Kayleigh's Story

Merry Christmas Kayleigh

2011-12-25T06:00:00.000-05:00

Kayleigh,

You are 3 years old this Christmas and if you were here, I would probably be watching you impatiently sit at the top of the stairs, waiting for the go ahead to come down and open your presents from Santa. I can hear your soft whimper as you pout, "Is it time Daddy?"

I can imagine how my overprotective self would come running up the stairs to pick you up so you didn't fall down the steps in a mad dash. A glimmer of excitement would come across your face, turning off the trickles of tears, knowing it was time to see what was waiting for her by the Christmas tree.

I would set your squirming little body down and with a brief pause of a moment, your eyes would be wider than ever before. A smile builds upon your face and before I could say, "Go ahead," you bolt to the biggest gift hiding behind the Christmas tree. What would it be??? A rocking horse like her Daddy had when he was little or her first red and white tricycle? Knowing how spoiled she would be, she'd probably get both.

While watching you open your gifts and cover the whole downstairs completely with pink and brown wrapping paper, I would sit in amazement at how lucky I am to have the most adorable little girl. I wouldn't have to open a single gift because my gift is opening her own.

Kayleigh, you are the best present I could ever receive. You have given me the gift of love and have taught me the gift of giving. Your heart is bigger than anything in this world and you continue to give faith, hope and love to everyone who knows you. You have taught me and so many others to give from your heart, whether it is Christmas or not. You're such a blessing and I am beyond grateful and proud to be your Daddy.

Days continue to pass on and instead of crying my eyes out that you are no longer here, it just reminds me that I am one more Christmas closer to holding you in my arms again.

We all love and miss you so much sugar bear!

Merry Christmas,

Daddy

2011 Heart Walk

2011-11-09T13:37:00.000-05:00

This year's American Heart Association Heart Walk was a great success and it goes without saying that Kayleigh again shined down on many hearts to make this all possible.

As a proud father of the amazing life Kayleigh lived, I wanted to continue sharing her legacy with more and more people by donating my services free to help educate others to live a healthier lifestyle through fitness.

For 8 weeks, I met with some of the most amazing people and delivered not only a great work out, but had some incredible people in the fitness industry share their knowledge to make the best out of every class. We learned new exercises, nutrition, yoga, thai chi, Juice Plus, goal setting and had motivational speakers come in to share their experience with heart disease and how fitness has changed their lives.

This group of people not only came together week after week to get fit, but helped motivate each other in more ways than I could ever imagine. We topped the Fit Camp off with our yearly Heart Walk where we all walked together to help raise money for a great cause.

I am beyond blessed to have met some phenomenal people and I look forward to next year where we can all do it again.

Thank you Kayleigh for the inspiration you have given me to help others and I wish you were here to have met my new friends. Thank you for watching over us all.

Best wishes,

Adam Freeman
www.AdamFreemanPT.blogspot.com

Need Your Support!

2011-08-02T20:03:00.002-04:00

Hello Everyone...I need your support. I am blessed to announce that I have been named to the Executive Leadership Team for the American Heart Association for the Cape Fear Region. Feeling the urge to do extra to continue being a great father for Kayleigh, I've wanted to get involved anyway I can with different sorts of organizations and this journey has started with the March of Dimes and the American Heart Association.

Beyond this amazing designation, I wanted to give my services through my job to help others live a healthier lifestyle and being a personal trainer, it has given me the opportunity to do such that. I have decided to give my services for FREE to those who are local and would like to get involved with my Heart Healthy Fit Camp. It is a program for all ages and all fitness levels. I am not making a single dime on this program and all it takes to participate is a $50.00 donation to the American Heart Association.

Now I know a lot of you who have followed Kayleigh's journey are not local to participate in my program, but there is definitely a way you can help our team succeed in this years Cape Fear Heart Walk. In Kayleigh's name, I am asking for donations to help support a great cause. You don't have to donate a lot, but a little bit will add up.

We all know Kayleigh's heart condition (Pulmonary Hypertension) was one of the leading causes for her under development which landed her as one of the smallest to ever undergo open heart surgery, but the technology of today was the reason Aimee and I were able to spend over 10 months with our sweet daughter. That was the biggest blessing to us and we would love to give that blessing and more to other families out there.

Please click on the link below or the link in the top left toolbar to help give to a great cause. We greatly appreciate it more than ever.

Thank you so very much!

My Baby Steps

2011-07-05T22:01:00.006-04:00

I am have been sitting in my room tonight thinking about this past week and all the craziness that has happened. After having dinner with Aimee, I have had many strong feelings weigh on my mind. I felt the need to post about what has been lacking in my life concerning Kayleigh and the fact that she is no longer in my life other than a memory of what it was like to hold her close to my skin, kissing her whenever I wanted and sharing in the love I felt with her with Aimee by my side through all the ups and downs of our journey.

I was looking through a lot of photos that most of you have never seen. Whenever Aimee and I would go to the hospital to spend our time with Kayleigh, I would take hundreds of photos, but only post the best of the best. Right now after looking at all the photos I have...they are all the best of the best.

I have had a tough couple of days this week and one of the things I have realized is that I have not been able to grieve Kayleigh's passing like I should, so I have planned to take things to the next level and speak with a professional to help me through my struggles. I feel and hope this is the best move for me to handle the pain that subsides deep inside that I can not seem to reach on my own. It has been a tough road and I am sure all of those out there who have lost a child can agree that this is no easy road to travel.

I wanted to share a few photos with you all that you have never seen before that touched my heart tonight and I wanted to ask a favor as I am dealing with a troublesome time right now. Please pray for me that I am able to seek out the help I need to regain my self and to get a grasp on my emotions so I can grieve about Kayleigh's death like I am supposed to. I ask for prayers of quick healing as I take my baby steps.

These are the photos that touched my heart tonight that I want to share with you all....

God Bless Everyone and please pray for me.

Kayleigh Shines

2011-05-31T22:27:00.003-04:00

A few weeks back, Aimee and I received this email below and we were speechless. Take a look at it and enjoy...

Dear Adam & Aimee,

I am from Charlotte and used to go to Elevation and from that, I learned about Ferris and Wade's twin girls when they announced they had been born early and to keep them in our prayers. Through the blog Ferris kept about the girls, I found your blog about Kayleigh and I know you probably get a ton of people sharing how she impacted them, but I really believe she touched me the most as far as strangers go.

I was sixteen or seventeen when I first read through what was happening and I cried. At the time I think she was about to undergo her open heart surgery and I was in awe that doctors' would be capable of performing such a daunting task on such a tiny person. I have twin cousins that were born about 9 weeks early at about 5 pounds and 3 pounds and holding them for the first time was the most humbling experience of my life at the point in time. Thinking back to that and trying to imagine either of them undergoing any kind of surgery was amazingly impossible to wrap my mind around, but there Kayleigh was proving that she was strong enough for basically anything.

Anyway, I never thought about being a doctor or nurse because I was so passionate about dancing and photography and the arts, but reading your blog over those months changed me. I decided I didn't want to waste my education and life doing something for myself just because I was good at it. I decided I wanted to actually be there not just emotionally but physically for future Kayleighs'. I want to be there to fight for infants like her who weren't given a fair shot at life.

I just finished my freshman year at UNC Greensboro as a pre-nursing major. I haven't decided if I want to go to medical school after or continue with nursing and get my MSN. Either way, I know I will be a Neonatal nurse or Neonatologist and that is all thanks to your family, especially Kayleigh. She was simply amazing in the most innocent way. My mother and I always wanted to come to the hospital to meet you and your family but we felt as though we would be imposing on your precious time with her. I've always wanted to thank you for opening up your life to the world and sharing because without that, I would not be who I am and who I know I will be.

Tonight an old friend and I were catching up and he asked what I was in school for and what I wanted to be. Of course his first question was why because he knew me back in my art-absorbed days so I told him all about Kayleigh. After talking about it, I realized I hadn't been to the blog in at least a year maybe even two, which kind of makes me sad, so I revisited. I saw you are now living in Wilmington and immediately I knew I needed to finally thank you because I moved down here about two weeks ago for the summer. Small world! Thank you so much for letting me and so many others into your life. I am eternally grateful to you and your family.

-Chloe Nickles

So after reading this email, I contacted Aimee and Bo and we immediately put plans together to take Chloe out to dinner to catch up with her and see how things are going. It was a phenomenal dinner as we enjoyed some sushi and shared stories with each other. It was a blessing to meet someone like Chloe and to see how our little angel has touched yet another persons life so much.

Here is Aimee, Chloe and I.

2011 Balloon Release

2011-05-31T21:57:00.005-04:00

On May 7th, we celebrated Kayleigh's life by having our second annual balloon release here in Wilmington, NC. It was how we describe Kayleigh as Amazing!

Friends and family came out and we shared a special time together with tears flowing and hearts bursting with love. It was a special moment for Aimee and I to have everyone there supporting us through this tough week.

Kayleigh has touched so many hearts and she continues to amaze us day by day even though she is up in Heaven. She is sending so much love down to us and it shows through the new friends we have made along the way.

Thank you everyone who came out to spend this special day with us. You all mean the world to us and we couldn't be happier to have you all in our lives.

Thank you!

A Weekend Never to Forget

2011-05-01T11:33:00.012-04:00

Yesterday was a day that I will never forget. I had the opportunity to share Kayleigh with one of my best friends who never got to physically meet Kayleigh, never got to physically hold Kayleigh, but has now truly gotten the chance to feel Kayleigh in his heart more than he ever has before.

Bo Dean is just one phenomenal guy who took the time to travel to Charlotte with me to walk in the March of Dimes walk with my family and then visit some of the Dr's and Nurses who took special care of Kayleigh at the hospital. He was able to see first hand the lives that Kayleigh had and continues to touch.

As I read his post this morning, I couldn't recreate in words what a special day yesterday was any better than the amazing words expressed from his heart. I have re-posted below what Bo had written, but you can visit his blog here:www.BoWilmington.blogspot.com

Here is what Bo had written:

If you have been reading this blog you know the story of Adam's gift to me and through his meeting Ashley and Kristi and how their love conspired to change my life and how all of us pray to pay it forward each and everyday. However, the root of Adam's inspiration to give, as you might recall, was the life of his and his former wife's child, Kayleigh Anne Freeman.

Adam and Aimee are the parents of a 1 pound miracle birth who overcame all odds to enter into this world. Kayleigh was, from all reports, recollections and stories, a force of nature...defying amazing odds and breathing into that tiny body a soul that, while not with us in body, is still very present to this day. Since Adam became my trainer, then my friend, I heard and listened to stories and I read the blog about Kayleigh. I understood that what had so changed Adam as a person, what had changed his priorities, set him on the path that he now walks, created the desire to give the gift of life that he gave to me; all of that was from Kayleigh's life.

However, the connection became more real today as we traveled to Charlotte to walk in the March of Dimes walk and then go to visit a place that I am still processing as I write. here is a link to the video we did from the walk: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nePD8sAsZGs

Here are some photos from the walk and from Frazier Park where a brick was donated by Kayleigh's nurses in her honor.

The walk was great, but I want to talk about the visit that Adam took me to the Hospital where Kayleigh was born. When we got to the Levine Children's Hospital, I was not sure what to expect. It was breathtaking. Thousands of crystals strung from stories high in front of colored panels bringing in light and love from the moment we entered. There was a sense of peace and calm as we entered..but it was that light..that warmth...that sense of comfort that comes from feeling secure and 'held' that I now know is what I was feeling entering in that place.

We went to the 7th floor and when we got off the elevator, Adam knew, even with some changes that were going on, exactly what to do and where to go. He had walked this path with Aimee so many times before. We entered the Neonatal intensive care unit and faces lit up as soon as they saw Adam. It was as if those behind the desk saw a family member, someone who made them remember something very familiar and loving. That was the moment that I began seeing love in the room...God...it was so very powerful.

A woman named Marsha walked in. I had been told about her. She had been Kayleigh's primary nurse..and from the moment she stepped in, you could see not a face of someone silly with love and affection, but someone who was possessed of that kind of care and genuine love that is on the face and disposition of those who have seen death up close and personally, but believe in life more than most of us will ever know. She possessd a true gift. She was not alone.

She took us around the units. That is when it began to connect: the reality of what had happened here with the stories and the true miracles at work in this place. When the magnitude that is hitting me right now as I write( of all that I was seeing and saw today) really started to come together.

In the unit there were all these precious pods...in each was life. Some 2 lbs, some 3, some 1.4 lb..some with light warming them, some with respirators so technical a nasa engineer would be hard pressed to understand it. Each pod had a nurse giving nurture, care, and love. Each pod had a handmade quilt covering it so there was something loving and warming....but there were monitors and equipment..and each life..each soul was looking out for someone to help...to sustain. It is so overwhelming that image. And I thought of Adam and Aimee going each and everyday to the that unit with that precious child...and all of that....and the waiting..the procedures...the waiting...it all hit me....and I just swallowed hard trying hard to just be there for Adam as he experienced seeing everyone. I asked how many were there and was told that they could have and usually have 55 babies at a time, but right now they only had 30. I just could not get my head around 30! much less 55....and all those parents, and grandparents..all that prayers

But on the drive back today and then this evening, where I have literally done nothing but try and process the trip, It hit me: While I just could not understand or really even comprehend all those premature births..all that life struggling.....I could get my soul around all that Love.

See, all the stories I have heard about Kayleigh...It has all be about LOVE...Courage..Compassion. All those proceedures...all that waiting....all that nurture...all that time...it brought to focus what is and was important...LOVE! Above all things! LOVE! if for no other reason..those children in that unit bring the world to a stop for a moment...if just for a moment..someone..somebodys...a few souls...and they think about something other than...fill in the blank...and they send out love. For Kayleigh's blog..there were literally 1000's who prayed, sent messages, sent hope. 1000's who still do....and they stop whatever in their lives and think about LOVE...they think about this precious life.

It is so overwhelming. So very powerful!

I know for a fact from today, that i witnessed this love. As we walked through the unit, one of Kayleigh's very special nurses came out to hug Adam. When she saw our shirts, she commented on the ribbon that Mrs. Freeman had placed on each of them. Adam went to tell her that that was the ribbon of hope they had used when Kayleigh was alive. The nurse stopped him and said, "I know"..and as she pulled down her nametag...there on the back of it was one of Kayleigh's ribbons that had been there for the last two years. It had been there and remained there everyday that she worked.

It was also amazing to meet some of the Dr's who took special care of Kayleigh.

This was a short amount of what transpired here, but I hope I have been able to share what a powerful experience it was. Aside from the best husband in the world, I have been blessed with the best friend God could have granted me in Adam. But seeing this today and walking in this experience had brought me closer to the inspiration behind so much of the best of him and so much of now what has given me a new life: Kayleigh. I am eternally grateful to he and Aimee for being such good parents and being so loving to this beautiful child, but for sharing her with the world and letting her light shine so brightly!

I have learned over the last 22 years that it is not the amount of time that one lives that can be so significant, it is the quality of each day you live. This life...this little girl clearly lived each and everyday with courage, love, and conviction and a will that is not known by most of us...and we are all better because of her.

Like I said...Bo is an phenomenal guy and I am so appreciative of our friendship. Thank you Bo for all that you do for me, for our community and for every single life that you touch.

Just like Kayleigh....You're Amazing!

I Love you Brother!

Heart Ball 2011 - American Heart Association

2011-02-13T00:36:00.003-05:00

Hello Everyone! Long time no talk! Tonight was a night where Kayleigh was lifted up and her legacy continues to touch lives throughout this world we live in.

It was a blessing to be able to share her amazing journey with many people throughout the Wilmington area. Tonight was the American Heart Association's Heart Ball event. It is by far one of the largest and most prestigious events here in Wilmington, NC.

I was honored to be the guest speaker tonight at the Heart Ball and even though I was more nervous than ever, here is the speech I gave along with the YouTube link of my speech.

"Good Evening Everyone

Some of you may know me as the guy with the wild tattoo up his arm who changed Bo Dean’s life by helping him lose over 110lbs this past year.

But what most of you may not know is that just before Bo and I started our journey, there was someone who helped change my life.

My Daughter, Kayleigh Anne Freeman

The very first time I heard Kayleigh’s heart beat, it filled my heart with so much love. But, when the doctors told us she would not survive the pregnancy, it broke my heart in to pieces.

Kayleigh didn’t stop fighting though. For ten-long-weeks…every morning, afternoon and night…I would listened to her heart beat through a fetal Doppler, praying it would NOT be the last time I’d ever here it again.

Three months shy of her due date, on June 23, 2008…Kayleigh was delivered through emergency c-section. At 10.5 inches long, she only weighed 1 pound and 1 oz.

She continued to fight for her life, overcoming the impossible.

She underwent 7 major surgeries over a ten 1/2 month period, with one of those procedures landing her as one of the smallest children to ever undergo…open heart surgery…at only 3 pounds.

During Kayleigh’s final surgery…which was to insert a feeding tube so she could finally come home…Kayleigh’s little heart…had enough.

I fell in love the first time I heard that precious heart beat…and my heart broke into pieces when I sat by her side and listened to it beat…one last time.

On May 11^th, 2009, Kayleigh went to Heaven.

At the beginning of her journey, a blog was created to share updates with family and friends, but her story ended up touching hundreds and thousands of people all across the world through the radio, national news and on the daytime show - The Dr’s.

Kayleigh’s story strengthened families through faith, hope and love. Her precious heart gave to more people in 10 ½ months than most people give in a lifetime.

If you’ve ever read the story about the dash, it is not about how a life begins or how a life ends, but how you lived your life in between.

So…I want to THANK every-single-one of you for EVERY donation you’ve given to the American Heart Association….because without the research and the technology of today, I would not have been able to spend an amazing 10 ½ months with my sweet daughter.

Please continue to give…and to help…and to support this wonderful organization.

Thank you from the bottom of my Heart!"

To see the YouTube link, please click below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_profilepage&v=fw4FAFWIC5Q

Thank you all and God Bless!

Adam

Sweet Corol Saeger

2010-09-20T18:25:00.003-04:00

Say a prayer for the Saeger family. Their little Corol (from Florida) was born a month after Kayleigh. As Corol fought her own battles in the NICU, the family looked to Kayleigh's journey for inspiration and once Corol was a little older, she would enjoy listening and dancing to Kayleigh's music the her blog.

Unfortunately, this past week as the family took their first vacation together in NC, not to far from me here in Wilmington, they were in a severe car accident and sweet little Corol (2 yrs old) didn't survive.

Jade (Corol's mom) and I spoke on the phone this morning and I just felt the need to share it with you all on FB and to tell you all to take a moment and stop what your doing, just long enough to give thanks to everything and everyone you have in your life. You never know when you will be faced with such tragedy, so never let a day pass without showing the people who are close to you how much you love them.

God bless the Saeger family and all the other families out there who have lost someone dear to their heart. Life is very short when you lose someone you love and life is too long while you miss them and have to wait to see them again.

~Adam Freeman

Cape Fear Heart Walk

2010-08-18T08:29:00.000-04:00

Thank you everyone who has already donated money to the American Heart Association for this year's Cape Fear Heart Walk. It is awesome to see so many people come together for a common good. As of this point, we have raised $42,986 and our goal is $150,000.

The event takes place at the UNCW Athletic Fields on October 16th, 2010 and you can get all the information you can by clicking here: Cape Fear Heart Walk

You can help us raise money for the Cape Fear Heart Walk by contacting me at AdamFreemanPT@yahoo.com. I am part of the Wilmington Rotary - Central and I have a total of 25 ($25.00) raffle tickets in order to do my part in helping raise money for a great cause.

Email me quick and THANK YOU TONS!!!

If you missed Louise McColl, Bo Dean, Ashley Miller and myself on ByLine Wilmington, go to my Facebook page where you can watch all 4 Parts or on You Tube.

Click below:

Adam's Facebook

or on YouTube:

ByLine Wilmington PT 1 with Louise McColl

ByLine Wilmington PT 2 with Bo Dean

ByLine Wilmington PT 3 with Adam Freeman & Bo Dean

ByLine Wilmington PT 4 with Ashley Miller & Louise McColl

Great show everyone and thank you all for everything you do.

God Bless,

Adam Freeman

"Happy Birthday Kayleigh"

2010-06-23T00:00:00.005-04:00

In this world we live in, experiencing the birth of a child is beyond any emotional understanding. We crave the excitement and milestones that are set from each passing day for nearly ten months until that child graces our presence away from the womb. Envisioning a perfect world with a perfect pregnancy is what many people live for, sharing their love and building a life that will once touch the lives of others. No one is ever prepared for trouble, no one is ever prepared for fear and no one is ever prepared for what God's plan is. We are prepared only to take what God has given to us and make it better through faith, hope and love.

In December 2007, Aimee and Adam Freeman brought a souvenir home from Disney World. Her name was to be Kayleigh Anne Freeman and little did the Freemans know, this precious girl was going to touch the world. Several months in to their pregnancy, a routine check up at CMC's Maternal Fetal Medicine downtown, was given to determine the sex of their baby, but only grim news was given that their precious little one was not going to survive much longer.

Fear of losing Kayleigh was at the tip of everyone's mind. There was zero expectancy of survival as Kayleigh had too long to go and too much to grow before she could grace our presence in this world. The Freemans bought a fetal doppler so they could listen to the heart beat morning, day and night. They wanted to know when her heart had taken it's last beat. Days turned into weeks and into months as Kayleigh kept fighting. Every doctors visit was exciting because they made it to another milestone, but left saddened as the unfortunate diagnosis of severe IUGR (Intrauterine Growth Restriction) determined Kayleigh's growth was still falling behind.

