Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Straight From Heaven

I decided this a must post from my photography blog to my personal blog.....

Ok....I have been patiently waiting to do this post for quite some time now.  I had to make sure I was in the clear with the parents before I posted their little angels photos.  Thankfully I was able to square everything away today. 

This whole thing started with the experience of me having my little babe at 28 weeks gestation.  I was so genuinely grateful for everything the Newborn Intensive Care Unit did for us. They were so kind, gentle, quick to see our fears/concerns and were able to appease us as much as possible.  They made us feel so special, as if our little guy was the most important baby in the world.  We were able to see how each nurse cared for him and truly loved their job.  They made it a point to express that their caring of our little angel was not just a job to them.  They acted as if he were their own child. 

I brain-stormed for days trying to think of a way to repay them.  A plate of cookies along with a card just didn't seem to be enough.  One night I awoke from a dead sleep.  Somehow I had come up with this brilliant plan.  I knew exactly what to do!!  I could give back with photography.  I had taken some special pictures of Lincoln when he came home from the hospital and then put together a birth announcement.  I loved one of the photos so much I even had it enlarged and printed on a canvas gallery wrap that now hangs in his room.  Lincoln's scar from his surgery was still visible on his head, but I didn't want to alter it in anyway.  It was who he was....he wore his battle wounds proudly and I, as his mother, wasn't afraid to see them.  I wanted other mothers to have the same experience I did.  I wanted to be able to take pictures of the babies when they had freshly been released from the NICU and have them be able to display the great triumph these babies had finally achieved.

One of the guardian angels who took care of my Lincoln happened to also go to church with us.  With her help, my idea was presented to the manager at the NICU.  He immediately loved the idea and agreed that it was something he would love to have happen.  It's almost been two years since Lincoln was completely discharged from the hospital, but I got a call a few months ago saying they wanted to push forward with the plan.  I was super lucky enough to be able to photograph two babies who still resided in the NICU.  Their photos, along with a few of Lincoln's and also others, will be displayed through out the halls and nursery of the Newborn Intensive Care Unit at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center.  I am so elated that this gift I dreamed up has finally come true and is in the process of happening.


These particular photos may or may not be the ones displayed in the hospital.  They are still in the selecting process!
And the two that will be displayed of Lincoln

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Luke's First Basketball Team!

Luke was super excited to get onto another sports team.  This go round his sport of choice was basketball.  He had his first game and practice last night.  There was a range of emotions I was having, partially because I couldn't find my misplaced wedding ring, no worries I got it now!  I was enjoying seeing his natural insticts kick in when put out on the court, but I was also feeling a bit of anxiety.  All in all he did a really good job and was such a great team player.  I think he tried to shoot it once, but was mainly awesome at attempting assists!  Luke is probably one of the youngest amongst all these kindergartners.  While a lot of them are either already six or will be soon, he won't be six until July.  He was by far the shortest on his team.  I was a bit worried until I saw the other team.  They had a bunch of shorties just like him.  Somehow our team got stacked with height, Luke being the exception...


I think the funniest thing I heard him say after he played was ..... "Mom, I stole the ball from a girl!"  I had a good laugh, but told him that's what he was supposed to do.  He couldn't give her special treatment because she was a girl, she wanted to play just like him.  So, you gotta do what you gotta do!

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Christmas 2011

We had lots of fun this year with Christmas.  Things were a little out of the ordinary, but much stayed the same.  I bought a gingerbread house at the beginning of December and would you believe it's still sitting in the box on my kitchen table??  I really don't know how that happened.  It was one thing or another....schedules conflicted, we forgot or there were too many things going on.  We did make a trip to see Santa at the mall though.

 And we most definitely got the house all decked out

Christmas sugar cookies......

Christmas Card
front
back

We usually spend Christmas Eve at Scott's cousins house along with many other family members.  This year we had my Mom for Christmas Eve, made cookies for Santa, left reindeer food for the reindeer on the front lawn, watched our traditional movie "Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas" ....a tradition from Scott's childhood LOL, opened Christmas jammies, then got all tucked in for bed.  My Mom spent Christmas morning with us then headed off to my sisters houses.  Scott's family came a little later in the afternoon to open presents and have a Christmas feast.