Let the Childern Come

Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Matthew 19:14

One of the most exciting things we have been waiting for since Malia was born is to take her to Mass. This moring she went to Mass for the first time (outside the womb)! Although she slept through the whole liturgy, there was a great joy that filled our hearts to be able to worship and praise God, within the highest prayer of the Mass with her present. Her baptism will be this Friday, which we are so thankful to the Lord for pulling together. To raise Malia in such a way that draws her into the crossfire of love that is awaiting her, found in the Holy Trinity, is our deep desire. God has many things in store for this little one, so we're doing our best to hold on tight :)

On the day to day side of things, we're understanding her wants more and starting to lay down a foundation for routine. It's miraculous the ways Malia is able to learn little things in order to grow. She has had a few more visitors through the weekend, including a few video chats with our good friend Alyssa and also Matt & Chirsti Marcheschi!

Outside St. Francis parish after Malia's first Mass.

Car ride home.

Beautiful Mommy holds Malia Grace in her Sunday's best!

The Grace Continues...

So you, my child, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 Timothy 2:1

It has been a very eventful first week of life for our little lady. Malia Grace's first 2 pediatrician doctor appointments (Tues & Wed) affirmed her healthiness as she has started to gain weight since her birth. She gained 2 ounces over the span of 24 hours, that's a lot for a little 7 pound-er!!! This is contributed to her growing expertise in eating, sleeping and pooping :-)

On Wednesday night, Dani Lu (aka Auntie Doula) came over to do Malia's first Photo Shoot. The only word to describe this photo shoot is... precuteling. Yes, this is a clever hybrid of precious, cute & darling. See the photo's below and you'll understand. Malia also received her first wash cloth bath, which she was surprisingly peaceful during. 

Danni and I are doing our best to sleep when she sleeps, but so much excitement and joy fills our hearts that it's hard to rest! We are both reaching an exhaustion that should have us down for the count. But with God's grace, our hearts have not become weary. Prayer is a huge factor and fuel for us! We are very grateful for the ways you lift our family up to the Lord in your prayers.

Outside our pediatrician's office after Malia's appointment.

Could there be 2 more beautiful ladies in my life!?!

Photo Shoot #1: camera shy

 

Photo Shoot #2: my fingers taste great / pretty in pink

Photo Shoot #3: Are we done yet?

First wash cloth bath :-)

<3 Lots of love for our little one. <3

I'm getting the one-handed "football" hold down!

Home from the Hospital

We packed up and check out of postpartum yesterday evening. Danni was anticipating dressing her up in one of 3 outfits she packed a few weeks back (see picture below). Buckling her nice and snug in her car seat, I absolutely loved walking her through the hospital to the front door :-) Danni's Mom kindly pulled up our car so we could race through the cold into the warm car. Malia enjoyed her first car ride home, sleeping like a baby the whole 45 minutes home! Once we arrived home to Nana & Papa's house (my parents), we were able to sit down for an awesome family dinner to toast the new love in all of our lives... and this love has a name, Malia Grace!

"Halleluiah, I'm in my own clothes and going home!"

Swaddled up all nice and warm this morning at home.

 

First Full Day

It's pretty amazing how our first full day (yesterday) with Malia was a Sunday, the Lord's day, a day of great celebration, resting and feasting! There were many "first's" throughout the whole day, but my favorite was her first hiccups! It happened when I held her for a moment while she was restless and crying. The hiccups came and definitely startled my little lady, but were the most precious hiccups I've ever heard :-) The rest of Malia's day consisted of lots of mother-daughter bonding time, testings, feeding, time being held by Grandma Ampi, napping, being swaddled, filling her diaper, filling her diaper again, and filling her diaper again. She is passing all her tests (praise God), so we are on time to be discharged late this morning. We are so stoked to bring her home to my parents house, to love her more and spend each waking moment with her. One last highlight that filled Malia's day with God's grace was when Danni and I were granted the grace to receive our Lord from a visiting Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion.

And now for some pictures...

First pacifier!

She's waving at you :)

 

Malia Grace Judge

After 16 plus hours of combined contractions and labor, Danni delivered Malia Grace Judge on Saturday February 16th, 2013 at 7:50pm! Malia's entrance into the world was an overwhelming experience of enduring struggle, tearful joy and God's love. Thank you for the many ways you interceded for us during this glorious day! And we cannot thank our parents, dula (and good friend) Dani Lu, nurses (Ruth and Nicole), and Dr. Fisk enough for aiding us in the beginning of this monumental chapter of our lives.

Waiting with joyful hope!

Holding Malia for the first time!

Our little sweetheart!

Danni is recovering well! We can't keep our eye's off of her :)

Labor and Delivery

You guessed it! Believe it or not, we are here in Labor and Delivery not even 24 hours after our first post. After Danni was woken at 4am this morning with constant contractions over the span of 1 hour (keep in mind she hasn't had any noticeable contractions until this point!), we decided to have a quick breakfast and get ready. We gave our doctor a call, and with the simple confirmation from our doctor "Ya, how about you come on in and we'll check you out."... we packed the car! We were on the road by 6:15am, with Danni's Mom, who just arrived late last night.

We made it to the hospital at 7am this morning and checked in. Danni is currently 5cm dilated, and contractions are consistent. At this point our nurse and doctor are both very excited about how far along Danni is for her first baby. Danni is in great spirits, as always, and lighting up this room with her joy and peace!

Next post should be all about our little baby girl! God is so good!

Love,
Tim & Danni
 

Anytime Now!

Beloved family and friends,

We are thrilled to share our love with you through this little girl! The doctors assure us that the original due date of February 20th still stands. At this point, Danni is dilated to 3-4 centimeters, and everything is progressing as it should (praise God!). Everything is in place: nursery is set-up (largely in part to the many shower gifts we received from you all!), hospital bags are packed, new car seat is strapped in the car, Diane arrives tonight (Danni's Mom)... so now we wait upon the last and most important thing... and that of course is the birth of our beautiful daughter.

She will be the first granddaughter on both sides of our family. My parents 3rd grandchild and Danni's parents 1st grandchild! Thank you for all your loving support, generosity and most importantly your prayers. Keep the prayers coming! This is the first time we have ever done a blog, so we're going to do our best to make daily updates. Pictures will be included, especially when lil missy wants to come out!

Love,
Tim & Danni

Our Lady of Grace and St. Gerard... pray for us!

This picture was taken in Italy over the past summer (about 8 months ago) when we
made a Eucharistic Miracles Pilgrimage with Marymount Univerity students and staff.