Wyatt is a Caito!!!  Wooohooo – Yipppeee!!  I met the Caito family last year when I photographed their sweet little boy, Connor on behalf of Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep.  We’ve stayed pretty close and kept in touch – I had the honor being present during the final adoption hearing that made Wyatt a CAITO!!!   Last year, I added 4 Caitos to my extended family, and this year, I added another!!  Welcome to the family, Wy!!!

Meet Arieanah’s Momma.  In a few weeks, she will deliver a precious baby girl that will only spend a few minutes with her family before she earns her wings.  When we placed the blocks on Mom’s belly,  Arieanah kept kicking them – it was amazing!!   The love that Arieanah is showered with every day is evident in the tender tone that talks and sings to her, the gentle hands that stroke her and the wistful dreams of a mom that is placed in the heart breaking position of knowing that they will have so little time together.  In a few weeks, I will get to watch this precious child come into the world – I will capture images of the time that Arieanah gets to be with her mom and dad and then I’ll say a prayer  as this lamb moves on to her Heavenly home. 

oops – forgot to put on here that I received permission from the family to blog about this session – unless explicit permission is granted by the family, all sessions and details are kept 100% private. The family has the option to let us “share” their images to further the mission of NILMDTS. A separate permission is required for the photographer to use the images for any other purpose.

We’re going to have an Angel Celebration committee meeting next Sunday!!!!  If you are interested in helping plan AC’10 and working on the gifts for the families – please contact me for details and to RSVP.  Here are the “before” pictures of the memory boxes that we will be creating.  One of the volunteers for HAIN (Heavenly Angels In Need), Terri has been creating these boxes for me for a while now.  I have been taking them to the hospitals when I get a call for NILMDTS.  They are super easy and can be made in no time at all – let me know if you would like to help out!!

Almost three years ago, I met the Sutherland family when I was called to Children’s Hospital to do a session for them on behalf of Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep.  Their son, Graidan was such a beautiful little boy – he was much loved by his family.  His brothers and sister still pop into my mind from time to time and I’ve stayed close to the family.  They have done wonderful things in honor of their precious baby boy!!!  They started By Grace Through Faith- a non-profit charity that supplies local families with memorial candles to honor their own children.  Over the past 2 years, I’ve given out almost 100 candles to families on behalf of  By Grace Through Faith.  These wondeful candles come in pink and blue and are baby powder scented.  Graidan’s story can be found on the inside lid and a bracelet wraps around the lid – they are wonderful!!  Recently, Joe and Shailyn (Graidan’s daddy and big sister) published a book called The Broken Egg - it’s a children’s book about losing a baby brother or sister.  I bought a handful of copies to hand out at sessions – one of the images that I took is featured on the back cover – Graidan’s precious little piggies!!!  Thank you so much Sutherlands – you guys are awesome, I’m soooo going to miss to ya’ll at the Angel Celebration this year.  So many families have found comfort in your candles and will now also find solace in The Broken Egg – I’m so honored to have you have in my life!!!!

This image was taken on the day that Graidan went to be with Jesus – September 6, 2007

The Sutherlands came into the studio the following year – these are the piggies of all their children.

This is the back cover of The Broken Egg.  Dawn (Graidan’s Mommy) says that this is one of her very favorite images!!

Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep is celebrating their five year anniversary.  I joined NILMDTS in early 2006 shortly after their 1 year anniversary.  There are currently over 7,000 photographers world wide that donate their time, talent and hearts when they offer their services of infant remembrance photography to families in their greatest time of need.  NILMDTS has my heart.  As the area coordinator for Cincinnati, I’ve completed over 150 sessions for these precious angels myself and have referred other NILMDTS photographers on 52 sessions.  We have a healthy base of volunteers in Cincinnati now and we would LOVE your support in furthering our mission.  Your donation would help increase awareness of the services that we are able to offer and to recruit and train new photographers.  SO—-  Click the link – give NILMDTS a HIGH 5 donation!!

Posted with permission from TheComfortCompany.net, special thanks to Renee!!

 What Grieving Moms Want for Mother’s Day:

 TheComfortCompany.net Offers 10 Simple Ways to help Moms Cope When Mother’s Day Hurts

Acknowledgement is what grieving mother’s want most for Mother’s Day, suggests a survey by www.thecomfortcompany.net, a website that specializes in meaningful sympathy gifts. The online survey asked “What can others do to ease your pain on Mother’s Day”. Over 80 percent of the 200 respondents answered, “Recognize that I am a mother”.