Ten weeks later, Aimee was stricken with severe preeclampsia and was rushed to the CMC-Main in Charlotte, NC. Fear of losing Aimee, Kayleigh or both was torture to the family, but keeping faith through it all was strengthening their hearts. Time was not on their side as they feared Kayleigh would not reach a viable weight to live outside the womb. She would have had to grow over 150 grams in the past two weeks to reach that viable weight and she had only grown 300 grams in the past 28 weeks. Kayleigh's survival was looking very doubtful at this point in time because only God could bless Kayleigh with that kind of growth. And you know what? He certainly did. The test showed that Kayleigh had grown an unbelievable 170 grams since the last measurement two weeks prior.

That early morning on June 23rd 2008, Aimee's symptoms began to worsen and at 3:00 AM, she was rushed in to the delivery room where this one pound miracle from God was delivered. Kayleigh weighed an astonishing one pound, one ounce and was only ten and a half inches long. After five of the longest minutes, the neonatal team was able to insert a breathing tube into Kayleigh's lungs to allow her to breath. She was quickly rushed up to the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) where she would continue to fight the battle to survive for the next ten months.

Kayleigh's fight would soon be heard across the world through the internet, on major news stations and the television daytime show, "The Doctors." Families across the globe would stand fast and pray for this beautiful little girl who faced battle after battle, and would continue to defy the odds of survival to show that anything is possible. Kayleigh faced seven major surgeries and was one of the smallest children to ever undergo open heart surgery at three pounds. Her surgeries included ROP eye surgery, bowel exploratory surgery, open heart surgery for VSD repair, tracheotomy, bilateral hernia repair, nissen fundoplication, and PEG placement.

As Kayleigh endured her final surgery that would soon bring her home to the beautiful pink and brown room her parents prepared for her, she lost functioning of her brain and her health deteriorated soon after causing her to go to Heaven on May 11th, 2009.

Kayleigh will never be forgotten at CMC or in the hearts of all of those who followed her miraculous journey. She was given a purpose to touch many lives through faith, hope and love. Kayleigh's parents are blessed that God gave them ten months with Kayleigh and they know this will not be goodbye forever.

Kayleigh is made new and is healthy in Heaven, waiting for her parents to hold her, kiss her and rejoice in the wonderful life they shared together. Time on earth is but a grain of sand on the largest beach compared to the time the Freemans will spend eternity with Kayleigh in Heaven. All of Kayleigh's family, doctors, nurses and prayer warriors are beyond proud of their one pound miracle and they all pray your life will be touched by her amazing journey.

You can view "Kayleigh's Story" right here on this blog and follow the ups and downs of her miraculous journey and how her strength touched the world. On the right tool bar is the "Archives" and you can follow it all the way back from the beginning. All we ask is that you grab some tissues and get ready to be touched by this "One Pound Blessing from God"

To see 15+ of the most precious Kayleigh photos, click on the link at the top of the page, "Kayleigh's Videos" and enjoy in the beauty of an Angel.

"Happy Birthday Sweet Kayleigh, We ALL Love You So Much!!!"

In His Grip,

Shout it to the World!!!

2010-06-21T13:46:00.006-04:00

First of all, thank you all so much for all the Happy Father's Day wishes. It was a tough day, but thanks to my good friend Joseph for getting me out of the house. We took a long bike ride down to the south end of the beach, back up around the loop in Wrightsville Beach, and then some. I would say all together, we traveled a good 15-20 miles and I was certainly in a much better state of mind when I was done. Exercise certainly uplifts your soul.

As you all know Wednesday June 23rd is Kayleigh's birthday and what I feel would be a good gift for Kayleigh up in Heaven is that every single one of you share her story with someone you know, don't know or needs to know so that they too can be touched by an Angel.

One thing that I know for sure, and I am sure Aimee would agree with me, is that we will never stop sharing Kayleigh's story with the world. We will continue to carry on her legacy and touch as many lives as we possibly can. She was and continues to be such an inspiration to so many people. Emails come in daily of people who came across her story and their lives have been touched by Kayleigh. Just a month ago, an email came in from an amazing guy in Afghanistan who was sending his prayers. Praise God and thanks to Kayleigh for such an amazing and heartfelt surprise like that.

I recently had the pleasure of speaking in our Rotary Club last week and sharing Kayleigh's story to everyone and even though I fear speaking in front of groups of people, I miss sharing her story like that whether it be a March of Dimes event, on the radio or on national television. After I start talking, my fears disappear and my heart just pours out. It is emotionally draining, not because I talk about her no longer physically being with us on earth, but because every single spectator's eyes are filled with tears and I know they will be forever changed.

Share her story for me, for Aimee and especially for Kayleigh. I told Aimee what I am doing and we plan to do this cool thing and you all can follow suit as well. I plan to post a big Happy Birthday Kayleigh several times a day (with her link attached) on Facebook, Twitter and all the blogs for every single person that we know to see Happy Birthday Kayleigh posted EVERYWHERE. Everyone is going to be curious who this Kayleigh is and with God's work, they will find out. You were a witness to her miracles and blessings for a reason. Your lives have been blessed for knowing her and following her journey. So, SHOUT IT to the world and help bless someone else's life too.

Thank you very very much and God Bless!

Kayleigh's Birthday

2010-06-18T11:57:00.004-04:00

I am so excited because next weekend, my Mom and Dad will be venturing out to Wilmington to spend the weekend with me and all my great friends. It will be their first time coming out here and we have some exciting events planned.

A good handful of us are all gonna go out to eat at a beautiful restaurant downtown on the waterway to enjoy the beautiful sunset and then dive in to a delicous "Healthy" home made cake made with love by my mom to celebrate Kayleigh's birthday. It is going to be wonderful and I am so looking forward to having my friends and family there with me.

Other events for the weekend are not yet set in stone, but here are some of the options we may be doing: Airlie Gardens, Battleship North Carolina, Fort Fisher Aquarium, Exercising at O2 Fitness, Walking the Loop and the beach in Wrightsville Beach, and other exciting times. We only have the weekend, so we will have to pick the best of the best this time around.

It will be a great weekend to celebrate Kayleigh's birthday with those who are close to my heart. I couldn't ask for better friends who have supported me through everything and are there on a daily basis to put a smile on my face and remind me how truly blessed I am.

Kayleigh has touched so many hearts and is the reason for so many blessings in my life. If it weren't for Kayleigh and the awesome people she brought in to my life, I wouldn't be as incredibly happy where I am in my life. She is such an amazing girl who continues to do wonderful things for so many on a daily basis.

Thanks to all and God Bless!

Adam

Gratitude Rock

2010-05-22T12:00:00.004-04:00

I was in a deep conversation yesterday with a close friend and we were chatting about both of our daughter's situations and it brought me back to the post that I wrote the other day about being positive and not allowing the negatives in life hold you back to doing what is good in this world.

After sharing this information with him, I could see his attitude completely turn around. He had been dwelling on the negatives of his situation and not focusing on what blessings he should be grateful for having. I told him that I found a rock that sits in my Jeep that whenever I look at it, it reminds me to thank God for all the amazing things that I am grateful for. My rock allows me to start my day off on a good note instead of waking up and dreading all the negative issues at hand.

I am not really thinking of much when I first get up and go through my normal routine of taking vitamins, eating breakfast, getting dressed and getting in my Jeep to head to work. It is funny how that works as we have trained our minds to do a simple day in day out routine. However, as soon as the car door shuts, the thoughts of life start and I am sure it does for most of you as you head off on your normal work day. But, now that I have my rock in my cup holder, I pick it up and start thanking God for all that I am grateful for. If a negative thought comes in to my mind, I quickly shut it out with more positive thoughts by saying, "Thank you for... Thank you for... Thank you for...."

Blaring some uplifting music also puts on a smile. There is no better way to start off the day with some uplifting music and shouting to the Lord what your grateful for. Everything is positive on my way to work and it has completely changed my days around so much. Normally, we all dwell on the one thing that we want to change in our lives and it causes us to be in a bad mood. That one thing causes so much pain, that we can't get it out of our minds. Even if we have to face the negative issue at hand, it doesn't have to control our attitudes or get in the way of helping others by being positive.

So, look at it this way...If there is one issue causing you pain, there must be a million other things in your life that don't, so smile and be thankful for those things and your new attitude it will completely change your mood and your life.

God Bless,

Adam

Abby's Wish

2010-05-16T21:03:00.004-04:00

When times are great, friends are there to rejoice with you. When times are tough, friends are there to help you get through it. When you have great friends in your life, it makes hours, days, weeks, months and years become fulfilled with great memories.

I remember when Kayleigh came in to this world and all of you, friends, would rejoice in the miracle that Kayleigh survived what the doctors felt was impossible. I remember when Kayleigh was sick, friends put their hands together and prayed for another miracle. I remember when Kayleigh went to Heaven, friends reached their arms out for comfort. I also remember when friends helped lift a financial burden when this crazy world came crashing down on us.

One friend in particular who put his words on the line to help start a chain reaction to bring friends and family to send donations, is now in need of a financial assistance. However, Brent Riggs may have been the one to lend a helping hand to me as a friend, but it is Abby who is requesting this financial wish.

I have come to know the Riggs family very well and they are the most amazing family I have ever met. It is a blessing what Brent does everyday to witness to the world and what he has done to be such a strong leader for his family of 7 while caring for his little girl who was stricken with cancer. It is Abby who wishes to gain this financial blessing as they are all raising money for another adopted brother or sister. After seeing how amazing this family has been to me, to others and to their children, they are so deserving of this blessing.

So, I am going to give what little I have in order to start the same chain reaction blessing that the Riggs Family has done for others.

Brent...here is a $100! May you be blessed with what you need to bring home another beautiful child who will be even more blessed to be called a "Riggs"

Everyone who wants to help donate, please click here: Abby's Wish

God Bless My Friend!!!

Adam

Negativity or Strength

2010-05-14T13:19:00.002-04:00

Some people have asked me lately how I can be so strong after losing my daughter only a short year ago and after replying to a Facebook message today, it dawned on me as to why that is the case.

I feel like the time that I would spend crying out to the world to comfort my sorrows is wasted time to share God's love, strength and beauty. When you think of God's image, do you see Him crying, complaining, angry or anything negative, or do you see Him as strong, filled with love and filled with all the right words to say to anyone with a question?

Do I miss Kayleigh? YES!!! Do I long to hold her one more time? YES!!! Do I ever cry when I think about her? YES!!! BUT, something I have always kept in the forefront of my mind is a guy that I used to work with back at Frito Lay nearly 14 years ago. Every time I saw him, he had a smile on his face. Everytime I asked him how he was doing, he would say.."I am truly blessed." There was no way this guy could be in a good mood every single day, let alone any single day because I know exactly how I and everyone else felt working the same exact job he was doing.

When I finally got the nerve to ask him why he was always in a good mood. He said because I have Jesus in my life. This was long before I ever became a Christian, but it stuck with me from then on. I always told myself, I wanted to be like that guy because I view him as a strong and happy person. Honestly, no matter what the sad/depressing/angry story is, it only is going to bring someone else sorrow or anger or pain. Not to mention, who really cares if you are in a bad mood when the universal question of asking how someone's day is going is as common as changing your underwear. Well, maybe it is...for some of you. lol

Look at these two differences....How do you think it will affect you if someone continued to cry out all there problems to the world. You may listen for a while, but then it actually wears you out and then before too long, you are ignoring or hiding from that person because all they do is whine. Now...how would you react to someone who knows that only God is the one who can fix their problems or atleast lead them to a specialist who can fix their problems (In which you still don't hear about it). You would see this person as positive, strong, uplifting and maybe you would want to be more like that person because isn't anything negative in this world considered sin??? Fear not and trust the Lord. Isn't that what God tells us.

Now in no way am I perfect at this, but I have learned through experience that you don't have to be perfect at anything...just try your best. I have and always will try to live a life without negativity as it gets you nowhere and it prevents you from doing the great works of God. Now don't get me wrong, I am not saying Kayleigh is a negative one tiny bit...but I am not going to let my selfishness of wanting her back in my life so bad that it ruins my day or causes me to harm my body or others through depression when I could be touching other lives with God's word. A day wasted crying over the fact that she is no longer here is a day wasted to lift another soul up to see the great things our Lord is made of. What if someone watching you, reading your words, or seeing your actions was on the fence of giving their life to Christ. Am I going to be a drama queen and show that person any kind of weakness when I need to be acting in the image of our Lord? NEGATIVE GHOST RIDER!!!! (For all you Top Gun fans)

I keep in mind that the life we live on earth is but a grain of sand compared to the life we will have in eternity. Waiting 60 more years (hopefully) to save so many more lives here on earth seems like there is actually not a lot of time left, but eternity allows me to spend every waking moment for the rest of my life with Kayleigh and my family who has gone before me. I can wait as it will just make the homecoming filled with much more anticipation than it already is....and when I get to Heaven, then I will let the tears "of joy" flow.

Last but not least...Kayleigh touched more lives with God's word without speaking a single word of her own. Aimee and I may have written this blog, but without Kayleigh's strong heart and determination, you wouldn't have been touched by her story. I give Kayleigh all the credit, but then it tells me I have a voice of my own and I have ways to reach others, so what am I going to do that amounts to the blessing my daughter did for so many others? You might say it's not a competition, but if God made me an athlete and a competitor, then Kayleigh certainly set the bar high for me to achieve such an ounce of a blessing she has been to others.

So, my first step has been to release things that hold me back from being the best Christian that God created me to be. Negativity was certainly one of them and I hope it is for you too because this is about Kayleigh...and nothing else.

"Kayleigh, I am so proud of you for the life you lived and the lives you touched. You have given me a newfound strength and I am beyond blessed that God gave you to me. I know times are tough down here, but just know that I love you so much and I will not allow any negativity change the way I share your beautiful story. You are a gift to all of us and it is all about you on this blog. Because of you, we have been able to touch more and more people's lives. Your story has helped me be more selfless and change people's lives through fitness and Mommy has been able to touch people's lives through her blog and on Facebook. We will never let your story subside sweetheart as your strength and determination will touch more and more lives until the day that I see you in Heaven. But even then, I know there will be others who will carry on your story. You are just that special my sweet butterfly. We ALL love you so much!"

God Bless,

Celebrating Kayleigh - Balloon Release for May 11th

2010-05-05T10:20:00.003-04:00

I can't believe we are approaching one year since Kayleigh went to Heaven. Time has flown by so fast as it feels just yesterday when we set off those pink balloons in to the air to remember our sweet little Kayleigh.

Thanks to Bo Dean, he has put together a special evening for me at 6:30pm next Tuesday over at O2 Fitness in Mayfaire. He has gathered many of my clients and friends to celebrate Kayleigh's miraculous journey by letting off pink balloons again with notes attached to touch more people.

We would love for all of those who joined in last year to do the same and send in your photos so I can post them for all to see. I still have tons of photos from last year that I would like to have put into a video montage with some songs. I will probably incorporate both years, so if you want to have your photo in the video, email it to me at: AdamFreemanPT@yahoo.com Niecey if your out there and want to help again, I would love your assistance in making this video.

If you live in the Wilmington or surrounding area, please come and join us. The address to O2 Fitness is: 980 Town Centre Drive - Wilmington, NC 28405.

I want to really thank you all for your support and never ending prayers over the past couple years. It has been a blessing to have such a wonderful group of prayer warriors through the ups and downs of this journey. I can't thank you all enough on how much it means to me.

I am forever grateful!

God Bless you all so very much!!!

My Kayleigh Tattoo

2010-04-14T13:42:00.004-04:00

Now I have a piece of Kayleigh etched in to my skin forever. I always knew this is what I wanted, but finally found an artist out here in Wilmington (Robbie Kass) who does a really good job compared to the guys I trusted out in Charlotte.

Anyhow, I thought I would share my new piece of artwork with you all. Believe it or not, it only took 25 minutes but it hurt more than the whole 16 hours (2 - 8hr sessions) that is took to do my arm sleeve tattoo. Go figure!

I would love to hear some stories of your artwork. Do you have a tattoo? What is the meaning behind yours?

God Bless,

Your Amazing!!

2010-03-21T23:24:00.005-04:00

Imagine you are walking by yourself through the fields of a horse pasture that is over 200 acres in size. It is a cool and breezy day, but spring is in the air and the warm weather is peaking through just around the corner. You find yourself in a peaceful state as you soak in all the beauty around you. As you climb and descend the rolling hills of the Fredon, NJ country side, your attention is distracted by a ribbon that is gracefully blowing in the wind. As you change course and approach this dancing ribbon, you notice half of it is buried deep in the muddy terrain. Grasping tightly, but gently pulling it out of the undisturbed earth only to find a beautifully handwritten note attached to the other end.

On May 11, 2009, Kayleigh Anne Freeman went home to Heaven and nearly a year has gone by since balloons, with beautifully written notes were set free on May 17th, 2009 to roam this world in hopes to touch more lives the same way Kayleigh had touched all of ours.

I received an email early this evening from Kathy whose life was touched by Kayleigh as she walked through this beautiful pasture today and pulled a buried "You've Been Touched by Kayleigh" note out of the mud. It showed signs of wear and tear as Kathy described this firmly attached note to the end of this ribbon, which was once carried to its destination by a beautiful pink balloon. I nearly broke in to tears when this email came through. I was enjoying my gracious invite for dinner over at Andy's (The American Hero) house for dinner and a little Guitar Hero with his wife, sister and children. I happily shared this blessing of a story with them as goose bumps covered my whole body. I was so excited and anxious to come home and share such awesome news with you all.

"Kayleigh, you continue to amaze us everyday with your strength and love. There is not a day that goes by where I am not reminded of the love you shared with all of us. I am forever changed by your miraculous journey. Just when I think I have been amazed beyond all measure, you prove once and again why, "Your Amazing" by Janelle is the song that describes you perfectly. I am comforted daily by your photos, your first teeny weeny outfit, your stuffed animal puppy (Brittany), and the stories that continue to come in of how you touched and blessed their lives. Every time I'm shown how much of a blessing you have been and will continue to be, I quickly smile and am reminded of how very proud I am of you!

Kayleigh, you will forever live in my heart. By seeing how you have changed this world, without speaking a word, it just amplifies the fact of knowing that your really not that far away. As the warm weather is approaching, I am sure we will all see your love through the joyful dancing of a beautiful butterfly.

We ALL love you so much sweet Kayleigh"

God Bless,

One Long Hour - One Great Talk

2010-02-19T11:09:00.003-05:00

I came in to work today knowing that I had a busy day and I dreaded the fact that I couldn't sleep well at all last night, but the Lord had better things planned for me. He wanted me to take a day and think about Kayleigh.

Besides training Bo first thing early this morning, my first fitness assessment today was with Andrea (On-dray-uh). Yes, I got it wrong two times but because of humility, I won't pronounce it wrong again. LOL. Andrea is a new member and all new members get a free fitness assessment. When I first start the appointment, I typically ask people a little bit about their fitness history and that is when the whole conversation turned to Noah and Kayleigh.

Out of all the people God wanted to put in my life today, it was the perfect person because we both were just so busy, stressed and full of anxiety that we just needed that time to talk about our children and take our minds off of exercise and work for once.

It was crazy how it all started out because within the first couple minutes, she mentions that when she was pregnant, she had high blood pressure and had to deliver Noah early, I just knew that this was not going to be an hour filled with goal talking. But beyond mentioning preeclampsia, she mentions that she had a Molar Pregnancy and my jaw hit the floor.

Little Noah went to Heaven during the pregnancy term and that was due to this Molar pregnancy. If you have never heard of this type of pregnancy, you must educate yourself because it is not that common for those to have a Molar pregnancy and actually have a little peanut develop in the egg. Normally the egg is empty.

When one of our maternal fetal medicine doctors came up with the research and thought Kayleigh's situation could be a Molar pregnancy, we did our own research to see how many mothers delivered their children from this tragic condition and we came up with three cases. However, one passed away shortly after birth, another lived quite a few years before passing away and the last was not conclusive. I am not really positive of any other cases, but I am sure they are out there somewhere.

Out of every person I speak to about their child who went to Heaven, some say they know exactly what we are going through even when the experiences are completely different, but some with also make a point to say their situation is not the same and they have no idea. I honestly think that everyone's feelings are the same, even though I would "think" to say that people have no idea what we are going through...but actually they do.

Whether or not a child went to Heaven before delivery, after delivery, squeezed your finger, cooed for the first time, spoke their first words, walked them to their very first classroom or walked them down the isle, having a child who's so precious and dear to our hearts go to Heaven before we do is painfully sad and leaves a missing part of your heart that will never be replaced. Everyone feels that same loss, just not everyone has the same memories. Even though I may not know what people are feeling, I do know exactly how they feel and thankfully with God's grace, we can only rely on Him to heal that pain.

So we sat and shared our stories and talked quite a bit. I showed her the blog and we actually watched Kayleigh's three videos that a special friend created for Kayleigh's memorial and the blog. It was time spent well, but the funny thing is, I had to schedule her for another session soon to redo the assessment we initially set out to do.

Not to mention that I told Andrea that I have not posted in a while and someone answered that prayer real quick by cancelling my next two assessments which opened up the following two hours. So...here I am :)

Thank you Andrea tons for the talk and please know there are millions out there who are here for you too.

Please keep Andrea's husband in your prayers as he is in the military and will be deployed next month.

Thanks and God Bless!

Our Sweet Angel

2010-01-21T09:05:00.001-05:00

NEW POST - WomensMarriageMinistry.com

Come over & watch an old video montage of our sweet angel, Kayleigh Anne Freeman.

EMERGENCY - PLEASE PRAY...

2009-12-28T23:29:00.003-05:00

You all know my good friend, Brent Riggs. Please read his post below and visit his blog for updates (www.riggsfamilyblog.com)

---------------------------

EMERGENCY!!! Please pray...

Dear Christian family,

Wow… if all the stuff about Abby wasn’t enough…

We just got a phone call from a hospital. Our 17 year old, Garrett, Michelle’s brother Mike, and her sister Micalah were in a serious car accident and are all critical

We are dropping the kids off with our friends, and going to the hospital now.

Micalah is here with her Dad (Michelle’s father) visiting for Christmas from San Antonio. He is VERY shaken and is fresh in the middle of a cancer battle himself.

