"House guests are like fish...

...after three days, they stink."

Those were my mother-in-law's parting words to me as we dropped her off at the John Wayne airport earlier today. And while Dustin and I are excited to have a little more space in our little one-bedroom, it was nice having her and other family visiting this past week.

While I'd like to think it was my fabulous cooking and inspiring sense of interior design that attracted them all, I have to be honest with myself and admit they didn't come to see me or Dustin at all. Little Jason was the star of the show. With good reason too, since it was his baby blessing they all came to see at church on Sunday.

Here are some pictures highlighting this last week of holidays and family. Closed captions have been provided for all those who weren't there and can't read my mind.

* * * * *

Christmas Eve, we went out for Mexican food (Owens family tradition) with the Clarkes and were thrilled that Grandma and Grandpa Owens (now Great Grandma and Grandpa) were able to be in town and meet little Jason. Don't you love his little snow suit!

We decided to start a new Hemsath family tradition of making breakfast from scratch on Christmas morning. We attempted cinnamon rolls together, and even with the brown sugar and butter avalanche, (we need to learn how to roll them better so the filling stays in!) they were still enjoyable to make as well as to eat.

Christmas afternoon, we joined our friends the Sepulvedas for dinner. The highlight of the evening was getting little Jason and Jonathon (only 13 days apart) together for the first time. Looks like the start of a beautiful friendship!

On December 28th, little Jason Karl Hemsath was blessed in church, looking like a little temple president in his all white suit that Grandma Lynette and myself were busy hemming up the night before and morning of. Below, Daddy Dustin, Aunt Katie and Uncle Chris, Aunt Jennie and Grandpa Karl all snuggle with the little man.

Monday December 29th was Jason's first trip to the beach. He watched waves crash, enjoyed a bottle of mommy's finest, was adored by Grandma Lynette and Grandma Liz, and absolutely destroyed his brand new outfit. It was quite the trip.

Birth Announcement and Christmas Card

For anyone who didn't get one in the mail, (which is most everyone since we had limited time and money to get some out before the holidays were over,) here is our 2008 Christmas card/Jason's birth announcement. Enjoy!

Don't cry over spilt milk...or any other liquid

Yesterday and today the Hemsaths have had some fun adventures in cleaning up puddles. Of course, there is the ever constant duty of wiping up spilt milk that makes its way all over Jason's face, all over the couch, all over clothes, etc every 2 1/2 to 3 hours. But the mundane spills aside, two more notable messes happened recently.

Yesterday, Jason was exhausted and hadn't woken up for his afternoon feeding. I had to go run some last minute Christmas errands, so rather than wait, I left Dustin with a bottle and went out to brave the crazy and crowded world of retail shopping.

I had just left Target and was at my car ready to head to Costco when my phone rang. Dustin was just checking up to see how I was doing, and I took the time to check and see how Jason was. The report came back that he had finally woken up, downed his bottle and . When asked what was so funny, Dustin responded with the funniest sentence I had heard all day: "Jason peed on his head."

It took me a moment to process that information and the corresponding emotions it created in me. There was curiosity as to how such a thing was possible. There was pride in having such a talented son. There was amusement as Dustin gave me the play by play of how when changing Jason's diaper, Jason had been a little cold (and all that implies for his man-bits), and when he lifted his legs to put the new diaper under him, he noticed that with his bum in the air the current path of trajectory led straight to his face, and how no sooner had he thought that, then the little guy proceeded to urinate all over himself. Apparently Dustin scrambled to cover it with his hand, so it wouldn't shoot into Jason's mouth. It was coming out between his fingers in little spurts, and just when he thought it was over and moved his hand, another spurt came and BAM! Jason peed all over his own head. On top of the curiosity, pride and amusement, I also felt sorrow that I hadn't been there to witness it for myself. But I was also grateful that I hadn't been there to clean it up!

So there was yesterday's adventure. Today's adventure came just after 8 am when Dustin went to take a shower and noticed the bathroom floor was flooded. Merry Christmas to us! Thankfully, the plumber was here within the hour, although he's been here for over an hour and a half, our bathroom is all torn up, and the leak still isn't fixed. The hammering, water pumping and pipe clanging noises make it hard for Jason to get his nap in the adjacent room, so he is sleeping in his baby carrier with his face planted into my chest as I type this and eat breakfast. Of course, with Jason on my chest, his head just below my chin, eating my bowl of cereal has proven a bit difficult. I tried to eat it from the side, but that was getting messy. I have finally resorted to putting the bowl above his head, which actually puts it almost above my mouth line, so rather than bring the spoon up to my mouth, I have to bring it down to my mouth. I'm sure it's quite the spectacle to see, but so far it's worked and I haven't spilt any milk on him. Of course, if I did, it wouldn't be so bad. He's had worse.

Jason's First Performance

We were asked by the Spanish stake to allow Jason to be the baby Jesus in their annual Christmas presentation. They also asked Whitney and Dustin to sing a duet of "Silent Night" at the end (in Spanish, mind you). So the whole family got to be on stage. There were two performances on Sunday night, December 21, and Jason was a perfect little "niño Jesús". Just like the carol says, "no crying he [made]". The part that makes his performance even better was that Dust and Whit weren't Joseph and Mary. So, another couple had to hold him on stage while he was absolutely starving, yet sleeping, luckily. We are so proud of our son! He is only 4 weeks old and already he's the star of the show. We feel this could be a good omen.