Originally appeared on E! Online
This holiday season is bittersweet for Alexa PenaVega and her family, who are navigating a tragic loss.
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Almost eight months after she and husband Carlos PenaVega announced the stillbirth of their fourth child, daughter Indy Rex PenaVega, the "Spy Kids" alum shared a memory of their baby girl and an update on their grief journey.
"She was so beautiful," PenaVega recalled to E! News' Francesca Amiker in an exclusive interview. "She was a chunky little girl, looked just like Carlos."
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PenaVega, who also shares with her husband sons Ocean, 6, and Kingston, 5, and daughter Rio, 3, said the family experienced "pain with purpose" following their baby girl's death.
"We would cry and we hurt and we grieved, but we also celebrated. We also rejoiced," the 36-year-old continued. "I hug my kids that I have here on Earth a little tighter, but I still feel so connected to Indy. I know she's up in Jeaven. I know she's dancing with Jesus and having the best time ever."
The actress, who stars with Carlos PenaVega in the upcoming Great American Family movie "Get Him Back for Christmas" (set to premiere Dec. 14 on Great American Family and at the Great American Family Christmas Festival at The Northwell Park at UBS Arena in Elmont, N.Y.), also shared how the couple's three eldest children have taught her more about the grieving process.
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"Because of the questions that they've asked about Indy, the questions they've asked about Heaven and about God," she explained. "You live differently when you have to think of Heaven every single day, like you just do after loss. And my kids talk about Heaven every day, we talk about Heaven every day, that your life really does become fuller after loss."
PenaVega continued, "Truly, this loss has magnified the beauty that's around us, magnified my children, my family, the love that we have for one another. Even through the tears, even through the harder days, there's just so much more appreciation."