“While Mother’s Day is generally considered to be a day of celebration, for many women it is a day of pain and loss” says Renee Wood, former social worker and founder of The Comfort Company. “It’s important to remember those moms who have had a failed pregnancy or who have lost a child at any age.” In response to the survey results, thecomfortcompany.net has issued a list of ten simple ways to reach out to a grieving mother on this difficult holiday.

1. Recognize that they are a mother: Offer a hug and a “Happy Mother’s Day”. Send a card to let them know you remember they are a mother even though their child is not with them physically.

2. Acknowledge they have had a loss: Express the message, “I know this might be a difficult day for you. I want you to know that I am thinking about you.”

3. Use their child’s name in conversation: One mother responded, “People rarely speak his name anymore, but when they do it’s like music to my ears”.

4. Plant a living memorial: A tree or rose bush, like memories, will grow in beauty as the years pass. 5. Visit the grave site: Many mothers felt that it was “extremely thoughtful” when others visited their child’s grave site and left flowers or a small pebble near the headstone.

6. Light a candle: Let the mother know you will light a candle in memory of their child on Mother’s Day.

7. Share a memory or pictures of the child: Give the gift of a memory. One mother wrote that the “greatest gift you can give is a heart felt letter about my child and a favorite memory with them”.

8. Send a gift of remembrance: Many mothers felt a small gift would be comforting. Suggestions included: an angel statue, jewelry, a picture frame, a library book or toy donation in the child’s name or anything personalized.

9. Don’t try to minimize the loss: Avoid using any clichés that attempt to explain the death of a child. (“God needed another angel.”) Secondly, don’t try to find anything positive about the loss (“You still have two healthy children”).

10. Encourage Self-Care: Self-care is an important aspect of the “healing the mind and spirit effort” according to several mothers. Encourage a grieving mother to take care of herself. Give her a gift certificate to a day spa or any place where she can be pampered.

©2007 The Comfort Company. All Rights Reserved. May be reprinted with permission and credit to: www.thecomfortcompany.net

HEY YOU GUYS!!!!

Time to support an EXCELLENT cause!!  On April 25, I will be walking 6 miles (which for those of you that know how much I detest any form of excercise- it’s a huge deal) in the Cincinnati March for Babies to benefit the March of Dimes.  For years, I’ve wanted to participate in one of these walks for a cause – I’ve just always had something else going on, well – my word for the year is COMMITTMENT (something that I’m trying to apply to EVERY aspect of my life) – so no more making excuses – I’M DOING IT – and now I need your support - so come on ya’ll – support the March of Dimes and Team Till We Meet Again.  I’m walking in honor of all the families and sweet angel babies that I’ve served on behalf of Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep.  It would be worth it, if the $$$ raised in this walk keeps even ONE family from needing our services as volunteer bereavement photographers. 

I joined this group over a year ago – Heavenly Angels In Need. The lovely volunteers for HAIN hand make items and donate them to families that have lost a child.  When I joined, I did so as an accompaniment to my volunteer work for NILDMTS – they volunteers for HAIN have sent me crocheted gowns for infants as tiny as 20 weeks (some weigh only 1-2 lbs), I’ve received book marks, jewelry, pins, poems, etc….  They donated heavily to the Angel Celebration that I hosted last year.  Recently, I decided to try my hand as creating some of these items myself.  I’ll make bracelets for my Angel Families (Families that I serve as a volunteer for NILMDTS) and for any other NILMDTS photog (or family) in the Cinti/No Ky area.  I’m not the greatest, but I did have a great teacher, Felicia Stalder.  She not only taught me the HOW, but entertained me with stories of her years of teaching children and gave me terrific LIFE advice – THANK YOU!! 

Earlier this month, I received an email from Charlotte’s Mommy, Leslie.  She learned of Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep through the Starshine at Cincinnati Childrens Hospital.  You see, if Charlotte makes it through delivery, her parents will have very little time to spend with their sweet daughter.  Charlotte has a neurological disorder called Limb Body Wall Complex (Limb-body wall complex: A rare condition where disruption of the amniotic band system can result in head, heart, lung, diaphragm, kidney or gonad abnormalities ).  I met this wonderful family last Sunday and helped them start commemorating Charlotte’s life.  This precious little girl has a wonderful big sister that showered Momma’s belly with kisses and loved dressing up as a princess at the end of the session.  Mom and Dad were amazing pillars of strength and I was in awe over the tenderness and  love that these two share.  Next month, I will be in attendance when this precious child of God is welcomed into the arms of her parents.   When you say your prayers, please include this amazing family and their sweet baby girl, Charlotte.