walk around with for hours. You entertain yourself now so I am getting a lot more accomplished during the day. You still love to be held but can handle it when we have to put you down. You have started cooing and making all kinds of wonderful baby noises and in the mornings you and I have long conversations. You move ALL the time. The only time you are still is when you are sleeping...I think that we might have our hands very full when you start crawling and walking!

You were blessed September 18th and we were so lucky to have so many family members and friends there for your special day. Dad was a little worried that you might be fussy but you were a champ and stayed quite throughout the whole meeting!

We are so lucky to have you and love you so much. You are the light of our life.

Four Generations: Very Cool

I love this blessing outfit

First time sleeping a straight 8 hours during

the night!

Check out the awesome Birthday Cake BJ made

and decorated for my birthday!

3 Months old today

and getting so big!

Month 2

2011-09-12T22:59:00.000-07:00

For the past few months I have become what you might call a blog "stalker." I start reading someone's blog, then read one of their follower's, then one of that person's followers...and pretty soon I've spent HOURS reading so-and-so's friend's cousin's sister-in-laws' neighbor's blog. Someone who lives in the Netherlands that I didn't know from Adam before I started stalking her and now I feel like we are old chums because I have read about her family's life on her blog. Okay, okay, it isn't that bad, but I do stalk. And one of blogs I frequent is Tehmi's. I love reading about her life with her two adorable girls and can tell how much she adores them...and I am stealing one of her amazing ideas.

See Tehmi writes both of her girls a little letter on her blog for each month of their lives to tell them what they are doing, how much they have grown in the past month and anything else they have going on at the time. I wanted to start doing this for Damon; I was either going to write it down in a journal (but that would take SO long and I would probably not keep it up very well. Besides, I am worried about losing it or it getting ruined) or just keep a journal on the computer (what if the computer crashed before I could back up everything? Or what if I forgot about it and by the time he is old enough to care I wouldn't be able to retrieve it?), but have now decided to write his letters in our blog. This way they will always be there as long as the World Wide Web exists and I would probably keep up on it now that I have made this public announcement :). So thanks to Tehmi for inspiring this...and here is Month 2...

Little Damon,
You are 2 months old now and I cannot believe how much time speeds up after you have a baby. You have grown out of most of your newborn clothing and your thighs are making your Daddy proud. He sees some serious vertical in your future. You started smiling at us last month and now we can coax those sweet smiles out of you when you are in the mood. You have been a colicky little thing, but the medicine the pediatrician prescribed is doing wonders for your tummy. You love lying on the floor or in your changing station kicking your legs and moving your windmill-like arms. You have this funniest little face that your dad calls the "Zoolander" face. It really does look like Blue Steal and we crack up every time you pull it. I have the wonderful privilege of staying home with you; we read together, take walks when it isn't too hot, watch Cheers (I have about 20 episodes recorded for when you are eating), dance when you need to be pacified, and make messes!
Your favorite place to sleep is ON someone. In fact you are laying on my stomach right now sound asleep. The new thing: I put you vertically on my chest and you wriggle until you are laying horizontally across my stomach with your face buried in my shirt. This face burying worries us because you love to stick your face in our shirts, the burp cloth, blankets and anything else.
There are some days where you are in a rotten mood almost all day...until your Dad comes home. You will cry all day and I won't get anything done because you won't let me put you down. Then your dad walks through the door and you are a totally different kid. Makes me look bad ;). You two get down on the floor and play and he can make you smile better than anyone. He keeps threatening to cut your hair because you have a small rat tail going on back there...I keep waiting to see if he really will.

You will be blessed this upcoming Sunday and your 2 month check-up was today! You weigh over 11 lbs! Feels like you weigh 30 sometimes ;). We are so in love with you and you are the light of our lives.

Fun Times

2011-08-29T22:08:00.000-07:00

Wow it has been quite a while since I last posted! Damon is 7 weeks old today and is just growing and growing! He now weighs 10 lbs. 4 oz...and we are starting to feel it in our arms and backs when we hold him :) I was holding him in his carrier/car seat today and almost lost my balance because I was unprepared for all of the weight! He is stayig awake for longer periods throughout the day and sleeping for longer during the night. He usually doesn't fall asleep until about 2:00 am though so that is a little rough. Once he goes to sleep he only wakes up twice to eat until he is up for the morning...which is so nice for me because he'll sleep until about 9...not so great for BJ since he has to be up by 7. Ha.

We have had some fun outings the past few weeks and some firsts for Damon. We were able to go to the Wasatch County Fair 4 weekends ago and take Damon to the parade (not so exciting for a 4 week old), the following weekend we walked around Temple Square (beautiful as always), 2 weekends ago Damon took his first trip to Malad to visit Grandma and Grandpa Hess, and this past week we took a trip to Heber to help Grandma Susan get ready for school. Well, that was the intention but really Damon was mostly a distraction to his Grandmother :) Damon also got to meet his uncle Chito for the first time and his soon-to-be aunt Michelle! Chito proposed to Michelle a couple weeks ago and we are so excited to have her in the family!

Damon took his first bottle and also started smiling at us! That is by far the greatest "first" so far!

Fair Days

Damon meets Chito

Temple Square

Chillaxin. He LOVES laying on cool surfaces

First time at Grandma's and Grandpa's

Love his face in this one

Check out Grandma Lee's and Grandpa Kim's back yard!

Beautiful!