We covet your prayers….

Brent & Michelle...

-----------------------------

Missing you Sweet Girl!

2009-12-28T13:44:00.004-05:00

I remember last Christmas like it was yesterday. I remember the heroic turn of events that allowed the doctors to figure out pneumonia was trying to take Kayleigh from us. I remember Christmas being an exciting day, not like most would normally celebrate it, but that we were lucky to celebrate the Lord's birthday in the small confinements of the NICU bedside.

It was quiet, more than usual, as nurses covered extra so other nurses could be at home with their family's. You felt an extra sense of emotions even though it was emotional enough just being there to begin with. It was a sense of pride for the nurses who stayed and worked the evening hours on Christmas Eve in to the morning hours of Christmas Day. Nurses have that caring, protecting, selfless personality that allows them to be so wonderful at their jobs. It is so much more when you see those nurses care not only for the children, but sacrifice their time for others they work with.

I remember seeing the stuffed animal hanging from the connection poles which were given to all the children for Christmas. Unfortunately all the bells in the NICU were not ringing to a lovely Christmas tune. Waldo seemed to be the joke of the day as Kayleigh wore her red and white beanie. The image of her lying face down with that beanie on is an image I will never forget.

Christmas is a time to give, a time to celebrate the Lord for all that He did for us and like all birthdays, to celebrate life. I know that Kayleigh had an amazing Christmas in Heaven and I am sure she had the opportunity to make snow angels in her first White Christmas. I just wish I could have experienced that with her here and so many other things I will have to wait to share.

Mommy and I miss you so much sweet Angel! We love you with all our hearts.

Merry Christmas Kayleigh!

God Bless,

Serious Life Magazine - Featuring Mckmama

2009-12-23T07:37:00.004-05:00

Is this not a beautiful photo of Jennifer...(aka Mckmama) and her precious peanut??? I am so happy to read this edition of Serious Life Magazine! I am a rookie when it comes to taking photos and I feel like a professional after reading these tips and tricks in this months edition.

Before, I would take a hundred photos a day when we went to visit Kayleigh in the hospital just praying that one would be the perfect shot. After reading this edition, I can save a lot more battery by taking tons of perfect shots in half the time.

Honestly, there are some things I could never figure out with my camera that make perfect sense to me now! It is so worth reading the article.

Go check it out and prepare to take some awesome photos of your family this Christmas season!!!

Go to: www.seriouslifemagazine.com

God Bless,

Prayer Warriors Needed

2009-12-14T20:31:00.003-05:00

Hello everyone,

One of my personal training clients at work (Chelsey) has a good friend (Jennie), only 21 years old, who was in a serious car accident a short time ago. She is currently in a coma and her situation is critical. She needs many prayers as well as her family needs many prayers through this very tough journey.

Please stop by and let them know we are praying endlessly for her recovery. Just like our sweet Kayleigh's journey, when more than one are praying for healing, God is certainly listening and can do amazing things.

The blog is: http://www.jenniesavickas.blogspot.com/

Thank you all so much!

God Bless,

Wilmington - March of Dimes - Chef's Auction 11/7/09

2009-11-15T07:32:00.001-05:00

This past month, Aimee and I had the opportunity to share Kayleigh's story with Wilmingtons WECT News Station Leading Anchor, Kim Ratcliff. Kim is on the morning news and Jesse from Time Warner Cable, came out to shoot a video at our home in Wrightsville Beach. Our video along with another family's story was shown this past weekend at the March of Dimes (Chef's Auction) event here in Wilmington.

It was awesome, emotional and just so much fun! They had two tents set up with one room filled with great food from some of the top Chef's in Wilmington. They also has a silent auction with so many wonderful gifts, trips and spas. I bid on a signed ECU football helmet to give to one of my brothers, but I was outbidded. However, I guess God was looking out for what would have been a hard decision because both of my brother's went to ECU and would have loved the helmet in their home on display. (lol)

In the other room were tables to sit at with a live band playing, and it is also where they held the live auction and shared our video. The whole event was set up really nice. Aimee actually went over in the morning for a few hours to help with the set up while I hung out at the house with the kids.

We are so thankful for Jordan and Michelle, who are the two leaders in charge of the March of Dimes here in Wilmington. They worked really hard to organize this event and it showed. Thank you guys for everything you have done!

Also, thank you Kim and Jesse for all of the efforts you put in to the making the video. There was not a dry eye in the house. Here is the video for you all to see. Unfortunately, I was not able to get the video to download on blogger for some odd reason, so I am working on something else to post it for you all to see.

Aimee and I are so blessed to be apart of the March of Dimes here and we look forward to helping out anyway we can in the future.

Thank you all so much!

God Bless,

2nd Annual Preemie Onesie Drive

2009-11-14T16:39:00.003-05:00

Hello everyone,

Our good friends Rachel and Ryan are at it again and looking to make another huge success with their preemie onesie drive. Last year was phenominal and this year will be too, but we all need your help. I am letting Rachel take over and tell you all about what is going on...

Hello Everyone!!! We are holding the 2nd annual preemie onesie drive being held by me (Rachel) and Ryan. We are collecting preemie onesies and other preemie clothing to donate to the babies that are staying in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit).

Ryan and I had our first daughter Carly in the NICU for 4 months before passing away from a heart defect. I know as well as other preemie parents of children in the NICU know that it's hard for your child to be there. It's hard in many ways. It's hard as far as gas is concerned because of the many daily trips to the hospital. Most of the time having a child in the NICU comes as a surprise. Parents are normally not prepared for such an early delivery. With not being prepared comes not having clothing to fit a child who is so small. A lot of times one of the parents (usually the moms) quit working to be at the hospital with their child as much as possible. This makes funds tight. Paying bills can become a struggle, and it makes it hard to buy your new little one the cute outfits that moms want to see their child in.

So, this is why I'm having this preemie onesie drive. To give to those parents who's world has been turned upside down. To help them along their way in their struggle. To help parents enjoy seeing their little boy or girl dressed in a cute outfit. Carly got a cute outfit while she was in the NICU as a anonymous donation. It made me feel completely blessed. It was nice for someone to do this for her. Being in the NICU is a very stressful time. Some are only there for days while others are there for months and even over a year. Simple acts of kindness fills peoples hearts with happiness. I'm doing this donation in memory of Carly who passed away on 3/9/08. I will deliver the donated onesies on 3/9/10.

When I started this drive last year I had a goal of 200. As March got closer and closer I realized I was going to go over my goal. By 3/9/09 I had collected OVER 2,000 items! This drive was truly blessed. We not only were able to donate to Levine Children's Hospital on the 9th of March, we were also able to donate to 5 other NICU's in NC. Every 3 months after March 9th I have donated MORE clothing to Levine Children's Hospital. I have one last donation to make this year in December. Let's come together in prayer and support and make this up coming year as big of a success as this past year. Please tell everyone you know to help spread the word as far as possible.

So please lets come together and help me to gather the needed onesies to donate to the NICU that my sweet Carly was at (Levine Children's Hospital). We will be having collections at my church and other local churches. If you would rather donate monetary donations you can do so at the top of my blog. The funds received will go toward the purchase of preemie onesies. The NICU houses nearly 100 babies. This fluctuates from time to time. Also they have an NPCN (neonatal progressive care nursery). And this unit holds about 60 babies maybe more. I hope to raise enough to donate to both the NICU and NPCN. So tell everyone you know to help me reach my goal by 3/9/10.

Ways you can become involved.....

1. You can mail donated preemie onesies

2. You can donate money to go toward the purchase of new preemie onesies. Just click on the donate button at the top of my blog. http://preemieonesiedrive.blogspot.com

3. You can place a flyer in your church, staff break room at your job, or local businesses with a box to help gather donations and mail them to the PO Box. (If you gather a large donation I will gladly pay for shipping).

**I will make a flyer and send it to your email to print if you would like to help in that way.

I will keep updated post on onesies received.
If you have any questions please feel free to ask.
You can reach me at carlynicoleelliotte@gmail.com

Thanks for your help and participation,

Rachel and Ryan

Freeman Family Weekend

2009-10-28T10:51:00.004-04:00

This past weekend was such a wonderful time for us. We drove up to Raleigh to visit my oldest brother Scott and his family. Scott and Rebecca have three children, Julia, Jason and Penelope. So needless to say, Brandon and Allyson had such a great time playing with their cousins.

On Saturday, Julia had a swim meet and she did such a great job, especially when she was competing against other children who were older than she was. Both Aimee and I were very proud of her and we hope that she continues to work hard and excel at swimming. I also noticed that Julia has been getting fantastic grades in school landing her either on the A honor roll or A/B honor roll each quarter. Woo hoo! That is so wonderful!

Jason (J-Dog) is a stud muffin! He and Brandon had such a enjoyable weekend being boys. They played video games and jumped on the trampoline even when it was cold outside. Boys will be boys! I am so glad they are so close in age and as I have a cousin who I grew up real close with, I can see this relationship doing just the same. They are two wonder-hand-ful boys! Can't you tell?

Penelope is A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E!!! I had to share this story with you all for the soul purpose of sharing back with Penelope when she gets older. We were driving home from the swim meet and I had some Spree hard candies that I love so much and was enjoying every bit of their sweet taste.

Sweet P, as we call her, had asked for some Sprees and I had shared a few here and there until she asked for ALL of them. I told her that I could not give her ALL of them, but that I would share a few.

Next thing I know, she laid a pen next to me on the center console. I said to her, "Is this a gift for me?" I looked through the rear view mirror to see a simple nod of the head and a smile on her face. Now, before I go any further with this story, you must know the pen read "Lifepoint" on it. Lifepoint is a church that we attend in Wilmington.

So...I said, "Thank you sweetheart, that was very kind of you." Before I could get my response out, she blurted, "Now can I have the Sprees?" Aimee and I busted out with laughter. I decided to ask Penelope where she got this gift for me and she stated that she found it in this seat.

Still laughing our butts off, I said to Penelope, "So, you found this pen in your seat, in my car, and gave it to me as a gift?" Penelope then said, "No, I found it in my house." Confused now, I said, "But you just told me you found it in the seat in my car"

"I lied" she said. LOL

Here is Miss Little "Sweet P"

The things kids do and say for candy these days are hilarious! And by the way, mean Uncle Adam has a hard time sharing ALL of his candy because he is spoiled. lol

Another reason we planned the trip to Raleigh as to cheer on our four fighters from Evolution Mixed Martial Arts.
For those who didn't know, I trained in Jiu Jitsu and MMA in Charlotte for a year before Kayleigh was born, took a year off, and then started training again. I competed in a grappling tournament a couple weeks before Kayleigh was born and you can see that my last post on that blog was that tournament. CLICK HERE to see that post and video.

Anyhow, after Kayleigh had went to Heaven, I made an effort to get back in to training and continue my quest to fight in the cage. When I chose Wilmington, I made sure there was a great camp to train at and I couldn't ask for a better team to be a part of. Team Evolution was brought to Wrightsville Beach from Hilo Hawaii by Jeremy Owens. Jeremy and a few other guys who trained in Hawaii under Renato "Charuto" Verissimo who is the Jiu Jitsu coach and teammate to the greatest 155lb fighter, BJ Penn (UFC Lightweight Champion of the World). I had the ultimate pleasure of meeting Charuto and trained with him at Evolution last week.

Now that I have been training hard for the past several months, I have been able to impress some of the current fighters enough to land an opportunity to fight in February at the Schwartz Center here in Wilmington, NC. It will be my first amateur fight, but my ultimate goal is to win 5 amateur fights to gain my pro status. You can view the website at Carolina Fight Promotions . So, I have to stay healthy and train hard over the next four months to pull out a victory.

Getting back on track...we went to Raleigh to cheer our fighters on. George, Grant, Simon and Jon were all fighting. George and Simon both pulled out a win and Grant lost by decision to the hometown kid. Everyone felt it should have gone Grant's way, but you just can't leave it up to the judges or stuff like that will happen. Jon, which is our 5-1 pro fighter, was injured in a last second submission attempt after the bell had rung by the other opponent. It was unfortunate that he was hurt and couldn't continue, but I heard that his knee will be fine and he will be fighting again soon.

We had a great time going to see the fights at the RBC Center in Raleigh where the Carolina Hurricanes play. It was a big venue, but excited me even more to know that I could be fighting there in the near future. With hard work and dedication, anything is possible. I know that I have a good team to train with who have been very successful.

Other than the swim meet and the fights, we all hung out and enjoyed our time together. One thing I am so thankful for is our family. We are truly lucky to have the love and support that we have. Thank you Lord for blessing me with such a wonderful family.

God Bless,

"Make A Wish"

2009-10-18T14:49:00.005-04:00

Disney is such a memorable place for so many families and I know it is going to be such a memorable place for Abby too.

Abby Riggs is such a special little girl to our family. I had the pleasure of meeting and living with the Riggs Family for a week while I went out to Oklahoma for a job interview and this family has been such a blessing to us in so many ways.

"Arrrrrrr" ;) Even though Abby was so very sick, she made the whole hospital laugh so hard with her pirate immitation.

Abby has unfortunately been battling cancer for quite some time now and is currently at Disney World because of her granted "Make a Wish." I know that a lot of you have prayed for Abby along the way while times were tough and I wanted you all to rejoice with them as they live it up in Florida right now!

Brent has been capturing each day and you can see tons of photos. Go visit the Riggs Family blog and see how their trip is going by clicking: HERE

God Bless,

Butterfly Release Memorial

2009-10-11T20:40:00.007-04:00

On Saturday, Levine Children's Hospital held the Butterfly Release Memorial for all the children from the NICU who went to Heaven this past year. It was a very beautiful memorial and we were able to celebrate the lives of all the children who fought so hard and left a mark on many hearts.

Every year, the NICU staff donates a brick to a special little angel and this year they had more than one. Kayleigh was one of those who received a special brick and it was already placed on the walkway at Frazier Park near downtown Charlotte, NC.

Tears were flowing as the gospel choir sang Amazing Grace and as poems were read aloud. When the butterflies took to the air and fluttered to the sky, all heads were raised with smiles that broke through all saddened faces and comfort surrounded our hearts.

Thank you so much to all the Levine Children's Hospital NICU doctors, nurses and staff who took care of our precious Kayleigh as well as all the other children. You certainly made this day a special one for all of us to remember.

God Bless you ALL!

10/7/09 - GUESS WHAT TODAY IS????

2009-10-07T00:00:00.002-04:00

It's Our Anniversary!!! Woo hoo!

I love you beautiful!

MUAH!!!

New Kids in Town

2009-10-05T11:23:00.007-04:00

I must admit that with the move and all that has taken place over the past two years, Ally and Bran have been amazing through it all! There are times where I am completely baffled they made it through with such strength. They nearly carried us through some of the hardest and saddest times with their amazing love, caring hearts and their hilarious sense of humor.

Many people might say that, "Oh...well they were effected, but they hide their feelings well." Have you met Brandon? Have you seen how openly emotional and sensitive this dude is? He is such a sweetheart that we would know in a split second if something has effected him. Just the other day, he started to ball with massive puppy dog tears because he didn't like the food Mommy made. It was not because the normally well-liked meal was distasteful, it was because he felt like he hurt Mommy's feelings for not liking it.

All I have to say is that if Brandon continues to maintain his masculinity along with his incredible sensitivity, he is going to be considered..."The Perfect Guy." So, if you want to find the right man for your daughter in about 10 or so years, you know where to find him. I must warn you though, I promise there will be a long waiting line because he is by far the coolest, sweetest and funniest guy I know.

Allyson also wears her heart on her sleeve, but she is more quiet to announce it to the world as Brandon does. I have had the pleasure to see both children grow for almost 6 years now and the changes have been tremendous, especially for Allyson. She has always looked so much like Aimee and when I look at Aimee's childhood photos, there is even more of a resemblance. Allyson is starting to find interest in shoes and shopping, but we have no idea where she got that from. Aimee has no shoe or shopping fetishes, so maybe she picked it up from her friends. I hope this phase doesn't last long, but from the looks of all the adults I know, I think we are in it for the long run.

Allyson is wonderful in so many ways, but aside from picking on her brother constantly and being unbelievably shy in public, she is the most nurturing child I know. When a baby is in the room, watch out!!! Ally instantly changes into Mommy mode, drops any sign of shyness, picks up the baby and doesn't plan on sharing with anyone. It is a sign that leaves me feeling comfortable knowing that Ally is going to make one wonderful Mom some day, just like her Mommy now.

With Brandon and Allyson making the change to a new city and a new school, we were worried about how they would feel with being new in town and we are happy to say they handled it far better than we ever could. They have met many new friends and seem to fit in quite well as the new kids in town. They were sad about leaving their friends in Charlotte, but they have adjusted incredibly well. I thought the teachers did an amazing job in helping them feel extra special on their first couple days which I think made all the difference in the world.

I am honestly the most jealous person in the world of the school that Bran and Ally are going to. Besides going on a couple field trips on their first two weeks of school, there is the Intracoastal Waterway that literally backs up to their school. They have a science class that takes them out on the school's personal dock to hop in to canoes to go fishing and crabbing. How cool is that??? I want to be a volunteer, where do I sign up??? This cool school rules!

With a cool new school and the beach practically in their backyard, the kids are stoked to be living here and I have seen more smiles on their faces than ever before. I feel this is not only the perfect place for Aimee and I, but for Allyson and Brandon too. We are seeing more and more each day why God has directed our family to Wrightsville Beach. You know where to find us if you ever need to get away to the beach.

God Bless,

10/4/09 - Fish Watch'n, Fish Eat'n and just plain Fish'n

2009-10-04T14:47:00.006-04:00

After a hard working week, Aimee and I were able to take some time to ourselves and enjoy a few recommendations around Wrightsville Beach. Mike, (Ally and Bran's Dad), was able to find a job in Wilmington and also plans to grow his pressure washing business on the side. So...needless to say, we were kidless and we very much enjoyed some quality alone time. Woo hoo ;)

Since the kids took more field trips this past week than we ever did in one school year and the aquarium being one of those places, Aimee and I spilled out our inner kids and made a trip down to the NC Aquarium in Fort Fisher, NC. It was in such a beautiful location and the weather brought out the best in everything. With the beach in the background, shiny green trees passing you by and little yellow butterflies filling the air. It felt like a scene from a movie as you drove down this path that led to the aquarium. We knew we were in the right place for the start of a beautiful day. Can you pick out all the beautiful yellow butterflies?

Out of all the interesting things we saw, Aimee loved the Guitar Fish and Tree Frogs and my favorite was the alligators. I have seen many before but I think this was the first time I was able to be this close to them in their habitat. All the other aquariums or zoos would have them pretty far off. I enjoyed taking these photos as I am sure they didn't enjoy me taking these photos and they probably wanted to eat me and my camera.

They had an albino alligator too. This was really interesting to see.

Here is Aimee's favorite of the adorably, cute, colorful, (HIGHLY DEADLY POISONOUS) and sweet tree frogs.

This part of the day was SOOO cool! Aimee and I were in one of the rooms at the aquarium and this pleasant lady spoke to me and said, "This is one of our most beautiful attractions. Your gonna love living here" or something very very similar to that. All I knew is that when I said thank you and walked away, I thought to myself...How does she know that I live here? I headed over to tell Aimee and we immediately thought about Kayleigh's blog. We both went over together to say hello and clarify how this person knew we lived here and sure enough, Emily is one of Kayleigh's prayer warriors. Thank you so very much Emily for making our day extra special. If we happen to cross paths with any of you out there, please let us know because we love to meet those who prayed so hard for our sweet little Kayleigh.

Later that evening, we headed out to grab some dinner at this restaurant called the Oceanic. It is a beautiful restaurant that was built on a pier by the ocean. Aimee and I decided to sit outdoors on the pier and listen to the waves crash while we ate. It was a romantic setting as the sun was setting through our dinner experience. Although being on the east coast, we don't see the sun set over the water, but the moon was nearly full and it lit up the night. After we ate, we walked along the pier that was close to our home which was the perfect cap to a beautiful date. Ughhheeem, I mean pre-cap to an amazing evening :)

Here is a photo of the Oceanic:

In the morning or should I say early morning, we got up around 6:00Am and prepared ourselves for some fishing. We took to the pier, rented some rods, bought some shrimp and found a nice cozy place at the end of the pier with some die hards and showed'em how it's done. We caught an astonishing 3 fish in a total of 4 hours. I guess it could have been worse. Actually, it was a lot of fun and besides one of those three fish being a 1.5 foot dogfish shark, we were able to encounter about 20 dolphins who swam nearly 40 yards from the pier. It was truly an incredible site and next time I promise to have my camera. Yes, I know...when does that camera ever leave my side??? Well, today unfortunately. I am sure there will be more opportunities in the future to prove my fish stories :)

Here is what the pier near our house, called the Johnny Mercer Pier, looks like:

It was a wonderful and well needed weekend with my beautiful wife. I pray that you all have a blessed week and know that we are thinking and thanking all of you for the love and support you all continue to share with our family.

God Bless,

- Adam's Gett'n Down to Business

2009-09-30T17:17:00.001-04:00

As we have settled in to our new home here in Wrightsville Beach, Aimee and I are getting settled in to our new jobs as well.

Before Aimee moved out here with the kids, I have been hard at work, building up a clientele at O2 Fitness as a personal trainer. For those who didn't know, after college I became a trainer for FitCare Lifecenter just north of Charlotte. After a year of getting my feet wet, I transferred over to Bally Total Fitness where not too long after I started and proved my strengths, I became the Personal Training Director. My job was to train the trainers how to train, and was to make sure we hit our sales goals each month. It was a great opportunity to make a good amount of money, but the stress I received from corporate was beyond anything I'd imagined and it took the fun and true purpose right out of my job.

