On Saturday March 16th, 2013 at 11:26pm our family was blessed with our first son, Leo Terrance Riggs. He was a beautiful, healthy, and happy baby who shares his birthday with me; his mother, Angela. We all bonded with him instantly and he fit right in with our quickly growing family of 5. His sisters, Alyssa and Lily, absolutely adored him. They couldn’t keep their hands off of him and would often sing to him between hugs and kisses. My husband Zach and I were absolutely smitten with him and were so proud of our beautiful, happy, healthy family. We were all on cloud nine.

We had many adventures with little Leo and he met most of his extended family. I’ve never met a more well-traveled newborn. Leo was extremely well loved and accepted by his family, friends, and community. He had a way of bringing people together, even those who had strained relationships. That really amazed us about him. Sadly, at only 26 days old, we lost our little Leo to SIDS.

As any parent could imagine, we were devastated by this loss. Incredibly, even during this dark time, Leo continued bringing people together and helped us to see God’s grace and love. It felt like the whole world stopped and mourned with us. We were shown beauty, love, kindness, and compassion so much greater than anything we could have possibly imagined.

Leo’s life was short, but in those 26 days, and the days to come after his passing, we would learn some of life’s most valuable lessons. Leo is sorely missed and our hearts ache for him every minute of every day. We know that he is in Heaven, smiling down on us and watching out for his big sisters. Everyone has a guardian angel and we were lucky enough to meet ours and hold him in our arms. We find solace in knowing that one day we will join him in Heaven.

We love you baby Leo.

Our family at disneyland with our 2 daughters and our little angel.

Three of my favorite pictures of Leo.  The one on the right is the last picture that we ever took of him.

 

My Grandma Hazel always said that only happy babies sleep with their arms above their head.  🙂

The whole gang (except me) in bed.  This was Leo’s last morning alive on Earth.  We really did have so much fun with him!

Another sleeping picture of my beautiful son.