Sunday, January 4, 2009

Our little Angel



Our sweet baby girl Gracie was born February 9, 2005 just
one minute shy of her twin brother Luke. On February 10,
she was transported to Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.
Gracie and Luke had just shared their first helicopter ride.
Gracie's first open heart surgery was February 14, 2005
(Valentines day) After a successful surgery, things
rapidly changed and Gracie went into cardiac arrest for
8 long minutes...Then by God's Grace our sweet baby
girl came back to us. When we looked into her big bright/wide
eyes, we knew instantly she was going to be a little fighter
with a beautiful purpose!

Gracie loved to smile. She warmed all hearts that she was able to meet.

Gracie also had a little rebel side. She definitely was the one
who would look your way when you said no, and still do it
anyway. She would throw in that precious smile to see
how far she could get. We were all very week with those
dimples and pretty eyes of hers.

Just finished calling her twice and asked her not
to go that way...this was the look I got. : )



Gracie LOVED her blankie, it always would comfort her.
One of our most precious keepsakes of Gracie.

Yes! I am one year old today!


Gracie loved the beach and of course being silly.


Acting like mommy....it was quite a conversation.

No sweetie, you are supposed to get on the horse..she really
thought she was being so funny here! And acutally she was.



Gracie loved dogs, big and small. Worthy (great dane) was so
much bigger than her, she loved it. Gracie would stand up and
look at Worthy and give him a big kiss on his noes.


She loved to ride her bike.

As much as she loved dogs, she loved horses. I never believed
you were just born with it, until Gracie. The way she looked into
the eyes of dogs and Horses was with complete love! Some question
if animals go to Heaven, in my heart I feel they do, and I guarntee
you Gracie is surrounded by them all. : )


Our sweet little Angel! Gracie loved life and had such a
special soul. She loved to cuddle and be cuddled.
She loved to laugh and make you laugh. She loved to be around
people and deeply touched the hearts of so many. I will never deny
the true fact that she also was a typical child, full of craziness
and definitely had her fare share of time outs. : ) She was
feisty, sweet, loving, beautiful and we were deeply blessed
to have her as our baby girl.



Gracie had her last open heart surgery in September 2007.
Unfortunately her repair was not as successful as we all had hoped 
it to be.  She was scheduled for a catheterization on January 10, 2008.
On January 8, we took her into the ER because she seemed to 
have flu like symptoms.  One minute Gracie was being treated for 
dehydration the next minute she coded and was fighting for her life.
After the longest eight hours of our life our sweet precious Gracie
passed away.  She went home to be with Jesus.

Our lives have completely been changed forever.  Although
 our hearts went into despair, we knew we had to pull 
together for each other and our precious Luke.
With the help of God, family, friends and our foundation
 we pull our strength together and continue to keep focused
 on our current blessings and most importantly
the promise of eternity.   

 Gracie was and always will be one of our greatest blessings.
 Our hearts miss her daily, and yearn to see her again soon.
 We will continue to keep her memory alive and stay
on our path to eternity. In Christ there are NO goodbyes
 only until we see eachother again! 

4 comments:

Catherine L said...

How heartbreaking to read your story via the link from Moriah's blog. My son Reuben has CHARGE and had a full repair by Dr Starnes (TET). You are in my thoughts today as you celebrate the anniversary of her going home to the Lord.
www.reubenjackdodd.blogspot.com

my life: said...

Hello! My heart absolutely broke when I read your story...several months agao. I have thought of your family so often since then and learning of your pregnancy and those difficulties. I felt...it's just too much. What an amazing, awesome God we serve though...He is choosing you to walk this path. We may not understand for years to come...if ever...but to trust that He will use all of this for His glory. I love hope...there is nothing better!
When I realized who Adam was...I wanted to squeeze him *completely inappropriate* so I calmly explained that I had read your story. :0)
Thank you for posting...know that you are held by more people than you know!!!! Much love and many heart mommy hugs being sent your way!

Tanya said...

My heart broke when I read your story here and via Moriah's blog. You have an amazing strength in God and I am so glad He is able to get you through the rough patches as you go through these trials. I will keep you in my prayers and your family as well as your new baby girl. Thank you for sharing your story with us.
Hugs,
Tanya

♥ Michele ♥ said...

I found your blog from a comment you made on Paul Cardall's blog. I am a mother to a 'Gracie' too. The one Paul wrote "Gracie's Theme" for. Your daughter is absolutely beautiful. I am so sad for your loss. I am also sad that your new baby has a heart defect too. WOW.

My Gracie only lived 11 months. I always said that every month that went by would be harder to let her go so to have your Gracie for as long as you did......it's just heart breaking to see that she didn't make it. My thoughts and prayers are with you. You seem to have a wonderful attitude. Keep it up, sometimes that's all that gets us through.

Michele
www.thegledhillfamily.blogspot.com