So...now I am back to what I originally set out to do and what got me interested in personal training to begin with, which is sharing my knowledge to change every single person that I come in contact with to help them live a healthier lifestyle. I guess you can see some resemblance as to what a Christian is supposed to do with God's love. I feel that is God's plan for me and ever since I started working here, I don't feel like I am working. I may make a little less money than before, but this is fun for me and it is so rewarding (that no amount of money could be given) to help other people feel good about themselves. Isn't that how you find true love...by giving it?

O2 Fitness is a wonderful facility that strives on success through a happy smile and a clean, professional atmosphere. I would say that O2 is a few steps above any average gym. I would consider it more as a wellness center than a gym. It lacks many of the negative characteristics you will find at a Gold's gym, Bally Total Fitness or Peak Fitness.

When I came out here to interview for a personal training job, I wanted to steer clear of any possible negative situations that occur in the gym atmosphere. I felt like O2 was in a great location to begin with, their fitness director was driven more by fitness than sales, and the members seem to be people who were interested in taking their fitness to the next level. Those three major characteristics were lacking in all the other opportunities.

After two months of getting started, I have been able to fill a fairly busy schedule with new clients who I am so blessed to have. They are all there for the right reasons and it has been such a pleasure to help them get closer to their personal goals. I couldn't be happier anywhere else and I see a long future ahead of me with O2 Fitness.

In the near future and when we can afford it, I am looking to create my own personal website for personal training at O2 Fitness, so I can increase my business tremendously. I wish I could do it right now because I know it will help tons because the website competition amongst personal trainers in this area is very slim, but website designers can be so expensive.

Right now, my goal is to fill up my morning hours and evening hours with clients. I have been able to keep my weekends and afternoons free so we can spend family time together. I also have time to train with Evolution Mixed Martial Arts, which is the MMA camp that I plan to further my grappling and MMA fighting career at. I will post more about that later.

A prayer request would be that everyone at O2 Fitness, members and staff, be filled with God's love and for God to lead them all to succeed in their career goals and/or fitness goals.

"God, Thank you for this opportunity and blessing to be apart of a wonderful group of individuals who are all striving to change the lives of other people. I pray that you watch over every single employee and bless them with your love so they can succeed in all of their aspirations. I couldn't be happier to wake up each morning, knowing that I am going to help others become healthier and happier in their own lives so they can live longer for the ones they love. I feel that personal training is my purpose Lord, and I will not deviate again from the path you originally put me on. Thank you for leading me back to your true purpose for me. I knew the second I was in the right place when I felt as if work was not work, but fun and rewarding. Thank you! Amen"

So check out O2's website where I work and hopefully soon, I can create one of my own that will share my strengths and help many many more people in our area. Click Here: O2 Fitness

God Bless,

- Aimee's Gett'n Down to Business

2009-09-28T18:29:00.001-04:00

As Aimee made the journey out to Wrightsville Beach, she had a huge business decision to make. For the past 12 years, she had been doing real estate in Charlotte, so to start from scratch in a new city was not going to be a piece of cake. Aimee is such a strong competitor which brings a competition loving characteristic to her personality, so no matter how hard the task is, Aimee's work ethic is beyond any measures to settle for nothing less than success.

So...needless to say, Aimee has busted her tail to switch real estate markets and all the fine details that come along with uprooting years of hard work on a extremely branded business, without a fear in her mind that she won't succeed. She currently is working for Intracoastal Realty in Wrightsville Beach, NC.

Intracoastal Realty is by far the top producing real estate company in the Wilmington area. Aimee will cover not only Wilmington and Wrightsville Beach, but all of New Hanover County. Her goal as a real estate professional has always been to put God first in every transaction which allows every client to know that Aimee is looking out for her best interest.

The market has not been the greatest lately for any real estate professional, especially a real estate professional starting over in a new market. However, with Aimee having a great opportunity to sell beach properties, who unfortunately were foreclosed on, to individuals looking for that great escape to beach property living or beach property investing. After searching for a rental home by the beach, we both have noticed many homes are currently on the market for sale which gives Aimee some great opportunities to sell them.

Honestly, we have been to every beach on the east coast and I couldn't speak more highly of Wrightsville Beach living. Yes, we have only been here for a few months, but if there was any question in our mind that this was not the perfect location to raise Allyson and Brandon (and future children), then we would not have uprooted our lives in Charlotte, away from family and friends, to start over from scratch here in Wrightsville Beach, NC.

I lived in Charlotte my whole life and I love it there. I can see why it was rated one of the best cities to live in and why the low home prices increased so quickly in appreciation. But, now that I have gotten a taste of Wrightsville Beach, I am letting out a secret to the rest of the world with this single sentence...Charlotte can not hold a candle to Wrightsville Beach if your true focus in life is on family.

Aimee and I have talked quite a bit and it feels as if God has prepared Aimee so well to continue her real estate career in this market. The opportunity she has to help families find the perfect home here is such a blessing. Aimee has always taken care of every client she has worked for with the best of intentions and by leading with God's word, I have no doubt that Aimee will continue to do wonderful things in the real estate market here.

The real estate website company has already changed over all the information for Aimee in Wrightsville Beach. It is such a change to see our Team Freeman logo go from blue/red to blue/gold, but Aimee still looks as beautiful as ever. That photo is so perfect for the website because it speaks so many wonderful words about her to help others relate to the type of agent she is. I see confidence, strength and kindness which are the three major keys to a good real estate agent and Aimee definitely has them all. See the new site here: Team Freeman

"I am so proud of you Aimee for the hard work you have put forth in your business. I pray that God will bless you with many opportunities to share your tools to help clients find the best home, for the best price and with the fewest hassles. I couldn't be more confident knowing that if anyone were to uproot their whole business and succeed without trouble, you would be the first on my list. I am honored to be your husband and I promise to stand by you forever. I love you!"

God Bless,

9/26/09 - My Answer...

2009-09-26T20:23:00.003-04:00

Time seems to direct so much,
no matter what you plan to do.
Like driving towards a yellow light,
and deciding if you should go through.

Is the perfect timing right now?
Is it a perfect time to wait?
It never seems to be the right time,
to perfectly decide a time that's great.

God, answer me this question.
Tell it to me loud and clear.
I'm praying it to you right now.
Please just whisper it in my ear.

I can't hear your answer Lord,
I'm not sure what to do!
I want to choose wisely,
so I completely rely on you.

Is this the right time or not?
I completely trust you with my soul.
I know you're there and you're trying to tell me,
because the goosebumps have started to flow.

I feel your presence through my body,
like when I praise you in the Church.
That feeling is so powerful right now
and no longer do I have to search.

I wish I could hear you speak the words,
but your answer is my answers vow.
I will go tell Aimee as quick as possible,
that my answer is definitely...NOW!

I love you beautiful!!!

For everyone else, I am sure your curious as to what the question is but I will share it with you all "hopefully" next month ;)

God Bless,

9/21/09 - Beach Bums

2009-09-21T21:11:00.006-04:00

Well, I must say that those who move people's furniture from one place to another for a living should deserve to be one of the highest paying people in the world. I have complete respect for those who take on a job such as that. I mean, on average, we have to move maybe five times in a lifetime and these movers do it five times a week. OUCH!

I am pleased to announce that we are officially moved in and 98% of our stuff is unpacked thanks to Aimee's hard work all day today. I left Charlotte at 5:00AM yesterday and I had a few co-workers/clients help me move all the stuff into the house and Aimee busted her tail to unpack everything while I worked today.

The house was built in the 50's and has such a homey feel to it that you are completely in relaxation mode when you walk in the front door. Aimee did a beautiful job setting up the place with all of our furniture and photos. I was so excited to get home from work and see everything looking so wonderful. I will take some photos of it when we are completely finished and share them.

The most important part of it all is that Brandon and Allyson love it here. They start school in the morning and they are stoked to meet their teachers and new friends. Please pray for them as I am sure even with the excitement, there is plenty of nerves going around too in meeting new people and being in a new place. Our main goal as it was when we were going to the hospital everyday for the past year, is that we want the kids to feel as if they are the most special children in this world. When they are not at school or doing their homework, we give them 100% of our love and attention.

So, even with all the work we had to do this weekend and today, we managed to get away from all the craziness and treat the kids to some fun at the beach this afternoon for a couple hours while I was on break from work. Our old/new rental home is very close to the beach and we walked right over with our chairs and boogie boards. I am sure you can see by the photos, we like to have a ton of fun...even when some of us weren't looking. HA! HA! We are now officially considered, Beach Bums!

Check these out...

"Aimee has a mustache"

"...and some cobwebs"

Thank you all so much for your love and prayers over the past year. As I drove four hours yesterday morning, I made notes of all the things I can post about and I only wish that I could share them all with you tonight. We are excited about what God has in store for our family and we pray that we continue to share the faith, hope and love that sweet little Kayleigh has engraved in our hearts.

We love you all!

God Bless,

9/11/09 - Leading Our Train

2009-09-11T19:49:00.005-04:00

Sometimes in life, we are dealt with circumstances that we can not control. It is how we react to those circumstances that classifies us as strong or weak individuals.

We chose to stay strong while Kayleigh was in the hospital because we wanted to share her story as leaders to help other people in this world learn how awesome God is, give people hope in their own rough journey and to share love in any possible way. We wanted to be strong no matter what happened and give God all of our fears or sadness and trust in Him that He will take care of us. And you know what? He did. When we put God first, He controlled our feelings and everything fell perfectly in to place.

It was weakness when I let my feelings come first before anything else. I let my feelings control my life instead of letting God control my life. This weakness caused Aimee and I to go through a tough couple months. There is a high percentage for separation and/or divorce after losing a child and we can now understand why that is and how easy it can be true. Focusing on feelings can easily be put in the front of your lives since you practically can't become anymore lower in sadness or depression.

A good friend of mine and someone you all know very well, Brent Riggs, is such a blessing to our family. Brent shared a story with me about a train and how our lives are compared to the engine on this train and we are on the track to a better lifestyle through our faith. The caboose is our feelings and if we continue to stay on track and in the right direction with our spiritual growth, no matter what, our feelings will always follow behind.

Long story short...Aimee and I are happier than ever and are creating a new life in Wilmington/Wrightsville Beach NC. I was able to land an awesome job and return to my roots as a personal trainer. The company has a great presence in the area and is NOT classified as your typical meathead gym. It is more like a wellness/fitness center where all the trainers are certified, professional and they care more about the health of the members than the sales aspect of it all.

Aimee is going to continue to work in real estate out here with Intracoastal Realty, which is a great company that seems to rule the area. I feel with her innovative ideas that helped us become a successful team in Charlotte will allow her to do an amazing job here at the beach. I have no doubt that she will do wonderful and she is so excited to get started.

We both have already been getting involved with the March of Dimes out here. There was a 5k race last weekend where we briefly shared Kayleigh's story and then started the race. It was a blessing to meet a few people who followed Kayleigh's blog and to meet some new friends in the area. We plan to do more events in the near future to help out any way we can.

With everything that has happened this past year, we realized that life is too precious to not do what you love to do and help others in the process. Whether you share your story to help others grow as individuals through a blog or in your workplace, we need to do what God's plan is for us the best way we possibly can.

So continuing to share our lives with you all is the direction we are going with this blog. Whether it is through troubled times or exciting times, we will continue to pour our hearts out with the sole purpose of helping others. We may not be the perfect family all the time, but with God leading our train, we know we can be.

God Bless,

7/29/09 - Dinner with Family

2009-07-29T22:37:00.003-04:00

This past weekend, Aimee and I got to share in a special dinner at our home with the most wonderful people in this world, Kayleigh's nurses. We consider them family because they worked there tails off, day and night, 12 hour shifts, and many times more than 12 hours to take care of sweet Kayleigh and be such a strong support system for Aimee and I.

We all made different foods to enjoy and sat around the table, enjoying each others company for over three hours. It was such a blessing to have the family back together again and to laugh at the topics of conversation at hand. For the nurses, it was a great escape from the hard and emotional job they perform and for us, it was pure joy to escape from reality for even a small moment in time.

Every year in October, there is a butterfly release at Frazier Park in Charlotte, NC to remember all of those children who went to Heaven and these wonderful nurses have given us a beautiful gift of purchasing a brick with Kayleigh's name and "One Pound Miracle from God" engraved on it that will be placed in Frazier Park for all eyes to see forever. We are counting the days until the ceremony as we know it will be a very beautiful day.

Our love goes out to these wonderful ladies and I commend them, and all of the NICU nurses across this world, for the amazing job they do. They certainly do not get enough credit for the time they spend in the tightly secured domains of the NICU, but they will be blessed and rewarded beyond all measure when they walk in the presence of our Lord.

"We love you all so very much and we don't think we have ever been so sad to say goodbye that night and see you all walk out of our home. It was a memorable time that will never be forgotten and just know that every single one of you hold a special place in our hearts. We thank you so very much for the love you gave Kayleigh while she was here with us on Earth, and like I always say...this is not goodbye forever as we will all, once again, be reunited with sweet Kayleigh in Heaven."

With all of my heart and soul, God Bless ALL of you and we love you so very much!

7/28/09 - Abby and Stellan

2009-07-28T12:42:00.004-04:00

Abby Riggs

Stellan Mckinney

For those of you who have not been following my good friend's blogs, please hop over to Brent's and Jennifer's blog to read up on Abby and Stellan who are both having difficulties at this time.

Both Brent and Jennifer have been great friends to us through Kayleigh's journey and then some and we are so blessed to have two wonderful friends like that in our lives. I can't say enough good things about them and both Aimee and I are on our knees praying hard for their little ones.

"God, you are amazing! You have taught us all what true love really is and we are grateful for the blessings you have given us in our lives. I pray that you watch over the Riggs family and the Mckinney Family as they both are dealing with unfortunate circumstances. Thousands are praying hard for quick healing and I know when more than one are praying in your name, you are listening. Hear us all now as we pray with open hearts and loud voices that you will cleanse their body from all sickness and pain, and restore their sickened physical state back to normal. You are so powerful Lord and we call upon you for your powerful touch of healing. In Jesus name, Amen"

Visit their blogs here: Abby & Stellan

God Bless,

7/20/09 - Jessica Lynn Cross

2009-07-20T15:41:00.006-04:00

When I created this blog over a year ago now, it was to share our journey of sweet Kayleigh to family and friends. I never expected our journey to go down the road it did, but when we were in need of help, you ALL were there for us. You helped us stay strong when we were weak. You helped us laugh when we were crying. You helped us learn when we had so many questions. You helped us grow in our faith when we felt lost and you helped us financially when our life was falling apart.

Since Kayleigh has made her journey to Heaven, I have been thinking of ways to help others who are out there just as you all have helped us. I know that a little bit goes a long way and when we all stick together to help those in need, we can accomplish so much. We want to continue doing God's will by helping others and I would like to share with you sweet Jessica's story.

Along our own journey, I met a wonderful family who is in need of our help. Little Jessica reminds me so much of Kayleigh, it isn't funny. She too was not supposed to survive the pregnancy and she too has been through so many operations including open heart surgery. She too is a miracle baby and she continues to beat all the odds. After Jessica lost one of her kidneys, her remaining Kidney may only last another year or two, but the doctors are not even sure of that.

If Jessica could write me a letter and tell me about herself, this is what she would say...

My name Jessica I am 33 months old. Wow I am almost 3.
I am the youngest of three. I have renal dysplaysia, chronic kidney disease, renal failure, asd, vsd, strabismus, extropia, g-tube fed, reflux, increased pulmonary markings, globally delayed, static encephalopathy, possible seizures, tremors, microcephaly, failure to thrive, elevated liver enzymes, polysplenia/ asplenia syndrome, vascular instability,non specific autonomic nervous system dysfunction, along with many other things the doctors are not able to give answers to.

The doctors say that I am going to be different and and my mom and dad say that is ok because that is the way God made me. When I was just two weeks old my mom had to take me to the hospital because my regular doctor and a GI doctor were really concerned about me and that I was not gaining weight and still losing weight. That was really scary for my mom and dad as for me I didn’t know what to think because I was so young.

Ever since I was two weeks old I had to be in the hospital several times. I have also had to have open heart surgery when I was just 7 months old to have 3 holes in my heart repaired and then just when I was about 10 months old I had to have another surgery and they had to take my left kidney out. I only have one kidney now and it is not working or growing as it should so I will have to have a kidney transplant. The doctors are hoping that my kidney will last another 1-2 years but for it to do that I have to keep it happy and healthy. I have to eat good, grow, be strong and stay healthy. It is hard sometimes now that I am trying to eat more as there are some foods that my brother and sister eat that I want, but I cant have.

Another thing about me is that I am very delayed in talking. I can understand a lot of things, but I am just not able to talk much. I say about 5 words very well now. I still get very frustrated as there are many times that I am trying to say something but I can't or when I do talk, people cannot understand me. I get so mad. I can understand so much but I just can't say it. Mommy and daddy have taken me to see a neurologist not just for this but also for the tremors that I get. The doctors say it is because my brain is small and it is not growing as it should also it is because I have some brain damage. But I don't let that stop me. I go to Occupational Therapy, physical therapy, speech therapy and feeding therapy. Things may be a lot harder for me but it just makes me be a stronger person.

I am growing now slowly, but growing. I am walking and playing. I love to watch my baby praises and just have quiet time with mommy and daddy, but I also like being outside and playing or just swinging in my swing and being a typical toddler. I love animals, but I don’t like them too close though. I have had some really hard times in my first 2 years of life but mommy, daddy and all of our family and friends have been wonderful. Everyone says that I am a fighter and I have many battles ahead of me but I am bound and determined to prove to everyone that I am going to do better than what they think.

Everyone says I am a miracle and an amazing little girl and I must say that they are right. Mommy and daddy say that I may not understand it now but I have an amazing spirit about me. I may have many battles ahead of me but I know that I am not alone.

Love,

Jessica

Now that you have wiped away your tears, just as I did from reading that, the Cross's need our help in any way possible. Stephanie (Jessica's Mom) gave me a link to Children's Organ Transplant Association, the non profit organization who set up a page for Jessica to allow anyone to help her reach her financial goal to receive this kidney transplant. To help, go to: COTA-JessicaCross

From our experience, I know a little bit goes a long way, so if there is anything you can do to help this sweet girl and their family, please help. Whether you can help financially (at the link above) or if you can offer support to the family through their carepage site at JessicaCross, it would be such a blessing.

Thank you all so very much and...

God Bless,

7/14/09 - Butterfly Kisses :)

2009-07-14T23:40:00.004-04:00

It doesn't matter whether I find the right words to say or not, as this photo just speaks straight from the heart.

Without a doubt, Kayleigh spent 30 minutes on Aimee before she made her way to me and my nose. What a blessing this was and how it made our weekend so beautiful.

"We love you sweet Kayleigh and we miss you SO very much!"

God Bless,

7/7/09 - Blog Hop on MckLinky - HANDS

2009-07-07T00:00:00.002-04:00

HANDS...Whether big or small, old or young, strong or weak...can touch the whole world without a single sound.

7/6/09 - BlogHop on McLinky

2009-07-06T00:12:00.005-04:00

Tomorrow (Tuesday), Brent Riggs has invited me and all of my friends to join in on the BlogHop for the week. The title of this week is: Favorite Photo (listed with a caption)

So all you have to do is click here and get set up: MckLinky BlogHop and follow the directions to get set up.

You can view what this past weeks BlogHop was all about by clicking here: RiggsFamilyBlog

Come and see what photo and caption I have chosen tomorrow.

God Bless!

7/3/09 - Flying Without Wings

2009-07-03T21:52:00.008-04:00

Everybody is looking for that something.
One thing that makes it all complete.
You find in the strangest places,
places you never knew it could be.

Some find it in the face of their children.
Some find it in their lovers eyes.
Who can't deny the joy it brings,
when you find that special thing.

Your flying without wings.

I couldn't find the right words to start off tonight's post until I listened to a favorite song I have not heard in years. I have really been at a loss of words lately and it breaks my heart because I so badly want to say something positive, something emotional and something that just touches your heart beyond belief.

And well, thanks to that song...I did.

I realized that Kayleigh's love makes me fly without wings. I am saddened at times to wrap my arms around my chest, missing her warm body, her chubby arms and her stinky farts. I just know that she is up in Heaven, sharing her love with so many up there and it makes me feel so great to know that this precious miracle was my little girl.

I tell myself when I am sad and missing her that Kayleigh helped put smiles on so many faces and she made many people realize how awesome God is and how much He loves us. That makes me so proud that I feel that I am flying without wings.

I look at Kayleigh's photos, I could remember that exact time when I shared that special moment with her. One of my favorites is this one below where I could tell she sees me and reaches for my pinkie as comfort covers her soul as her Daddy is there to take care of her. You can see it in my eyes, you could almost feel it in my heart, but I am flying without wings.

When I get in the car and I listen to a song that reminds me of Kayleigh, I praise God for the time He allowed me to share with Kayleigh. I praise God for the Doctors and Nurses (below photo) who worked diligently to give us those ten and half months with Kayleigh. I praise God so much that my heart is jumping out of my chest and tears nearly roll down my face. I am flying without wings.

When I sat at the pool the other week just after my butterfly post, I had two butterflies land on each one of my big toes. I knew that Kayleigh was making friends in Heaven and she wanted to show off her Daddy. It made me feel so special as they sat there with me for over 20 minutes and if they hopped off for a second, they came right back. I could feel Kayleigh hugging me from Heaven and giving me butterfly kisses. Thinking about that moment...I am flying without wings.

I know that when Aimee is holding Kayleigh, she is feeling this special moment as I do. You can see how much love is shown in this photo and I know in time, you will be seeing this special moment again in Heaven. Every now and then, you will see Aimee close her eyes too and grab her chest. This is what she is feeling...she is flying without wings.

God's greatest gift is love and from the depths of my heart, I can still enjoy my life knowing that Kayleigh will always remain in my heart everywhere I go. No matter what I am doing, all I have to do is close my eyes and remember what her precious body felt like in my arms and I can feel the love shoot through my whole body. A sense beyond anything you can see or smell races through me, my stomach fills with butterflies and like a gravity pull, my cheeks extend outward as a warm smile blasts across my face. I am certainly flying without wings.

