Losing a child is every parent's biggest fear, and former U.S. Olympic gold medalist Bode Miller and his wife Morgan Beck Miller recently lived through that nightmare.
The couple's 19-month-old daughter Emeline "Emmy" Miller drowned in a neighbor's pool last June, leaving the family "beyond devastated."
"Never in a million years did we think we would experience a pain like this. Her love, her light, her spirit will never be forgotten," the Millers said at the time. "Our little girl loved life and lived it to its fullest every day."
While the family can never truly be healed after such a loss, they've got a new bundle of joy that's brought a lot of hope when they needed it the most.
Morgan, who was about three months pregnant when her daughter tragically passed away, gave birth to a baby boy in October, a month before what would've been Emmy's second birthday.
Both Morgan and Bode kept other details about their youngest child under wraps, until now.
It took a few months, but the family finally felt ready to show off their "little light" to the world. This week, Morgan took to Instagram to "formally introduce" four-month-old Easton Vaughn Rek Miller.
"He is so special and has brought so much healing and hope," the grieving mom wrote in the caption of a photo that shows Easton in just his diaper and smiling big.
She added that "Emmy will never be replaced," but Easton has made it possible for them "to feel a small sense of peace in a weird way, a connection between the heavens and earth #lifeafterdeath."
Morgan also previously shared her son's sonogram on Instagram. A month after he was born, she posted a touching story about how she gets signs from Emmy.
"So, 5 days after losing her, I reluctantly had the ultrasound tech come check on the baby growing in my belly," Morgan wrote. She continued, "As she viewed the baby's profile, she told me, "˜I know you don't want a 3D image but this is a perfect angle and I feel like I need to do one. I will be quick.'"
In the moments that followed, something that Morgan will never forget happened.
"My eyes moved to the angel lying to the right of his face, holding him, arms around his neck," she recalled. "Almost as if to say, "˜It's okay. I'm here. It's going to be okay. I love you.' I hold onto this picture as a clear sign that my son knows his sister. That my baby girl Emmy is still with us."
Baby Easton is Bode and Morgan's third child. They share a three-and-a-half year old son, Nash Skan. Miller, 41, has two children from previous relationships, daughter Neesyn and son Samuel.