Distracting Grandma

Michelle is the "Baby Whisperer"

CHEESE! In my Steelers gear of course :)

Dad is so proud

Oh the messes and Portraits

2011-08-04T21:36:00.000-07:00

Damon is 3 weeks old! I can't believe it...time goes way too quickly. Damon is growing so much and, I swear, changing every day! I have also come to the conclusion that for the next many years I will smell like sour milk, have a messy house, and probably be peed on, #2ed on, or spit up on, or all three sometime throughout the day! It always amazes me how quickly Damon and I can go from "ready for the day" to our third outfit of the day :) Having him here makes these messes totally worth it though! Every morning is like Christmas for us! We can't wait for our day to start with him.

He has to sleep sitting up after he eats sometimes

I love his face in this one

Sweet boys

We were finally able to have Damon's newborn pictures taken last Saturday AND Monday...we had a 2 day session because our little guy was not in the most cooperative of moods on Saturday so they had us come back Monday to finish up. He didn't love being moved around and having to lay down on his stomach. We tried a few without the diaper, but that was when Damon decided he had had enough and then, just to make sure we knew he meant business, he made quite a mess (with no diaper on you can see how this could be a problem) and that is when the photographer decided we should finish up another day. Even though the photographers had a difficult time getting him to do what they wanted, the pictures turned out great! Here are a few they were able to get...

2 Weeks

2011-08-04T20:04:00.000-07:00

It has been over 2 week since Damon was born! Time goes by way too quickly these days...I feel like we just barely came home from the hospital. Every day he changes more and more. His 2 week appointment was on Monday and he had gained 12 ounces since we left the hospital! That is pretty good for being a terrible eater the first day of his life.

We are having so much fun playing with him. He is the light of our lives. He smiles now and gets REALLY upset when we try to hold his arms down from his face. He lifts his little head and tries to turn over when he is having his diaper changed...this makes it extremely hard to prevent messes. Oh the messes! I changed his outfit 3 times today and had to rewash a load of laundry that I, stupidly, left by the changing table. Oh the water shows he puts on when the diaper comes off! :) We are starting to see more and more of his personality each day and it is wonderful! We are in love with our sweet little boy!

Damon Jay Hess: July 11th 2011

2011-07-21T22:36:00.000-07:00

Well, our little guy surprised us and came 2 weeks early! I woke up a little after 1:00 am Monday morning with regular contractions and couldn't go back to sleep. About 4 we decided to pack a bag (since we had yet to do this) and then at 5 decided to go back to bed and see if the contractions would ease up. By 5:30 we were in the car on our way to the hospital. We arrived at 6:00 am and a little over 12 hours later our little Damon Jay was born! He was born at 6:17 pm weighing 6 lbs. 8 oz. and measuring 19 inches long.

The day started out like this...

And ended like this...

Grandma Lee, Grandpa Kim, Uncle Danny,
Grandma Susan, Papasito, mommy and daddy

Look at this sweet, peaceful little face

We are so excited that our little buddy is here! He is already such a joy in our life and we have enjoyed every second of the last 11 days. His little spirit has brought so much happiness to our home and we look forward to raising this sweet little boy!

These are my favorite pictures of Damon and Daddy:

Taking a nap at the hospital

Aunt Donna and Cousins

Getting ready to take the long drive home...
We were a tad nervous for this part but found out that
he LOVES car rides!

Finally home!

Another nap!

Aunt Al's first time holding her nephew

Great Aunt Kath and Tuck...they were
so excited to meet Damon

Grandma and Grandpa Hess

July

2011-07-21T22:23:00.000-07:00

With Trevor, Heather and Taylee

4th of July Weekend

I never did get around to taking a picture of my belly in July so I stole this one from Heather and Trevor's blog. This is the last picture of the belly that was taken! Look at sweet little Taylee on her blessing day...she is an absolute doll! Her grandma Howard made her blessing dress-so pretty.

May & June

2011-07-01T14:52:00.000-07:00

June

May

I am quite behind! I am due in less than 1 month and I haven't been so great at this blogging stuff! Anyway, here are pictures of the large belly for May and June. I am now just trying to get everything all ready and together before our little Damon gets here. We are so excited to meet him-sometimes I almost can't contain myself :) I think it is nuts not knowing exactly when he will get here and what he will look like...I just cannot wait!

Bump Bump Bump

2011-06-07T08:25:00.000-07:00

Since some members of our family live far away and we dont get to see them often I have some pictures of the GROWING belly! Here is February, March, and April. I will continue to put one up each month until our little buddy gets here.

February

March


April

Our 1st Anniversary

2011-06-07T08:23:00.000-07:00

1 Year

We celebrated our 1 year anniversary last month...I cannot believe how quickly a year can go by! BJ sent me shopping for the day while he cleaned and made dinner for us. He made baked salmon, potatoes, and breaded zucchini. It was DELICIOUS! After dinner we exchanged our gifts and we had both purchased the same card for one other! I guess in that year together we have rubbed off on each other a tad :)

FINALLY

2011-05-11T09:16:00.002-07:00

September 2009 Salt Lake Temple

I first created this blog last September, but then decided that BJ and I were too boring to follow. I mean who wants to read about what we ate for dinner and then what OFFICE episodes we watched afterwards? But now that we will be adding an exciting little person to our family we might be more interesting! And besides, I've been experiencing some pressure from some of you (Camille & Heather) to actually get this done...so here it is!