God, Thank you for allowing me to fly without wings.

Happy 4th of July everyone. Please be safe and know that we love you ALL!

God Bless,

6/23/09 - Happy Birthday Sweet Kayleigh

2009-06-23T13:31:00.008-04:00

I spent the morning thinking and ever since Kayleigh was born, I never thought that I would be spending Kayleigh's 1st birthday without Kayleigh. I wanted to see her smear pink cake all over her face while we all laughed hysterically. I wanted her to rip bows off presents, just to have them stuck all over her head. I wanted to help her blow out that single standing candle and take endless photos to share with the world.

Well, we did! Even though Kayleigh wasn't physically here, she was here with us in spirit as we celebrated her first birthday. We bought balloons, our wedding cake maker made us a beautiful pink and brown cake and Debbie from New Zealand, a good blog friend had some delicious butterfly cupcakes delivered to our house this morning. We wrote a big card/letter to her on a dry erase board and we cooked a delicious dinner on the grill. We planted several flowers in our yard that were from Kayleigh's memorial and we enjoyed a wonderful day thinking of our sweet angel.

"Kayleigh. Happy birthday sweetheart! Mommy and I love you so very much and we had a wonderful day today celebrating your birthday. I know you were there with us and I wish so much that I could give you a big kiss. You are so special and so many people are thinking of you today. I am sure you are having a beautiful day today and I am sure you received more gifts than you can imagine up there. Just know that we miss you dearly and there is not a second that goes by that we aren't thinking of you and wishing we could squeeze you one more time. Brandon and Allyson said hello and they love you. Have the best day today and know that we love you tons!"

"We took some photos for you Kayleigh"

God Bless,

6/21/09 - HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

2009-06-21T13:42:00.004-04:00

Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's out there and thank you all so much to those who wished me a Happy Father's Day too :)

I apologize for not keep up with the blog and keeping you informed with how things are going. Everytime I sit down to write something, I am at a loss of words. I know this sounds crazy, but I have typers block and just can't think of what to talk about. I guess when you have so much to talk about with Kayleigh, you run out of things to say when there isn't much going on with us.

That leads me to something I would like to continue and that is not "Thoughtful Thursdays" but "Thankful Thursday" to talk about those in our lives who we are so thankful for. I have a lot of people in my life who have lead the path to direct my growth as a person and I think it would be an honor to acknowledge those people to the world.

I know today is Father's day Sunday and it doesn't look or sound anything like Thursday, but how can I pass up on a day to recognize one of the most important people in my life...my Dad.

My Dad, Gary Freeman or better known around here as "Papa G" is everything that exemplifies what a dad should be. He is who paved the way for me to be the man that I am today. From the very beginning, I remember my dad being the hard working man who supported our family to have a life filled with so many wonderful memories. We were a middle class family who never had the expensive things, but we had more than that. We had all the love a family could ask for.

The best memories I had growing up were spent with my family and we were all very intensely in to baseball. My brothers and I played competitively, and my dad made sure we had the up to date gloves, bats and training to increase our skills. My dad was a catcher growing up and before he seriously hurt his back, he was a great ballplayer. However, a career ending injury can't take away his knowledge and he certainly passed on a great bit of help to gear us ready for each level of play. All three of us (Scott, Josh and myself) succeeded in our baseball careers and we owe it all to my dad.

My dad is a leader and is very knowledgeable about everything that life's lessons bring. However, he may be too knowledgeable in the math department which scared us to death to ask for help in our math setbacks. If you look up "human calculator" in the dictionary, you will see a photo of my dad...and one of those clouds above his head with an impossible math calculation spelled out.

Beyond his math intelligence, he is a big teddy bear who loves "Patti Kaye" (my mom) and holds nothing back to show it. You can see the size of his heart and the love he has for her, which shows us all how to be a knight in shining armour. The love he gives will be an impossible level to reach, but worth every ounce to try.

I am the dad I was for Kayleigh because my dad lead me to love like no other. Kayleigh would have grown up with the best grandpa is the world, but she is certainly shining down from heaven just waiting for the day "Papa G" can kiss, hug and tease her (like he does to us all) in to giggles.

"Dad, I love you so much and I want to thank you for being the best example of a father anyone could ask for. I am beyond blessed to call you my dad and even though I have been a pain at times, thank you for loving me unconditionally. You should be so proud of yourself for the life you have lived and the lives you have touched. I am lucky to have you and thank you for EVERYTHING"

God Bless,

6/4/09 - Family Check-Ups

2009-06-04T18:06:00.003-04:00

Now when you all said that we need take it easy this summer, recover from a crazy year, focus on our family, take a vacation, or rejuvenate our souls, it didn't need to start off by going to the dentist. I think Aimee got the wrong impression of getting things back on track by scheduling doctors visit and dentist visits, especially when the dentist performed a deep cleaning on "just one" side of my mouth. Oh yeah! Just one! The other is coming next week. OUCH!!!

Actually after the multiple shots of Novocaine, and the occasional stick of the nerve, it wasn't too bad. Thank goodness all I have to do is type and not speak. It would probably sound something like this: Wewl, I wawz twying tew tawk, budt my woods dit comb owt wite.

Many of you asked how Brandon and Allyson are doing with Kayleigh going to Heaven. Actually, they are taking it pretty well. We have noticed that Brandon (the emotional one) is getting even more emotional over little things lately, so we think it may have something to do with that. He lost it and had a meltdown the other day when he forgot his book bag, even when we told him it would be okay and we would let the teacher know. Brandon says his prayer after mine at the table which consists of this: "God is good, God is great. Thank for this food and please watch over Kayleigh and the homeless people"

Ally is doing great too. She has a nurturing soul, so I thought that she was be affected big time, but she seems to be taking it really well. She and Brandon both understand that Kayleigh is in Heaven and that Heaven is a much better place than where we are now. We have tried to teach them so much about how God already has a plan for all of us and that this was Kayleigh's plan. We make sure we tell them that we can not get mad at God for some of the things He does because everything God does is good, even if we can't find the good in His decisions. They have really accepted that and are very intelligent that they surprise us sometimes.

We have all decided to get our lives back on track and focus on our health this summer. We have been eating really good lately, working out and trying to lose some of the weight we put on this past year from all the bad eating and stress. Aimee and I both have lost a little weight this week and so has Brandon. (WOO HOO!) He put on a lot more than we hoped would ever happen, which made us feel really guilty. However, we are working with him by watching his intake, exercising with him and keeping him overall active. His face seems to be slimming down already, or maybe it is because we cut off all his hair :)

I plan to get back on track with my training. My last grappling tournament was just prior to Kayleigh being born and I have started focusing on my training for that again. I am very excited and maybe in a few months, I will be able to compete again and you all can follow me on that journey as well. If you haven't seen that blog, check it out: Adam's Journey to the Cage

Who do we have left? Oh....I almost forgot. Sam and Georgia. Many of you don't know these two wonderful family members, but you may have caught a glimpse of them in the background of some of our family photos. They are our sweet dogs. Samantha is a mix that Chris (Aimee's brother in-law) picked up from out in the woods, that we took in and Georgia is our hot-dog. They are awesome and they too just had their check-ups to make sure they are still healthy. After seeing what was rammed up their butt makes my teeth feel so much better.

For those who purchased bracelets, I have a friend who has taken over the ordering, processing and shipping. She ran in to problems with the distributor and was given a bad shipment. That would have been funny if you all sported bracelets that said Kayleigh weighed 100lbs 1 ounce at birth. I guess that would be a hell of a miracle too. Ouch! Poor Aimee! lol. Needless to say, to receive a shipment takes 10 days, so this has put her 20 days behind. If you haven't received your bracelet, you will soon so thank you for your patience. Please don't forget to send in your photos still so I can add you in to that sweet scrap book.

Thank you all for your love and support.

God Bless,

6/1/09 - Butterfly

2009-06-01T22:54:00.005-04:00

At Kayleigh's memorial, I painted a picture with words of how she was in Heaven, sitting on our Lords lap while captivated by a butterfly which was flying in front of her face. The image of this butterfly has brought a blessing to our family. Since we have moved, we have seen more butterflies around our house and wherever we go than we have ever seen in our lifetime. It's Kayleigh. It's her constant reminder that she is here with us. It sends warm smiles through both of our faces.

There are so many great ideas sent our way and we are more than excited to sit down and think of what we want to do. One of the ideas had certainly sparked an interest and we are ironing out the details to see if this is something we can possibly do. Before we break the news to everyone of what we are going to do, we want to make sure it is definitely doable first.

On the other hand, many of you mentioned that I should write a book. I have been working on a book for several months now and before my computer crashed, which set me back a bit, I will be continuing to use my time this summer to finish it. Know any literary agents and/or publishers who might be interested? I need to start the process soon of hiring an agent who can find me a publisher. Many people said to just self publish it, but I want the world to be touched by our Angel, so let's try and get it in every book store around from the get-go. For those who know me, I don't just settle and I am a perfectionist, so I want nothing but the best for Kayleigh's story. But what proud parent doesn't, right?

If we can get through this process of publishing the book and the organization, then you all can expect some children's books to follow. I may write some books to help NICU families through their journey. Anything we can do to help, we will. We want to use what God has given us to glorify Him and help others.

Many of you write and speak of our strength and how it amazes you. Honestly, It amazes us too. Aimee and I have agreed that we actually feel guilty for not being as depressed as someone may normally be. Can you believe that? However, we are quickly reminded of God and how awesome He is and how wonderfully He used Kayleigh in her short period of time. Many people may not see the reasons and sometimes their loss could have come unsuspectingly, which I 100% agree that those two combinations can cause so much pain. God not only blessed us with a sweet little girl for a short amount of time, but He blessed us with a reason and He blessed us with some notice.

We sometimes wonder how lost we would be without the Lord in our lives. We wonder how upside down our lives would be right now for not knowing and trusting God for the decisions He makes. We have been to hell and back this year, but honestly it wasn't that bad because HE was holding our hand. What would this world have been like if Jesus hadn't come to show us what real and true love is. We would all be completely lost.

We are still getting settled in to our normal routine here and it may take some time, but I promise to post more often. I still have some changes to make to the blog too. Once the children are out of school, we will have a lot of family time and many memories to capture and share about. This is going to be one wild and crazy summer as us Freeman's share with you how much fun we can be.

I can't wait to get this party started :)

God Bless Everyone!

5/28/09 - A New Journey

2009-05-28T18:33:00.004-04:00

Does anyone know how much fun it is to move? If you could actually see my face, you would see that I was beyond sarcastic when I said that. We have practically moved everything except a couple odds and ends, which we will pick up over the next couple weeks while we travel across town to take Ally and Bran to school. Thank goodness school is only for a couple more weeks. That is a hike back and forth.

A few of us guys took two full days to load and unload the 26 footer Uhaul while Aimee packed a sea of un-ending boxes. You never know how much crap you have until you move. Ya know? It is crazy the amount of junk we tossed, let alone the amount that we still held on to. Thankfully, the rain came light which cooled the air a bit. We only soaked through a couple shirts. Yummy!

Brandon and Allyson seem to love the new place. We took advantage of the horrible market as the market took advantage of us. We found a nice rental home, well outside the city limits, allowing us to still maintain a normalcy we hoped for. Allyson was afraid that she was going to have to share a room with her brother, which isn't such a good thing since she is about to hit "that" stage. I guess turning this blog in to a diary of a Dad who is dealing with children facing puberty would be pretty funny, what do you think? lol Ouch, do I have to????

Quickly jumping to a new topic...THANK YOU ALL for pitching in to help us financially. It has allowed us to focus on our family and get back on our feet. Aimee and I feel as if God has given us something here that can do so much for so many, so we don't want to waste a single second. We have been praying and searching for a way to continue Kayleigh's legacy and help others out there full time. Whether we worked for March of Dimes, The Children's Miracle Network or build an organization of our own, we have no idea. Our brains are fried, but we would like to hear some of your ideas and maybe we could all build something together as a team.

Either way, I want to reach out to those who have given us so much strength this past year. Every single one of you have given us ideas, thoughts, questions, concerns when it came to Kayleigh's best interest, so I know we could all spark some great ideas here. The last thing we want to do is do the wrong thing and find ourselves in deep water. We love every single one of you for the support you have given us and I know we can continue to work together for a common good, in honor of Kayleigh.

So, let's start this journey off, not as a "OH Woe Me" for having lost a beautiful child, but "Praise you Lord" for Kayleigh, now show me what we can do with what you gave us so that we can honor you.

God Bless,

5/22/09 - Thank You Faith

2009-05-22T13:36:00.004-04:00

I wanted to take a break from packing and moving to post a quick, but endless thanks to Faith Massey at "Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep" for the wonderful service she gave our family the day Kayleigh went to Heaven.

Faith was very professional and heartfelt, that having her with us was like having family there when we needed her most. In a time of sadness, you never think to have someone capture your final moments with that special someone. We are so blessed that Faith was there to take photos of those beautiful moments we had with Kayleigh.

Please visit Faith's blog (CLICK HERE), where she has put together a video of the beautiful photos she took May 11th and how I pray no one would ever need to contact "NILMDTS" because a loss of a loved one, it was by far the most greatest decision we have ever made. This is an organization filled with pure love and we couldn't be more blessed to have them a part of our lives.

Thank you Faith!

5/18/09 - BEAUTIFUL

2009-05-18T22:52:00.007-04:00

That is all I can really say about the memorial. It was just beautiful! We had over 200 people come to celebrate Kayleigh's life with us. We had support from as far as California and we couldn't be more thankful to all the people who were there. It was a such a blessing.

To recap the memorial so many of you who were not able to make it will get a chance to see what went on. The memorial started off with Brian Carpenter (Aubrey Carpenter's husband) sharing our relationship and opening up in prayer. I had asked Brian to do the sermon since we have built a great new friendship and he is a pastor who knows the ins and outs of our family. Him and Aubrey came and visited us from Illinois not too long ago to come see us and Kayleigh.

Wade Joye then sang one of his new songs from Elevation Church that will be released on their upcoming CD. Wade and Ferris Joye had their twin girls in the NICU with us and Liana shared a room with Kayleigh for a few months. They have been such a blessing to our family and we were so happy that Wade could sing for us at the memorial.

Brian then took over and preached his sermon. He did a fantastic job and we are very proud of him for coming all this way for our family. Brian and Aubrey are true examples of what you would call "Great Friends." After Brian spoke his sermon, my Mom (Patricia Freeman) and Aimee's mom (Joyce Rogers), read what they wrote and had everyone in tears with such beautiful things to say.

Aimee and I then read our letters to everyone. We first started off thanking the NICU staff for all of their hard work and dedication to taking wonderful care of Kayleigh over the past 11 months. We gave them all pink and brown ribbons so others would recognize who these special people are. Aimee spoke first and did an amazing job, sharing miracle memories of Kayleigh to reading a beautiful poem. I then spoke and could barely hold it together up there. It turned out really nice.

After speaking, we all watched the video that a good friend (Niecey) helped me make in perfect time over the past week. There are three songs that we played consecutively, but were too large to put in to one file. Some of the new professional photos from Faith @ Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep are visible and are so unbelievably beautiful. You will recognize them when you see them. Grab a tissue because this is just amazing:

Brian then closed in prayer and we were able to meet everyone who came from near and far to be with us during this beautiful day. We have a house of flowers that make me sneeze, but are beyond beautiful and we just love looking at them. Our whole downstairs is now a flower garden.

I have been overflowed with balloon release photos, so I am going to put a short movie together showing you all those photos soon. When we let our balloons off, it was raining and everyone was so dressed up, but they didn't care one bit because we were doing this for our sweet Kayleigh.

When the memorial ended, Aimee and I were scared that we would just break down and crawl in a corner, but I feel that we laughed a lot today. We had a good time teasing and flirting with each other and I pray that continues to happen. We should not be stricken with depression when there was not a single thing bad about what Kayleigh did for us in this past year. She is nothing short of a miracle. We are so blessed to be her parents and to share her story with so many people. Kayleigh has touch all of our lives and we couldn't be more happier than that.

Here are some of the photos of our balloon release. We had 50 balloons go to the sky and I have already received to email's from two different families who found balloons and were instantly touched by Kayleigh's story. Praise God!

I also wanted to share with you some of the great photography done by Faith Massey from "Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep" and she has her own blog. To check it out: Click Here

"Kayleigh, we miss you tons already and hope you are having a blast with all your new friends in Heaven. We Love You!"

God Bless,

5/16/09 - We Love You!

2009-05-16T11:56:00.004-04:00

As we finished up preparations for the memorial, we wanted to make everyone aware of a couple things. First off, please take photos of you all releasing the pink balloons with Kayleigh's note(see previous post) attached on Sunday at 4:00pm (EST). I would like to do a new post next week and show all the photos.

Also, a good friend, Niecey, did one incredible job of creating a video for us for the memorial. It has a lot of new photos, including the professional photos from "Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep" and 3 songs that just seemed to be perfect for Kayleigh. Of course, you know one of them ;) I really can't wait to show you the video.

Tomorrow is the big day and my goodness has this week has flown by. Even though everything we prepared is ready, we are not. We barely got a chance at all this week to just lay there, cry our eyes out and miss her. All next week, we will be packing and heading off to the new house. By the way, the bank didn't want to return phone calls to settle things up and decided to sell the property. I guess it was God's way of showing we needed to be out of the house. So once we are done moving, I am sure it is just going to hit us hard like a ton of bricks that she's gone.

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers through this. I look forward to meeting a lot of you tomorrow at the memorial and for those who can't make it, we will be sure to recap it all in a post, so you feel as if you were here. Thank you so much for being awesome friends to our family.

A lot of our strength comes from the Lord, but a big chunk of it comes from your support. Every single one of you are family to us and we love you!

God Bless,

5/13/09 - Update on Memorial

2009-05-13T20:59:00.003-04:00

With Kayleigh's memorial coming up, preparations are being made and things are starting to come together.

Many of you asked if there were something you could do to help and we came up with an idea. On Sunday (May 17th), at 4:00PM(EST) after the memorial, we will be letting off pink balloons in Kayleigh's name. Tied to each balloon will be a card that reads:

Kayleigh Anne Freeman
Our One Pound Miracle from God
(6/23/08 - 5/11/09)
www.KayleighAnneFreeman.blogspot.com

God has used Kayleigh in many ways and just because she is in Heaven with our Lord, that doesn't mean our work is done. Let's continue to spread faith, hope and love to those who need to receive it. God will lead those balloons to the right hands.

Also, many of you asked if there is an address to send flowers and what we are doing in lieu of flowers, are donations to Levine Children's Hospital NICU at Carolina's Medical Center - 1000 Blythe Blvd. Charlotte, NC 28203. In the remarks, we are all putting "From Kayleigh"

Thank you all so much for your kind comments and support through this. Aimee and I are hanging in there. We will cry, laugh and then cry some more, but we are being strong for each other no matter what. That is what is important right now. God has blessed Aimee and I so much to be upset with Him or angry at anything. Kayleigh is a special person and we can all agree that what she has done in her short life is beyond amazing. However, we do miss her so very much and it feels as if a piece of us is missing.

She may not be in my arms, but she will remain in my heart.

God Bless,

Memorial Information

2009-05-12T16:40:00.002-04:00

The memorial celebration for Kayleigh's life will be held:

Sunday, May 17th @ 1:00pm located at:

McEwen Funeral Service
Pineville Chapel
10500 Park Road
Charlotte, NC 28210
(704)544-1412

Everyone who can attend is more than invited. We would love to share in this celebration of life with all of you who supported us through this journey.

Many of you asked for our address and up until May 23rd (when we move), we will still be at our home located at:

12619 Frank Wiley Lane
Charlotte, NC 28278

Please don't forget to tune in tomorrow to see our story on "The Doctors." They already put up a sweet message about Kayleigh today on their website. You can check it out here: Kayleigh
Also, if you missed the preview to the show, CLICK HERE

Thank you all very much for your kind words of encouragement. This is so tough, but we remain strong because of our faith and because of your love for us.

God Bless you all!

5/11/09 - Goodbye Sweetheart...for now.

2009-05-11T01:15:00.007-04:00

Time is going so slow as if people are flying by us, but our world is standing still. The pain in our hearts burn and the tears flow freely like a never ending waterfall. Our eyes try to close as our bodies are fatigued, but our minds are racing with the thoughts of the memories we shared with Kayleigh through these past 11 months. Our souls are screaming with pain as this story was supposed to have a different, dream come true ending. We hold each other close, squeezing tightly, praying this sense of emptiness will fade away.

We never thought we'd finally leave the hospital one last time with an empty car seat and an empty crib to bring our precious daughter home in. The house is cold, it is dark and it is lonely. Our arms that once held this precious miracle will never hold her again anytime soon. We will lay our heads to rest tonight, we will soon wake, but we won't be returning to the hospital. We said our last goodbye only to say hello again one day in the distant future.

Kayleigh rests peacefully, in no more discomfort, and in no more pain. She looked so beautiful tonight as she took her last and final breath, and her beating heart took one last and final beat. Her sparkling brown eyes are now closed and her body now remains still. She is now in the presence of our Lord, her broken body made new, surrounded in the comforting arms of those we've loved who greeted her in the glorious Heaven we know.

Time now stands still for all of us who will miss her dearly, who have been touched by her miraculous journey, and who will never forget her soft sweet smell. Kayleigh will forever be our one pound miracle from God and we certainly will all look forward to seeing her again, holding her in our arms and dancing in circles until we can't dance anymore. No words can describe how amazing and beautiful Kayleigh is, but we all know too well that this is only goodbye, for now.

May this day be remembered for the rest of our lives. May Kayleigh's story continue to teach us about faith and the miracles our Lord can create when we all pray together as a whole. May Kayleigh's story continue to give us hope in our own personal journeys and give us the strength to never give up the fight. May Kayleigh's story continue to fill our hearts with love so that we may hold each other tight and support those in need.

When you tuck your children in bed or kiss your loved one goodnight, please say a prayer for our family. Please pray that we will have strength to get through this difficult time and we will grow in our faith so much more for having experienced the work of God through Kayleigh. Pray we will be there for each other and hold one another tight, as Kayleigh was and will forever hold a special place in our hearts.

We plan to have a memorial next weekend (most likely Sunday) for our sweet Kayleigh and EVERYONE who can come, is invited. We will be posting further details shortly so everyone has time to prepare. We will cry together, laugh together and remember what a precious blessing God has given us all through Kayleigh. May we come together and praise God for the love he has bestowed in all of us.

"Kayleigh, we know our life on earth is just a spec of time compared to the life we have in eternity with you and our Lord. We look forward to the day that we can pick you up and swing you around, dancing, singing and worshipping together. I am sure that your journey to Heaven was greeted with many open arms.

We are so very proud of you for everything you have done in such a short period of time. You've showed us what strength truly is, what determination truly is and what love truly is. There will not be a day that passes that we won't look at your photos and remember how awesome you felt in our arms. Your soft skin that brushes our lips and your tiny little hands that grip our fingers for comfort will always be missed.

We will never get to tuck you in your own bed at night and we will never get to pick you up when you fall. We will never get to hold your hand while you cross the street and I will never get to walk you down the aisle, but please know that your Mommy and I are so blessed that God gifted us with your love, even if it was only for a very short period of time. You will always be in our hearts and we can't wait until we meet again. We love you endlessly and we already miss you so very much! Goodbye Sweetheart...for now."

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

Our wishes were granted and Kayleigh finally felt the cool breeze on her face.

And we finally got to hold our precious miracle without anything attached.

Rest in peace our sweet Angel!

We love you so very much!

Kayleigh Anne Freeman (June 23, 2008 - May 11, 2009 @ 9:44PM)

5/10/09 - Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-10T01:33:00.003-04:00

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

I hope that everyone has a special day today and just know that EVERY Mom is a miracle from God and should be lifted up for their ever lasting love.

We are all so blessed to have awesome Moms in our lives.

We love you ALL!

God Bless,

5/9/09 - Every Step Of The Way

2009-05-08T23:16:00.004-04:00

Well, today didn't go as planned. We were hoping for another glorious visit with tons of photos and a lot of great moments, but unfortunately, Kayleigh was not feeling too great.

We are not sure if Kayleigh is not feeling well because of the weaning of her Flolan or if this is neurological problems. Last night's head measurement showed Kayleigh's head has swelled even more than the previous three nights (which showed no more swelling). She has been bearing down and turning red, with the occasional fast, heavy breathing that drops her sats a little.

Our fear is that Kayleigh may be experiencing some irritability and that is the last thing we want her to deal with, but if this is just caused by the weaning of her Flolan medication, then we should see some signs of improvement very soon as the doctors are currently taking action with the speed of the weaning process.

If this is neurological and may cause Kayleigh to be irritable or uncomfortable, we would have no choice but to let Kayleigh go in peace as this is God telling us it is time. We want to do what is best for Kayleigh and our family, and to make our decisions based out of faith and love, so we feel at peace with making the right decision. God has proven before and can still create a miracle at anytime. Listening to Him is the most important decision right now.

With hard days like these and even harder ones to come, there seems to be one or two people who brighten up our bad days with a smile. Or should I say in this case, it was a shout of laughter. Eva Fuller sent this awesome video over for Aimee and you all need to check it out: CLICK HERE

Here is some exciting news!!! If you have been with us for a while, you would have seen a post that I wrote about being on a television show that was quickly taken down. Well, it was taken down for secretive reasons by the producers, but now it is free rain to talk about it.

Wednesday, May 13th in the afternoon, "The Doctors" will be airing a full special on our family and the journey we have endured with Kayleigh in these unfortunate times, facing this horrible market we live in. It was more than a pleasure shooting here in Charlotte for the show, meeting some famous people while making the best out of our very quick (1 day) visit to Hollywood to shoot on the set. Check your TV Guide and make sure you set your TV to record it. Click here to see the preview for our show: The Doctors

Extra Extra, Read all about it!!! For all of you Charlotteans, Mark Washburn is writing a column about us tomorrow (Saturday) in the Charlotte Observer.

Many of you have been e-mailing me, asking if they can still get Kayleigh bracelets and I finally fixed the link over to the right. I apologize for not fixing it sooner, but I honestly didn't have the time to package and ship out boxes on my own with everything going on, so I just left it broken, sorry.

Soooo....a good friend, Rachel, decided to help us out with the bracelets and is going to be doing all the orders, packaging and shipping. God Bless Her!!! The proceeds are going to create an unbelievable scrap book filled with the photos you send in, page decorations, and a note if you wish to write one. Yes, you need to take a photo of you and your family wearing your bracelets and send it to me at (Adam@TeamFreemanProperties.com) so we can add it to the scrapbook. This will be special for us to have forever, to always remember all the wonderful people who supported us and prayed for us through this journey.

Look over to the right on the tool bar to get your Kayleigh bracelet.

Even with the sadness amongst us, God is continuing to help us share Kayleigh's story with the world. Whether it is on this blog, on television, newspapers, or even with sharing your bracelet stories, everyone needs to be filled with the faith, hope and love that our Lord has blessed us with. Our goal from the beginning was the help others with our story. We are doing it full force and we will continue to do this for the rest of our lives. We hope you are with us every step of the way.

God Bless,

5/8/09 - Someway, Somehow, Someday

2009-05-07T23:43:00.000-04:00

This is one of our favorite dresses that Kayleigh's has. She looks so precious and they have these pink shorts (or should I say undies) that go with it too.

As of right now, they have decreased the Flolan for her hypertension over the past two days. They are dropping it 10% each time, and they suspect it will take at least 10 days for her to completely come off of it. Our estimated time for coming home is no less than three weeks, which we were not happy to hear and there unfortunately are no ways to make that happen sooner.

Since our main goal is to bring Kayleigh home, we decided that increasing her feeds right now will only increase the risk of her belly blowing up more than it has and keeping her in the hospital longer. We've all decided to increase the triple mix IV fluid to give her the nutrients she needs, so she can stay healthy.

Kayleigh's breathing and irritation seems to be increasing a little more today than normal and I am not sure if that is due to the weaning of the Flolan, but we will keep an eye out on that. We certainly do not want Kayleigh to be going through any pain or discomfort. Overall, she is doing well and comfortable.

Many asked if Kayleigh will remain in the sleep-in room or go back to the NICU and unfortunately she went back to the NICU after our visit. However, since we had a great time the other day, Aimee and I will be enjoying a day with Kayleigh tomorrow in one of the sleep-in rooms. My parents will be coming up to visit and hang out for a little while. Aimee and I plan to watch TV with Kayleigh and just enjoy a peaceful and quiet day with her.

I can't wait to share some more wonderful photos tomorrow. I took over 200 photos in less than 2 hours the other day when we were in the sleep-in room with Kayleigh and the kids. Aimee and I will be there for at least 6+ hours, so I should have ample time to take some really good ones.

Thank you again for everyone who donated money and prayed your hearts out to help our family through this tough time. The emotions we are dealing with change every minute that it is very hard to describe or even explain. All I know is that we are so blessed to have wonderful friends like all who have lifted us up and kept us strong through this. I only wish I can return the favor someway, somehow, someday.

God Bless,

5/6/09 - "Your Love Is So Amazing"

2009-05-06T00:35:00.008-04:00

Isn't that just amazing? Kayleigh is now weighing just over 11 pounds. Can you believe that??? It is wild to think that she is 11 times her birth weight.

I know there are a lot of questions coming in and with all the posts that have been submitted in the past 10+ months, I am sure it will be hard to go back and get an clear understanding of everything that is going on. The summary above on the title helps clear her journey up, but I would like to break it down a little more. So, for those who are just joining us or those who have gotten dizzy on our ravaging roller coaster and and need a quick refresher on what is going on with Kayleigh, here we go:

Kayleigh was born 6/23/08 weighing 1 pound - 1 ounce (470 grams to be exact). She was 10.5 inches long. If you get a ruler and try to get an understanding of how small this miracle was, you will literally ~~crap your pants~~ be amazed!!

Just to sum up Kayleigh's 10 month roller coaster ride quickly for you:

Surgeries:

ROP Stage 3 - Eye Surgery
Gastrointestinal Surgery - Bowels
VSD Repair Surgery - Open Heart
Tracheostomy Surgery - Airways
G-tube Surgery - Feeding Tube
Nissen Surgery - Stomach
Bilateral Hernia Repair Surgery - Groin

Procedure:

10+ Blood Transfusions
Skin Biopsy - Chromosomal Studies
Rectal Biopsy - Hirschsprungs Disease
Intestinal Biopsy - motility
Heart Catherization - Pulmonary pressures
(3) Central Line placements
Pepcin Test - aspirations
Impedence Study - reflux
(2) Upper Gastrointestinal Studies - motility
(2) Lower Gastrointestinal Studies - motility
15+ PCVC Line Placements - long term IV's
10+ Blood Culture Tests - for infections
200+ Blood Gas Tests - Pin pricks to her toes (and I'm probably well below my guesstimate)
I am sure I am missing many other things.

So, now that you have seen what she has been through in a short period, it kills me to say that after this final surgery, she was supposed to be coming home. Coming home perfect that is. But, something happened in this final surgery which caused Kayleigh to not get enough blood and/or oxygen to her brain causing her Cerebral Cortex to be damaged and considered flat, no waves, not working, or no activity.

Kayleigh's brain stem still functions, allowing her heart to work, breath and have reactive movements (nothing purposeful). After many many hours of praying, her injured brain is now deteriorating and can not repair itself without a miracle. We went from riding up and down on this NICU roller coaster, to becoming the wheels, going round and round with our emotions in a complete whirlwind.

We now have goals to bring Kayleigh home to live out her remainder time right where we prayed she would make it from the beginning. The great news is, we are close to that prayer being answered, but Kayleigh will mind be enjoying that moment in another place. The rest of her body may be working fine here, but we believe her mind is working perfectly up there in Heaven.

From day one when the doctors didn't believe Kayleigh would survive the pregnancy, our prayer warriors have been behind us and miracles occurred. When Kayleigh went through every devastating and intense surgery, our prayer warriors were still behind us and Kayleigh pulled through the unthinkable. Right now, our prayer warriors are praying for another miracle from God, and we will never give up until God decides to show us His plan. If that plan brings Kayleigh home to the Lord and to a much better place, our prayer warriors will rejoice in one amazing journey for one beautiful little girl.

Kayleigh is our one pound blessing from God and she is nothing short of His beauty, strength and love. We are all better people for have knowing Kayleigh and we will be sure to share her story forever so others can be touched so deeply like all of us.

"God, Thank you for blessing us with Kayleigh and ALL of our old, new and future friends here through Kayleigh's journey. May we continue to find faith, hope and love through your works. We may not see your reasons sometimes, but we trust you with all of our hearts. We thank you for holding our hands through all of this and allowing us to use/sacrifice things in our lives to help others. We pray that everyone reading this will see that You (God) will not give us anything that we can't handle and no matter what other trials and tribulations people may be going through, we pray they will trust in your reasons and find peace in knowing your love is so amazing!!!"

5/5/09 - A Family Again

2009-05-04T23:10:00.005-04:00

Aimee and I almost forgot what it felt like to have a smile on our faces until Allyson and Brandon were able to spend some time with Kayleigh today after waiting for so long. August was the last time they saw her due to RSV season(horrible lung disease) prevented children in the NICU.

The hospital allowed Kayleigh to be moved to a sleep-in room where we could lounge around with her on a bed and allow the kids to hold her and love on her. It was a magical moment and it felt so good to be a family again. It is very sad to say, but this was only our second chance to have a family photo taken together.

I hope you enjoy seeing them as much as we enjoyed living them.

God Bless,

5/3/09 - Peacefully Sleeping

2009-05-02T23:09:00.003-04:00

Kayleigh had another uneventful day filled with peaceful sleeping such as you see above. The swelling has not increased anymore over night, which is good news towards getting closer to bringing her home. They need to transfer her hypertension medication over before they can send her home, which they will begin to do on Monday. Pray she tolerates the new medication so she can come home soon.

Right now, she is up on her feeds and tolerating it well. She is rarely ever showing signs of irritation and her heavy breathing comes on every now and then. We are not sure what the cause of that is, but since she has never done it before, we can only relate it to her brain injury.

Our goal right now is to pray the swelling in her brain does not take her from us before we can bring her home to her beautiful room. We have prayed many prayers for this day, and even though her situation was not what we expected, we still can't wait to walk her out of those hospital doors, out in to the sunlight and make that glorious journey to our home.

Please continue to pray that our dreams come true and may her time here on earth ends with us at home and not in the hospital. May God bless us with this wish, even though His plans for Kayleigh may be different in the near future.

We thank you all again SO MUCH for your prayers and support. You have all been so wonderful to us and we can't thank you enough. I have read almost every email that has come in, but unfortunately will not be able to respond to everyone. Please know that your emails and comments keep us strong and help us through these difficult days.

God Bless,

5/2/09 - Thank You!

2009-05-02T02:20:00.003-04:00

There are no new updates with Kayleigh today. She has been sleeping peacefully most of the day. God Bless you sweet girl.

Aimee, I do want to thank you for being my rock through this and comforting me when I need to let the tears flow. I couldn't be more blessed to have such a wonderful woman in my life. You are my everything and just know that we are going to get through this together. I love you so very much!

God Bless,

5/1/09 - "I'll Praise You In This Storm"

2009-04-30T23:18:00.005-04:00

Look at your hands right before you. I am looking at mine. You see hands that are soft, gentle, caring, loving, but powerful hands that you use to hold your child tight while also using those same hands to lift up to our God in prayer. These hands of mine, they hold my family's hands every chance I get. They touch the face of my beautiful wife, right before I kiss her. They cradle my sweet Kayleigh's tiny body, while she sleeps comfortably and peacefully. These hands fit perfectly together when I kneel at my bed, praying the Lord will heal our child and fix her sick body.

As you type or click at your mouse tonight, look at your precious hands. Know that your hands can do so much for others that you love. What are you going to do with your hands tonight? Are you going to walk in to your child's room and brush through their hair, feeling blessed that your child is alive and well? Are you going to sit next to your husband or wife, and hold their hand, comforting them with your love? Are you going to praise God with your hands, asking our Father to forgive you and others for their sins, and lift up someone special to you in prayer?

Tonight, I am going to hold Aimee tight with both of my hands, comforting her poor soul from a tough day of bad news. I am going to have my phone in my hands, praying that it doesn't ring, praying that the doctors don't call me with more news we don't want to hear. I am also going to be praying that our Lord will comfort our sweet precious daughter through these current difficult circumstances. I will also pray with these hands that my heart will stop breaking.

"Lord, with these hands, I'll praise You in this storm"

Kayleigh is not well right now. Her injured brain is swelling and is deteriorating by the hour. The damaged brain according to the scan today, caused by lack of oxygen and/or blood flow, is showing excess edema/swelling and deterioration of the injured section. Praise God that her fontanelle (separation in skull/softspot) separates to relieve the swelling in her brain or unfortunately her spinal cord would be crushed, causing Kayleigh to have a bradycardia (drop in heart rate) that will not be salvageable by a full resuscitation. Depending on direction of swelling, this may still happen at any minute and I am only praising God because this has not happened already.

Our time with Kayleigh may be short, but we are still praying for a miracle. God is amazing and He can do anything at anytime. However, we have also been praying that God gives us a sign to direct us in a path that allows us to understand His plan. It seems that God's plan may be telling us Kayleigh is on her way home to Heaven soon. She is such a precious Angel here on Earth, so I can't imagine how beautiful she will be in the presence of our Lord.

Aimee doesn't usually post much, so when she asked me to post tonight, I would more than thrilled to let her open up to all of you. She is by far the most amazing person and I am so blessed to call her my wife. Please lift her up in prayer and give her words of encouragement as a Mother's love is far beyond the reach of any words well written on a piece of paper.

What does a mother say? I have wanted to write for the blog, for my therapy, & to document my feelings lately but I can never seem to find the right words. Tonight I feel that I must discuss how I am feeling so please bear with me. By the way, it has taken me 29 minutes to come up with this paragraph.

The last few weeks have been the most difficult weeks of my entire life. It is hard to explain the feelings that I have been having. When we first heard the news that Kayleigh was "brain dead" I was in complete shock. I mean, if they would have said that Kayleigh had an episode or 20 other things I could have believed that I think. But, brain dead? Never.

As you know, it has been a very emotional roller coaster filled with doctors giving grim outlooks. Adam & I have always stuck to our guts & we have always been right. So, what did I feel that night? I don't know. If I was forced to pick a word I would say emotionless. I couldn't even find the strength to be sad, mad, confused, etc. I was just stunned, quiet, & emotionless. I think that I cried once that night. There just weren't any tears to let out. I woke up the next day with my usual denial, determination, & strong faith that I used to have after bad news from the doctors while I was still pregnant. I thought this would carry me, but I was wrong.

The first time that we saw Kayleigh with her eyes open after the news was very hard to take. I think this was the worst feeling that I have ever had involving Kayleigh. To look in my little girl's eyes & feel like there was nothing there is heart breaking. She will always be my beautiful princess but you could tell that she was no longer Kayleigh. Her eyes would roll back & lock into position. She just laid there for two hours staring at who knows what. Feeling comforted in my arms or feeling nothing at all. To feel no bond at that moment was ripping me apart. I always try to stay strong around her but it was time to let that go. I just need to hurt & to be sad. All I could think was, "God, please give me Kayleigh back. Please don't take my little girl's mind."

As the days went on Kayleigh's eyes would start to settle & she would appear to be looking straight on. Two days ago I had the most fabulous visit with her. I have tried my very hardest to remain very hopeful. Not naive, just positive. God has worked miracles on my precious baby before & I was not about to give up on the idea that could happen again. Yes, I realize that we have had 3 EEGs & a CT scan saying that there is no hope but my gut said that it wasn't true. Since my gut has always been right I decided to follow it again.

I played with Kayleigh & talked to her the whole time. I felt that there were times when she was really seeing me. Not just looking in my direction. I kissed her over & over & even played with her cheeks trying to get her to laugh. I honestly felt like she wanted to smile. The doctors tell me that she doesn't feel emotion but I felt her emotions in MY heart. I felt like she was comforted & happy. When we put our hands on her head she instantly responds by relaxing & closing her eyes. When I tried to hold her hand she would open her fingers. I don't think I am going crazy yet. I know that this happened. To feel our bond again was unbelievable.

The thoughts of bringing Kayleigh home to spend time with us all as a family is what has kept me going. I love the staff at the hospital & I appreciate everything that they do for us. However, I just want my baby home, in my arms, in her room, undisturbed, taking naps with us, & going for a walk. I want more than 20 minutes of true family time.

I want Brandon & Allyson to know her, to love on her, to see how cute she is in real life & not just in photos. My heart aches thinking about how they must feel. Losing a sister that they really only met a handful of times. They have been cheated out of a huge part of the most amazing person I may ever know. The kids have been so supportive, loving & patient this past year. I owe them so much. I hope that they will be able to see Kayleigh soon. The RSV ban should be lifted on Sunday. It will be a glorious day. I am so looking forward to our 2nd family photo. Oh Lord, how I wish for many more of those to follow.

Tonight we received a phone call that I was not ready for & has devastated me. Kayleigh's brain has started to swell which is not a positive direction for things to go. It sounds more like the beginning of the end. I think they actually used the words brain deterioration & liquefy. If I try to focus on those two words for too long I can actually feel my heart tearing. The doctors don't think that she has very long left. It could really just be days. Here I was living in this little bubble of safety. I thought we would bring our princess home, play with her, have family time, & then God would let us know in this magical moment that it was time to let our baby go to Heaven. I feel like I see the light but it is just a train heading right for me. I feel like time is running out & I don't know what to do.

My husband would describe me as strong & if he were being honest with you all he would through in control freak as well. (This is something that I am working on but that is for another day) What does a control freak do in a situation like this? I feel like my brain is in overload. I am a person who LOVES to sleep. I could stay up until 3am but then I want to sleep until 1pm. I feel like I don't want to sleep at all. My mind is always going & I can't make it stop. Even when I go to bed I feel like I am awake all night. Yet, I wake up rested.

I can't tell you the last time that I yawned. I have started to feel a little light headed the last few days. Adam is worried that I am just going to come crashing down. I am worried that he might be right. By the way, I am not drinking caffeine either. Just water. I want everything to be perfect for Kayleigh & I feel like even though I am not ready to let her go or even the idea of letting her go, I have to make plans.

I am sure that many people could help me with this but I feel like I have to do it. So, what happened tonight? I had a mini freak out in my head because I don't own a black dress! Who needs this? I don't even like to shop much less for this reason. Fortunately for my family who also hates to shop we were right next to a Dress Barn. I went in & found three black dresses that were decent. I tried them on & luckily one fit pretty good. I told Adam that I didn't want to look great & I didn't want to love it. I will never wear it again. I won't want to.

I never thought that I would see the day that my own babies could go home before me. I never visualized buying a dress for my daughter's funeral. I never imagined that I could feel this pain inside of me. This has been the hardest year of my entire life & the hardest moments aren't even here yet. I know that my gorgeous little girl will be safe in Heaven but I just can't imagine not holding her in my arms, feeling her against my skin, making her first sounds, & taking her first steps. I can't imagine her not coming home to see her perfect room. I can't handle the thoughts of what this is doing to my amazing husband. He loves her with everything in him. We are not just dealing with this pain individually. We share in everyone's pain. Our other children, our parents, our siblings, our friends, & all of you. Our hearts break over & over.

What keeps us going? Our faith. I have only been really close to God for a few years & I can't imagine how I would have handled this before then. Knowing that Kayleigh is going to a better place where we will all meet again gives us strength. Knowing that God gave me the most amazing husband in the world to pick me up when I am down, hold me, love me, & wipe away my tears.

Knowing that even though there will be many tough days for us & the kids, they will help us get through it. They actually made us laugh a few times tonight. If it weren't for them being home with us we both would have just closed up & stayed miserable & depressed. They will bring us joy & remind us everyday of the good things in life. Knowing that we have an unbelievable support system is indescribable. Thank you to all of you. Adam & I could NEVER express what you have done for us spiritually, financially, & emotionally. There are many days that we felt like we couldn't have made it without all of you.

I do not know what the next few days or weeks will bring for us. I am afraid. I am nervous every time my phone rings right now. Please continue to pray for us & have your friends & family pray for us. Your prayers have worked miracles in the past & I know they can do it again. We love you all & we feel terrible that you are hurting as well. Please know that we will all take care of each other & we will all get through this together. We may not "know" each other in the normal sense of the word but we will certainly all meet again one day. When you all meet Kayleigh she will look more amazing than she ever has. She won't have any pain, will be whole, & will welcome us all with open arms. How glorious will that be?

With Love,

Aimee

"Kayleigh, we love you with all of our hearts. You are such a blessing to us and we are so grateful to be your parents. Our faith and love is stronger because of time we shared with you.

We know how powerful our Lord is and how He can do anything He wants to do. I feel in my heart that He is deciding to bring you home with Him. Your body will be made new. Your brain, your heart, your lungs, your eyes, and your tummy will be healthier than you ever imagined. You will be so happier in your new home.

As we all prepare for eternity here on Earth, I want you to know that you have touched thousands of lives with your strength and determination. You are the strongest person we have ever known and we are so proud of you for fighting so hard. It is evident that Jesus has laid His hands on you and created a miracle in so many ways. His love is so great! We continue to pray for one more miracle.

We look in to your eyes, Kayleigh, and we cry because if you must go to heaven, we will miss you so much. We just wish you could share your story with millions, personally and help so many others with your own voice. We just wish you could stand with us in front of every single person and pour our hearts out together, holding hands, but we know you will be there looking down on us from heaven. We hope you are proud of us as we did everything we possibly could to save you when no one else believed you could be saved.

We love you so much."

4/30/09 - Daddy's Little Girl

2009-04-29T23:51:00.004-04:00

Before I update you on Kayleigh and show you a few new pics, I wanted to let you know about something real quick.

Remember our guest blogger, Brent Riggs? The guy who twisted my arm Monday and put up that wonderful post for us? He’s been working on a book on for over four years, an incredible story he told me about when I went to stay for a week at his home. The book is called “Terrorist to Evangelist: The True Story of Kenneth McClinton”. I was talking to him last night and he mentioned it will finally be available today. Here’s what Brent wrote me about the story:

“Ken was a terrorist. He killed people, bombed things and lived a life of violence and hate. In solitary confinement in prison, all alone with an old Bible, God transformed Ken. It is a modern day “Damascus road” conversion that took a man from being a killer to a believer, from violence to love, from terrorism to evangelist. Ken’s life is a fascinating story and it is nothing short of miraculous that he even lived to see that day of conversion.”

Brent has put up a couple of free chapters on his website for people to preview. We really hope you’ll check it out. You’ll love the book, and you’ll be helping us say a great big “THANK YOU” to Brent for what he has done for us over the months. Check it out here at:
http://www.brentriggs.com/kenny_mcclinton_terrorist_to_evangelist.asp

- - - - - - -

There was not a whole lot of news today with Kayleigh. We met with the Neurologist and he really didn't have anything to offer that anyone else has talked about. No offense to any neurologist reading this post right now, but I have never seen anyone skate through their answers more than this guy today. There was never a yes and no answer and the guy just seem so nervous to talk to us.

According to Dr. Brain, there is no cure or procedure to help with this issue and our odds are (worse than) next to nothing. Not the cooling pads, hyper-barometric chambers, replacing stem cells, or anything else you can possibly think of for many underlying reasons. Because of Kayleigh's bad health in other, such as lungs and heart, the procedures would only be detrimental to her. As you can see, we have NOT given up hope if you can tell by the never-ending questions or research we have been doing lately. We do not want Kayleigh to go, and if there is a chance, there is a will, but unfortunately, we can't find the way. We will continue to pray that God makes this decision for us.

On a brighter note, Kayleigh had a wonderful day today. As I held her peacefully in my arms, she didn't cry or thrust heavy breathes the whole time we were there. She seemed to be content and just plain comfortable. Ya know, whether or not she can understand something that her brain does or does not tell her, move in a direction that is purposeful, act normal as any other child in this world shall act, she is still by far perfect in God's eyes and ours.

Our goal is to bring her home as quickly as the doctors will allow us. Being that she will continue to have nursing care at home, it may take a couple weeks before she reaches the normal max feeds that it will take to make that glorious journey out of the NICU. We are so thankful for everyone who has been there for us through this trying time and we continue to ask for prayers of strength and of course, another miracle.

God Bless,

4/28/09 - Thank You

2009-04-28T18:26:00.012-04:00

Twenty-five minutes have gone by on the clock while I sit here and think of the best way to thank you all for your support and I still can't find the right words to say. Not to mention that I am typing with one arm because Brent twisted my other arm right off, begging to write on my blog to reach out to others to help our family. Brent you are a complete blessing and I am thankful I prayed, listened to God, and let you post. Brent, I am thankful God has blessed us with such an incredible friend such as yourself. If you missed Brent's very generous post, read it (HERE).

I really did not want to let him write for us because every single one of you have helped us out so much before. Whether you prayed for us, donated your hard earned money or supported us with your love, we are forever grateful. In just one full day, you all have helped lift such a huge burden off of our backs. Dealing with Kayleigh's situation is one of the hardest thing any parent should have to go through, so thank you to every single one of you for helping take our minds off of our financial stressors so we can focus on Kayleigh who needs all of our positive thoughts. We are SO VERY THANKFUL!!!

Please understand that we would love to share with everyone how much was donated, but several people made a very good point, mentioning an amount can cause possible security issues and we would rather protect our family from any possible criminal activity. Unfortunately, this has already happened in the past. That is also why we are going to post a PO Box soon for those of you who asked for our address. Worrying about ~~shooting an intruder~~ family protection at this time in our lives is something we don't need right now, especially since we will be bringing our sweet Kayleigh home soon. Thank you tons for understanding.

Kayleigh looked so beautiful today, but doesn't she everyday? More of her swelling from the surgery has gone down and she seems to be in a more comfortable state than she has lately. There are very few cries of pain or discomfort and her rapid breathing has ceased for the most part. She was awake today while we held her and even though her eyes are distant, they weren't being pulled in direction that seemed noticeable. She looks straight forward, which made us feel almost as if she was looking at us. To clear some confusion up, she has no cerebral cortex brain functions, but still has brain stem functions. This allows her to breath, heart to beat, to move without purpose, and unfortunately cry/feel pain. She doesn't understand anything, won't learn, talk, comprehend anything she she sees or hears, and will never have purposeful movements.

We were able to speak with the doctors and share our plans with them. We plan to care for Kayleigh in the NICU until she is able to come home, just as if she was normal and had no brain injury. There were questions of whether or not we bring her home with normal nursing care of palliative care. We plan to bring her home on normal nursing care, so we take our time to live as a family before we decide to say good-bye. God is almighty and we will continue to pray He lays His hands on her to create a miracle, so no quick and rash decisions will be made. We will listen to our Lord and decide when that time is right.

So we are happy to continue to share the journey of Kayleigh's triumphant road home like every single one of us planned for so long. Just because Kayleigh's brain is not working the right way, doesn't mean she is not looking down on us with pure joy that we are able to follow through with the plans we always dreamed of. We know she is rejoicing in this moment with us and is happily smiling from a better place. She is our precious daughter, miracle and gift from God, and we will not let anything get in the way of our dreams and wishes.

Thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for the love and support you have given us. Please pray Kayleigh continues to progress with her feedings and everything else, so she can come home sooner than later. That day is still going to be one of the most glorious days of our lives because we still remember everyone telling us she will never make it that far.

We can't wait to hold her here in peace and quiet. We can't wait to see the sunlight dance across her face. We can't wait to see the wind blow in her ~~hair~~ peach fuzz. We can't wait to cuddle up next to her while she naps and we REALLY can't wait until we are all home as a family for as long as we possibly can.

God Bless you all and God Bless our sweet little Kayleigh,

4/27/09 - Guest Blogger - Brent Riggs

2009-04-27T18:38:00.003-04:00

Hi friends, this is Brent Riggs, guest blogging for Adam and Aimee today. They didn’t ask me too, I begged them to let me.

First, I know many of you know me and know that Adam and I are good friends, but a lot of you have no clue who I am. Because of what I’m writing today, it is prudent to give you a quick “who is this guy?” My wife and I have a blog at www.riggsfamilyblog.com. We have seven children, three are internationally adopted, two from Guatemala, one from Ethiopia. Our four year old from Guatemala, Abby, has Leukemia, and four times in the past year we spent days at a time unsure if she would survive. So we know a little bit about how Adam and Aimee are feeling, and what they are going through (actually we know a LOT about it).

Adam and I have become good friends over the months. I’ve been honored and blessed to have him stay in our home, and to be able to offer spiritual encouragement and advice. You’ll find my ministry site at http://www.seriousfaith.com/ and my professional site at http://www.brentriggs.com/. We also featured Kayleigh’s story in our magazine called “Serious.Life” in a story called “One Pound Miracle” (http://www.seriouslifemagazine.com/default.asp?issue=9). That issue received over one million page views.

So what? Did I get on Adam’s blog to promote myself. Nope. I just wanted to establish some credibility and background with you before I began to talk about what I really wanted to say today. One last thing, I want to make it abundantly clear that I CALLED the Freeman’s and asked to be able to speak to you on their blog. They were immediately hesitant and it took a couple of conversations for me to convince them. They are already overwhelmed and infinitely grateful for all the help and prayers that you have provided up to this point. The fact remains for them as they wake up each day, they need help, a lot more than they would ever publicly say.

Let’s recap for the newer readers:

You remember that little mortgage crisis last year? It was “in the news” for a while but it continues to devastate the lives of those who were unsuspectingly caught up in the disaster caused by politicians. The Freeman’s had a thriving real estate business, one that was blessing others, providing for family members and helping the community. The real estate crash disintegrated their entire business and income at the same time they began the long journey of relentless medical crisis with Kayleigh who was born three months premature and has been on a life crisis roller coaster from day one.

The bills skyrocketed, the business plummeted. So along with the emotional strain that comes with the daily battle of wondering if your child will be alive tomorrow, they have also endured the stress of mounting bills, threatened foreclosure and repossession, bill collectors, medical expenses, and all the expenses involved in the constant travel and dislocation at the hospital… this type of situation causes all expenses to rise, new expenses to occur. All the while, their income simply disappeared. We aren’t talking years, we are talking about a matter of months. People of lesser character and strength would have succumbed to despair with half this stress. During this time, I’ve watched Adam try to start a new business, work on getting the real estate moving again, and reach out to help others. We aren’t talking about some lazy “victim-minded” people… these are genuinely good, hard working folks who are walking through an EXTRAORDINARY set of trials.

I know that people have already helped the Freeman’s, as have we. In particular, enough money has been given to keep the most critical element in place: insurance for Kayleigh. I know from personal talks with Adam that this money is almost gone too. Adam would barely even consider letting ME write this blog post because they feel you have done so much already (I had to be very persuasive to get them to consider it). This is FAR from over for them. It was not a one time, short term situation. You can’t name a bill or expense they are not so far behind on that “action” is not being pursued. In the meantime, their precious daughter is lying in the hospital with “no hope” according to the doctors.

No hope? For those of us who believe in our Creator, we know that there IS hope. God could miraculously revive Kayleigh. THAT is hope. God could bring Kayleigh into His presence, if He hasn’t already. THAT is hope.

What we have right now is not a loss of hope, but a family enduring both the crushing stress of losing a child, and the debilitating stress of debt piling up exponentially. There is simply no reason for ME, and YOU, and the tens of thousands of other Christians who frequent this blog to not relieve the one part we CAN relieve: financial stress. We live in a land of PLENTY. Yes, times are a little harder right now, but I doubt many people reading this have anything much less than a comfortable life with plenty of material possessions, entertainment and leisure. I’m NOT about guilt trips. I only remind my Christian brethren of this because sometimes we lose sight of how good we really have it. And I ask you to consider how much YOU would hope and pray for help if you were in the same situation.

The Bible teaches us that if we have two coats, why do we let our brother go cold? If we have water, why do we tell them “God be with you” and not give a cup of water? Prayer is critical and required. GIVING puts prayer into action. There is no need for this precious family and their children to have endure ALL of this suffering. Yes, they will endure the sadness of the probable loss of their child. Can’t avoid that, no way out unless God intervenes. But together WE CAN remove the financial stress, the strain of bill collectors and relentless creditors. Sadly, and we hope it won’t be necessary, we need to remove the stress of how they might have to pay for a funeral.

Friends, as a Christian family, we get to love together, rejoice together, cry together and hang tough together. There is simply no need for the Freeman’s to have to endure the paralyzing stress of both critical illness as well as enough financial stress to cripple most people. One or the other is bad enough. Both? May it never be.

I’m not beating around the bush about my request. With the tens of thousands of people who are visiting this blog, we can all click the DONATE button up there on the right side, and we can almost instantly remove the financial stress so this family can spend possibly the last couple of weeks with their daughter without the overwhelming burden of losing everything they own, and the relentless inquiries from bill collectors. It would be hard for one person to give a hundred thousand, but it’s not hard for 50,000 people to give two dollars, or 10,000 people to give $10 or 1000 people to $100.

I’ve got a daughter with Leukemia. I have seven children. When the financial crisis hit in the Fall of last year, my income was cut IN HALF. But I see a family in greater need, and if we can sacrifice, I know you can too. Our family will lead the way by giving $250 first. It’s not much, but if the rest of you join us, it soon will be.

I’m not one for emotional appeals or begging, never have been. However, this is a case of Christians caring for their own. We should not let our fellow Christians suffer under so much without joining them in their trials. We all have hard times. We all experience stress, and perhaps you are feeling the financial crunch today. I understand that. We are too. But the Freemans are enduring EXTRAORDINARY circumstances, and it is simply to God’s glory that we, as a Christian family, pool our resources together and alleviate some of their burden.

Follow me, as I follow Christ…

Brent Riggs
www.seriousfaith.com
www.riggsfamilyblog.com

UPDATE: Based on some valid incoming comments, I want to say that this post was not meant to imply that those who don't share our Christian faith are incapable or unwilling to care and help. Of course they are. We speak in "Christian terms" because our Christianity saturates our life. We know that people who do not hold to Christianity as their faith are just as capable and willing (sometimes more willing much to our shame) to give and help and care as much as those of us who profess Christianity. Again, I write in Christian vocabulary to our Christian family because that is what we base our life on and we can no more exclude it than we can exclude breathing from our life. It is not in any way meant to make others feel excluded or unwelcome to help the Freeman family. Of course not, but evidently that needed to be clarified. ~ Brent

4/26/09 - Too Beautiful for Words

2009-04-26T21:01:00.003-04:00

God Bless,

4/25/09 - God's Hand

2009-04-25T20:20:00.004-04:00

"I sat and watched as my beautiful wife held Kayleigh in her arms. Through the tears in our eyes, we watched her sleep peacefully on her soft pink boppy pillow. There were no words spoken, but heartbreaking emotions raced through our bodies. Seeing this amazing miracle from God, loved by millions across the world, made us realize how lucky we are to have been blessed with 10 amazing months of love. I laid my head next to hers, smelling her soft fuzzy head, I closed my eyes to pray and fell sound asleep next to her.

For once, I felt as if nothing was wrong and no troubles to stress. We laid comfortably together, enjoying the closeness as a Father and his little girl should feel every single night. I've never gotten the chance to be so close and I may never get that chance again until we meet again in heaven someday. She is my precious sweetheart and it will be so hard to let her go when that day soon comes."

We are not sure if Kayleigh's traumatic and unforeseen circumstance is the cause to her new found issues. She is no longer tense with constricted muscles, but she seems to be breathing heavier and cries out silent cries of agitation. The doctors tell us she feels no pain as this section of the brain controls no emotions, but when she is awake, her uncomfortable condition seems to tell us otherwise. She doesn't hold our fingers anymore and retracts her hands and feet at the slightest touch.

This is so uncomfortable to see and our emotions become at ease when our nurse gives her some sedatives to let her rest. We are all fearful of Kayleigh continuing to act this way as we were told this is how most people with this brain condition will act unless they're asleep. No parent should ever have to see their child like this and I lift my hands in prayer to those who do.

Aimee and I have plans to bring Kayleigh home to her precious room, we so anxiously prepared her for, so she can live out the remainder days of her life. We want Allyson and Brandon to spend some time with their sister, which they were unfortunately not able to do since August of last year due to RSV season at the hospital. We are not sure when that will be due to her lack of feeding abilities, but we only pray the Lord will bless us with our wishes.

Many of you asked if Kayleigh's organs can be donated and this is something we wish we could do, but with the major organs having so many issues, it is not possible. There are options to donate some minor things, but that could only be done before Kayleigh passes and we would rather have her with us at home during her remaining time.

I learned today that God has given us a gift of love and no matter what or when our decisions may be, it will be filled with love. We don't want to regret any decisions we have to make, so we want to be 100% sure we are doing what we feel is right on this inside. No one can tell us what is right or wrong, only God can fill our hearts, making the perfect decision for our daughter when it is purely made out of love. Kayleigh will always be remarkable, whether she is with us here on earth or not. But, we do know that heaven shares no pain and Kayleigh will be made new again.

Someone very special to me told me something today that has touched my heart so deeply that I want to share with all of you. I want you to look closely at the photo above where my hand is holding Kayleigh's. Do you see God's hand holding mine? I do.

I would like to praise God for my parents who walked for us this morning in the March of Dimes walk in Charlotte. We wish we could have been there with you guys, but just know we will walk every year for here on out and for those who can will be more than welcome to join us. Here are some photos of them with Kayleigh the other day and this morning, during their walk in Kayleigh's name. Thank you two and we love you so very much! Also, thanks to all of those out there who also walked in Kayleigh's name. We really appreciate it.

God Bless,

4/25/09 - We Are Lost

2009-04-25T00:33:00.005-04:00

First off, I want to apologize for not posting a newer update lately. I am sure you all have been itching for an update and quite honestly, we are having a really tough time right now dealing with this.

Kayleigh had a repeated EEG this morning and the results on her brain waves have not changed. Kayleigh remains in a state of a flat reading and besides being able to breath on her own and maintain a stable position otherwise, she shows no other signs of improvement.

It breaks my heart to say that we have no idea where this recent news will lead us, but the doctors feel with the unchanged brain wave diagnosis, Kayleigh will not recover from this traumatic incident.

The CT-scan showed that the lack of blood/oxygen loss happened within the last 12 days somewhere, so this happened either during or shortly after the surgery. We will continue to see if there are tests to tell us if she had a stroke or something else to give us some kind of answer and understanding.

Aimee and I are in complete shock as we continue to read about others who have come back from a flat reading within a 24 hour period, but no success story goes as far as several days. We know that God can do anything He wants at anytime, but the more time goes by with no improvements, we may feel He has decided this is just the beginning of Kayleigh's triumphant journey to heaven.

As Aimee and I are strong in our faith, there are still questions about our precious little girl's state right now. We question if Kayleigh is in heaven already since her mind is no longer here. Just because she has a beating heart and the ability to breath, with no brain functions, is she already playing with all the other beautiful children in heaven? We don't know and it is a very tough position to be in.

We fear the doctors will soon be asking us the dreaded question to no longer give her the support she needs. We are lost and we need your help, not from an opinion point of view, but of what the Bible teaches us. Over the next week, we are going to be faced with uncertainty, so we beg of all those who are preachers to contact us to pray over us and to help us through this difficult time in helping us come to make a decision that God would want us to make.

We pray that no one should have to go through this in a million years and all we ask if for your prayers of strength. We have cried many tears and are completely lost and need guidance from our Lord. We honestly don't know what our Lord would want us to do here. Our lives are shattered.

All preachers, please email me at Adam@TeamFreemanProperties.com and leave me your contact information so we can call.

All of your prayers have been so amazing and we are so grateful to have everyone supporting us through this unbelievably difficult time.

Thank you so much and God Bless,

4/22/09 - "Our Sweet Little Girl"

2009-04-22T18:04:00.003-04:00

After a long and emotional day, we were able to gather some information about Kayleigh's prognosis to pass along to everyone.

A CT-scan was completed this afternoon to determine what may be the cause to Kayleigh's shocking lack of brain functions. It appears there was a lack of blood and/or oxygen supply to the brain during or shortly after her surgery this past week. The other option is that Kayleigh had a pre-existing condition that worsened with the surgery. However, the latter of the two can be cancelled out as there were no obvious issues that can relate to the problems she is having now.

Being that Kayleigh had two blood transfusions this past week and a very low blood pressure number tells me that the problem may be with the lack of oxygen/blood to the brain, but no one is for certain at this time. The doctors still want to see how her body reacts with time, but Aimee and I are pushing for other tests to be done in case there is a reason and it could be something that may be fixed. Time may hurt us if we just sit back and wait to see how Kayleigh reacts. Aimee and I asked for the CT-scan to be done and that is why it was performed today. Even if they may feel nothing can fix the damage that is done, we at least want some answers.

If you look at the bright side of things, Kayleigh is coming down more on her settings. Her oxygen is practically at room temperature, she has been able to get the pain meds out of her system, her blood pressure is normal, and she is not desatting at all. She has woken up and moved around, but the blank stare in her eyes and the repetitive movement in her limbs quickly tells you there is something seriously wrong.

She did react to our voices and seemed to kick her legs a little more, but none of her movements show any kind of purpose. Before, she would reach for her mouth and suck on her fingers, she would grab for her toys, or she would grip your finger when you held her hand. Now, there isn't anymore of that happening and it breaks our heart to see her in this condition.

If time is to determine what is wrong and if things don't progress, we can only hope that Kayleigh's brain will allow her to breath on her own. Starting tonight, the doctors are going to wean her pressure control to see if her body can breath without the help. If she can't breath on her own, then Kayleigh's future prognosis is not going to be good news at all.

It was a blessing for Aimee and I to hold her for several hours and talk to her about many things, such as her big sisters birthday tonight and what bacon tastes like since that helped with her progress in December. We talked about playing at home one day and how fun it will be to have the whole family together. We talked for hours about everything so she could hear our voice and know that no matter what, she will be okay.

We have not lost hope and we trust that God has a huge plan for Kayleigh. He has done many wonderful things with her so far, but we would be sad to see Kayleigh go and not be able to personally share her story for the rest of her life. Although, If God has plans for her in heaven, Aimee and I promise with all that we have, we will continue to share her story to help others through their own journey.

"Kayleigh, you are such a blessing to us and we are forever grateful to have you in our lives. Your Mommy and I could not be more proud of you for the strength and determination you have showed us in the past year. We are all much better people because of you and we love you so very much. May you continue to fight this fight as hard as you can and know that our Lord is holding your hand every step of the way. We are so blessed and honored to call you our sweet little girl."

Thank you all for your overwhelming support through these difficult times. Your words of encouragement have lifted us up throughout the day to stay strong and continue to be there for Kayleigh while she fights for her life.

God Bless,

4/21/09 - Please Lord, Help Us!!!

2009-04-21T20:20:00.006-04:00

We are sitting here thinking of the right words to say, but there are never the right words to say when your life has been turned upside down in a blink of an eye.

"I am praying, Lord, that you will speak through me and deliver this message to shine a light on others for them to show you how special Kayleigh is to all of us and how we are not ready to say goodbye."

We need your prayers right now! Something terrible is going on with Kayleigh and no doctor or specialist can lay a finger on what has caused this to happen. Our hearts are breaking right before our eyes and we are in complete shock at the moment. Please help us.

As you all know, post surgery seemed to go as expected. Normally, it gets worse before it gets any better, but Kayleigh was showing great signs of recovery. Although, after a couple days and things progressing normally, sweet Kayleigh is not waking up anymore. She is no longer on the Nitric or any pain medication. She is on very low settings beyond the expected pressure control to help her breath. Her sats are great and her heart rate/blood pressure is right where it should be. However, she is still not waking up like she should be at this point.

Her sweet tiny body lays still, with very slight (unexplainable) movements at times, while her muscles are contracted beyond any measurable understanding. The thought of some kind of neurological problem quickly raised a red flag and an EEG test was conducted only to show that a big section of Kayleigh's brain (cerebral cortex) is not working at all and may never work again. In other words, the doctors stated she has a flat reading, which is another term for being brain dead.

This is so hard to write and so hard to take in right now. The doctors plan to do more testing to see what could have caused this to happen and why she still makes unexplained movements. Was it the excess pain medication they gave her to calm her down? Was it a stroke that she encountered while fighting off the pain the other night? Was there not enough oxygen or blood flow to the brain? Did the Nitric cause this? Barbiturate poisoning can cause flat readings at time, so could that be the case? (She had some phenobarbital this morning) With all these questions running through our heads, we have no idea, but we pray we will get the answers as quick as possible.

This has all happened so sudden and we don't know what is going to happen from here or what to even do. All we can do is pray there was some error, some mistake, something was overlooked or by God's grace, her brain will miraculously start working again. We have all seen miracles happen with Kayleigh many times before and I have learned my lesson by giving up hope and not trusting that the Lord has the final decision. That is not even a question in my mind anymore.

Unfortunately and sadly, no one else is optimistic when it comes to Kayleigh's recovery from this and when the doctors comforting love turns in to the "matter of fact" attitude, we know they have once again lost hope. The doctors have been amazing through this journey and we know they will do everything in their power to help Kayleigh through this. There is no one else in this world we would trust other than them, but it just hurts sometimes to compare Kayleigh to other situations when Kayleigh has created her own case study of uniqueness.

With all the faith in the world, it still hurts to think that this journey may end so drastically and beyond understanding. Kayleigh is our precious gift from God and He has given us this sweet miracle for a reason. Whether she touches someones life to bring them closer to God or closer to their family, we may never know the true reason until we meet our creator face to face. We have to trust God for the things He does, but staying strong and patient for those answers are practically unbearable at times.

We know the doctors are not as optimistic and statistics prove that Kayleigh's chances are very slim right now, but we all know our Lord all too well and His way will be the right way. We don't know what is going to happen in the next day, week or month, but if we could ask for anything from you all, please pray your hearts out and please keep us strong with your support through these difficult times. Please pray that the Lord will fix Kayleigh's brain waves so she can continue to bless all of us with her amazing strength, love and that adorable little smile. Thank you.

"Lord Almighty, You are so amazing and your love is beyond greater than any words we could ever imagine. We are not blaming you one bit or nor are we angry at you for what is going on here because we trust in you and we love you with all of our hearts.

We beg of you not to take our little girl from us. Heal her troubled body and give her the strength to make it through this devastating circumstance so she can come home to our family who anxiously awaits with open arms.

Our faith is so strong and we know you are so powerful to do anything your will desires. If Kayleigh is ready to go to heaven to be with you, we completely understand, but then please give us the strength to live our lives without seeing her precious smile and filling our hearts with happiness every single day. Give us direction to continue to share her precious story to help so many others come to know you Lord, love each other and find hope in their own journeys. We know that we are here to prepare our lives for eternity with you, so we trust that your decision is the right decision.

We are just not ready to say "Goodbye, for now."

Please Lord, Help us!!!

2009-04-21T11:38:00.001-04:00

4/21- Please pray for Stellan who went into surgery this morning. Http://www.MycharmingKids.net

4/20/09 - Where Are You Praying From???

2009-04-20T16:26:00.005-04:00

Ya know, I was sitting here thinking and I thought of a great little project that I would love to put together for Kayleigh and beyond that, it would be awesome to just see a video of all the photos.

I have seen comments come through from all over the world and I have looked at Kayleigh's World Map to see where everyone is located. We recognize names, but we don't have faces to go with many of those names. It would be a great opportunity for us to see who you are and where you are from.

Here is how it works. Take a photo of you, your family, your child, a landmark or whatever while holding a sign that says: Praying for Kayleigh in... (and of course put your city/state or country)

If you haven't seen my good friend, Jennifer's (McKmama) blog, and how she does it for sweet Stellan, it is similar except that we just want photos of you with your sign reading: "Praying for Kayleigh in...."

Once I gather all the photos/location signs, I would like to put together a video of everyone who is praying for Kayleigh so we can all see where everyone is from.

Please send your photos ASAP to: Adam@TeamFreemanProperties.com

2009-04-20T14:41:00.001-04:00

4/20 - Kayleigh is still making slow, but good progress. She is starting to wake up a little and open her eyes every now and then.

2009-04-19T15:41:00.001-04:00

4/19 - Kayleigh's making great progress. They started to wean her off the Nitric. Her swelling is way down & her blood pressure is great. We are so excited!!!

4/18/09 - Post-Operation Update

2009-04-17T23:14:00.005-04:00

Just wanted to thank you all for the great comments on the videos. It was a blessing to bring you all in a little closer to our family. If you missed the videos, check out the last post and watch how our day (yesterday) went down.

Kayleigh-bug, little munchkin, petunia, little miss thang, heart attack giver is doing better and better as the hours go by. I didn't want to alarm anyone, but last night was scary as all get out. Just after I posted the "first/failed attempted" videos, we got a call from one of the nurse practitioners telling us Kayleigh's body was not accepting the crazy amount of pain medication they were pumping her with and she had a pulmonary hypertensive episode to where they could not get her sats back up without putting her on the Nitric Oxide. If you all remember how "December" went down, you will remember NO2 all too well. Basically, NO2 was a life saver.

Needless to say, with her oxygen and vent settings up as high as possible, enough pain meds for 3 grown adults and the Nitric Oxide flowing through her body, Kayleigh was saved from disaster. Besides having to get two blood transfusions already, and several doses of Lasix to remove excess fluid off her body, she's recovering slowly but surely.

The biggest scare was her blood pressure though. The median number was creeping in to the 30's and that is not a good sign, especially when she has pulmonary hypertension. The normal median number for her should be in the 60's, so half of that spells bad news. On the other hand, the swelling in her abdomen is the cause for this by putting pressure on her lungs and heart. With the Lasix pulling fluid off, she has been peeing quite a bit and is probably half the size she was yesterday. Aimee and I were beyond shocked to see how blown up she was from the surgery. Kayleigh's belly can get big sometimes, but ~~damn~~ WOW it's HUUUGE!!!

So right now, Kayleigh is not being bothered by anyone so she can rest and get herself recovered fully before another attack hits. The more she is calm and the more the swelling goes down, the better she will get. Please pray that happens quickly.

Sorry, I have to interrupt to tell you something funny. The doctor just called and of course every time you see the hospital number come up, your heart drops. Anyhow, we joked about this today with her at the hospital, but she normally is the same doctor who can't catch a break and calls us every time there is bad news. Well, she just called to prove a point that she doesn't always call when it is bad news and told us that she is looking at Kayleigh right now, satting at a 100% while sleeping peacefully with a much better blood pressure number. We laughed pretty hard and it felt good to laugh.

Okay, so please pray for Kayleigh to pull through this as she seems to slowly be doing. We have made it too far for something like this to get in the way and bring her down. She is a true fighter and has shown us that so many times. Can you imagine, she has been through so much more than 98% of all humans, in less than 10 months. Goodness gracious.

Praise God for His amazing gifts. We are so blessed to have Kayleigh show us how precious life is and how awesome your love is. Thank you Lord!

I didn't get to show this other day when I wanted to, but this was the first newborn outfit Aimee and I bought when we found out we were having a girl :) I am so proud and emotionally touched that I finally get to see my sweet little girl wearing it.

God Bless,

4/17/09 - Let's Try this Again

2009-04-17T10:01:00.003-04:00

Let's try this again. Now I have got the videos working and we are ready to go...

Yesterday was one of the longest days of our lives and I still have to somehow capture it all again just perfect for you in this post. Well, maybe not...

Aimee and I decided to create a VLOG (Video blog), starting Wednesday night and all the way through the day yesterday (Thursday) to share with everyone a day in the Freeman family shoes. It is not top notch quality but hey...it works. We need to learn more about editing, but that will come with time. I hope you will enjoy getting to see some behind the scenes with our family.

Also, we would like to warn everyone that Kayleigh's after surgery is not intended to show Kayleigh at such a vulnerable state, but to let you realize how serious and intense this journey has been. It is to open people's eyes who need to feel the impact of such a world many of us come to unfortunately know so well. After all, our whole goal is to help make a difference in someone's life by sharing the truth of how amazing our Lord can be through His blessings.

We hope you all enjoy it and please say a prayer for Kayleigh. She is still struggling to get under control with her tolerance to the pain/sedation medication. She is such a bull, that it is taking her "A LOT" of medication to control her. Pray that this will subside and she will recover quickly and feel no more discomfort. Kayleigh has had her fair share of troubles, so it is time for her to live happy and healthy.

All of your thoughts and prayers were amazing today and we couldn't thank you all enough for the support. I wish there was a way we could give back to every single one of you. Thank you all from the bottom of our hearts.

Enjoy the show and God Bless!!!

Kayleigh Day (Video 1)
Kayleigh Day (Video 2)
Kayleigh Day (Video 3)
Kayleigh Day (Video 4)
Kayleigh Day (Video 5)

2009-04-16T17:24:00.001-04:00

5:22 - Aimee, the kids and I are on our way to speak at a March of Dimes event and help raise awareness for these little miracles.

2009-04-16T15:28:00.001-04:00

3:26pm - Picking the kids up from school. Ready to play with them, so we can laugh & relieve some stress. Kayleigh is somewhat stable still.

2009-04-16T14:06:00.001-04:00

2:03pm - Please pray this recovery is quick so she can get back to normal. It's hard to see her like this. She has 6 more scars to tell her story.

2009-04-16T14:00:00.001-04:00

2:00pm - Poor Kayleigh. She's not feeling too good. Her whole body has swelled up pretty bad, and her sats are struggling to stay up.

2009-04-16T13:42:00.001-04:00

1:41 - Just got the call. On our way up to see Kayleigh back at her bedside.. Woo Hoo!

2009-04-16T13:33:00.001-04:00

1:30pm - We should be getting a call any minute to go up to see Kayleigh. We are so anxious to see her and give her some smootches.

2009-04-16T12:39:00.001-04:00

12:30pm - Surgery is over and was a success! Recovery will be tough on her, but dr felt the procedure went better than expected. Whew!!!

2009-04-16T11:13:00.001-04:00

11:00am - Drs are finished with the G-tube, Nissen & biopsy. They're finishing the hernias & all they will have left is the central line.

2009-04-16T10:36:00.001-04:00

10:37am - So far so good. Moving right along. Kayleigh is doing great, but her parents are a nervous wreck :)

2009-04-16T08:57:00.001-04:00

9:55 - They have taken Kayleigh into to surgery and will begin shortly. Updates to come as we receive them. Please pray things go smooth.

2009-04-16T08:07:00.001-04:00

8:05 - They are running behind and have not taken Kayleigh down to surgery yet. She is smiling more than ever and looks just precious.

2009-04-16T07:20:00.001-04:00

7:15am - Good morning. We are on our way to the hospital to see Kayleigh off to surgery. Thank you for all of your prayers.

4/16/09 - "Thankful Thursday"

2009-04-15T23:57:00.003-04:00

Before I kick of this weeks ~~Thoughtful~~ Thankful Thursday, I wanted to thank you all for your prayers and please continue to pray as the surgeries will begin at Thursday, 8:00am (EST). I will be updating through Blogger/Twitter/Facebook all morning to keep everyone posted. Please say a prayer, not only for Kayleigh, but for all the doctors and staff who are involved with the procedures. Thank you so much!

This week is going to be different and I would like to see if by doing things this way, we will get a lot more people involved to share their stories. .

Okay, here is how our "~~Thoughtful~~ Thankful Thursday" works.
This week, I would love to hear about someone special in your life who you are thankful for and why. This will be a great way to let everyone know how awesome that person is in your life and I am sure it will make them feel all warm and fuzzy too. Whatever you are thankful for, I want you to spill your hearts out like never before.

God has blessed us with so many people in our lives and I feel that I could never thank those people enough. So I am going to shout it from the roof top so everyone knows who has found a place in my heart for a special reason and who has molded me in to the man I am today.

This week, I am going to kick it off with none other than my beautiful wife, Aimee.

Wow, just look at those pictures (the last is my all time favorite) Yowzers! Is she not beautiful or what??? I am glad that 95% of Kayleigh's followers are female and the 5% that are male are married, because I would have to beat them off with a stick if I wasn't careful (lol).

Seriously, beyond the amazingly beautiful looks, this is the strongest person I have ever met. If you want to know where Kayleigh gets her strength from, then here she is. Aimee is such an intelligent and strong willed woman that she has left an imprint on my heart that makes me realize how lucky I am to have landed such a keeper.

Aimee and I have "that kind" of relationship. We are "those" people that you see, who are head over heals 24/7 and practically do almost everything together. We are continuously showing each other affection and we just can't seem to get enough of each other. I am so glad that I have a woman in my life who shows me on a daily basis how much she loves me and makes me feel so special.

Don't get me wrong, there are days full of stress that lead to arguments, but our communication allows us to work through our problems and make the changes we need to keep each other happy. Because of that, I am so proud to have my best friend as my wife. I have learned so much from Aimee over the years and she has given me the drive to be the best at anything I put my mind to.

She is my rock and my shoulder to cry on. I am so blessed that God has given me Aimee to be by my side through this journey with Kayleigh. She is an awesome Mom and I am so lucky to be the man in her eyes.

Thank you so much Aimee for putting up with me through thick and thin. I want you to know that I love you more than anything in this world and I am so thankful God has blessed me with you. I can't say enough wonderful things about you and I hope continue to see how much I love you even when times may be tough. You are my everything and you always will be. I love you! <3

Okay...Here's how you get your link on our blog for "Thoughtful Thursdays"

Go to YOUR blog, create a new post for "Thoughtful Thursdays". Start by copying and pasting all the following HTML code at the beginning your post.(NOTE: Make sure you are in HTML mode or view when you paste in HTML code!):

Then, click the Mister Linky's Link DOWN BELOW for the form to enter the title of your BLOG (not your post, your blog), and the link to your blog, or the blog post, either one. (if you don't have a blog, feel free to leave a comment, but we would prefer you put up a post if you have a blog.)

That's it! You'll be linked in today's entry.

Can't wait to read your blog posts for "Thoughtful Thursdays"

2009-04-15T12:45:00.001-04:00

Surgery @ 8:00am (EST) - Procedure consists of G-Tube, Nissen, Bilateral Hernia Repair & a new Central Line Placement. Please pray for Kayleigh and the doctors.

2009-04-15T00:44:00.001-04:00

Great News!!! Blogger just updated to where I can update the blog by phone instead of just being able to do Twitter and Facebook. Sweeeeet!

4/14/09 - Back on Track

2009-04-11T23:43:00.007-04:00

As of right now, surgery is scheduled for Thursday morning. They wanted to do the procedures at 8:00am, but we are checking to see if a later time that morning is possible because the kids have to be taken to school. If it changes, I will let you know so everyone can be praying.

Kayleigh is doing really well and she is tolerating her feeds. Her belly has blown up a little, but nothing more than her norm. It is nothing to be concerned about because she is still having stools and her bowel sounds are good.

This weeks "Thoughtful Thursday" is going to be a little different than others. I am going to do a "Thankful Thursday" instead and thank someone who has impacted my life so much. If you are interested in joining in, just write a post and link it to our blog so others can see who you are thanking and why. This will allow those who are being thanked to feel blessed your life was impacted by theirs for the kindness or leadership they have given you.

I am looking forward to writing my post and I can't wait for that person to read what I wrote because I don't feel like I have said thank you enough. I want the world to know how awesome this person is to me.

I wish you all a wonderful Tuesday and I will give you more updates with hopefully some new cute photos of Kayleigh soon.

God Bless,

4/12/09 - HAPPY EASTER!!!

2009-04-11T23:43:00.006-04:00

I am in heaven after spending some quality time with Kayleigh tonight by myself. Don't get me wrong, I love having Aimee with me when we go to the hospital, but there are those rare times where I get to spend one on one time with my sweet daughter and tonight was one of those times.

Kayleigh is doing much much better and I am pleased to say that "hopefully" she just had a cold that caused her to act up this past week. Whoever has been following Kayleigh from the beginning will know that she can handle the tough times like a champ, but when it comes to something small, she hits rock bottom.

Kayleigh is on her way back to full feeds. They started her the other day and are moving up quickly. Her belly is handling it quite well. It has enlarged a little, but it is soft feeling which is normal for her. She is no longer on any antibiotics and is not producing any yellow/green mucous out of her nose/trach. The great news is Kayleigh's recent Echocardiogram has showed that Kayleigh's pulmonary pressures have returned to her normal baseline. Her baseline is still on the elevated side, but much better than where they measured out to be the other day. Also, her heart's right side functions have return back to normal as well. Praise the Lord!

The cardiologists met on Thursday for their weekly meeting of the minds and are possibly deciding to transfer Kayleigh's hypertension medication (Flolan) to Trachlear, which is a medication most pulmonary hypertensive patients go on, but we didn't think it would be this early in the game. Trachlear is sort of a liquid form of the Nitric she was on before and will do the same job as the Flolan is doing now. Once they get her on the Trachlear, they will start to wean her off of the Flolan and remove the central lines that are placed in Kayleigh's chest. The good news about Trachlear, is it will be administered through her "future" G-tube and orally when she starts to take a bottle later down the road. The bad news of this drug is that it has potential to disrupt or even harm her liver functions. I think the older she gets, the less of a chance that will happen. I am guessing that now she is bigger, she has a better chance of it now harming her. We at least hope so or that could be another problem we don't want.

Speaking of Kayleigh's weight, she is over 9 pounds now. What a chunky monkey! You can tell by one of those photos, she is putting on the pounds. It is hard to believe she is nine times her birth weight. Yowzers! She hit the 9 pound mark last week, but quickly fell below once they gave her some Lasix to remove some of the excess water retention she was holding on to while she was ill.

Last but not least, Monday we will be scheduling Kayleigh's upcoming surgery for the g-tube, nissen and bilateral hernia repair. We are beyond excited to hear we are getting close once again to proceed with the surgery plans because the quicker we can do this, the quicker she can come home.

It is tough to write about some fun thing when Kayleigh isn't doing well, so I am going to rehash our events when we went to Joyce and Terry's house (Aimee's Mom and Step Dad) last weekend. We all went for a hike on their nature trail down to a lake that is near their home. Besides sneezing and blowing my nose a million times due to the nasty pollen issues we are having here in Charlotte, it was a great escape from the real world. It felt awesome to finally get out of the house/work/hospital to have some wonderful family quality time. Here are some of the photos that we took from that day.

Everyone loves licking the brownie bowl! "Sorry Ally" :)

I can't say enough how much I appreciate everyone's thoughts and prayers through this journey. It is a blessing to receive so many thoughtful comments on here and on Facebook. I am trying to answer more of your questions, so please let me know if you have any and even though we are so very busy, I promise to do my best to get back to you in ~~this lifetime~~ a timely fashion.

Happy Easter Everyone!!!

God Bless,