As some of you may know, I volunteer for Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep. It is a non-profit organization that helps families through the grieving process of losing their baby in the way of taking beautiful and timeless photographs of their child.

At a family’s request, a NILMDTS Affiliated Photographer will come to your hospital or hospice location and conduct a sensitive and private portrait session. The portraits are then professionally retouched and presented to the families on an archival DVD or CD that can be used to print portraits of their cherished baby.

I am proud to be a part of such a great organization, as each child I photograph will forever hold a special place in my heart. And I hope I’ve helped each family to forever remember their beautiful babies.

With the Month of October being recognized as Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month, The Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep Foundation holds its Annual Fund Drive for six weeks starting in mid-September and ending in October.

President Ronald Reagan enacted Proclamation 5890 in October of 1988 to recognize that each year, approximately a million pregnancies in the United States alone end in miscarriage, stillbirth, or the death of a newborn child. Reagan stated, “A national observance offers us the opportunity to increase our understanding of the great tragedy involved in the deaths of unborn or newborn babies. It also enables us to consider how, as individuals and communities, we can meet the needs of bereaved parents and family members… ” To read the full Proclamation signed by Reagan, CLICK HERE.

If you are in a place to make even a small contribution to NILMDTS, please know that doing so will continue to allow the organization to provide improved resources, training, communication, and other tools necessary in support of our amazing contingent of professional photographers who provide the gift of free remembrance portraiture to families in need.

Our next project we are working on is an online, interactive webinar version of our Formal NILMDTS Training taught by Co-Founder Sandy Puc’ allowing anyone in any country with access to a computer to complete the course online. Donations help make programs like this a reality!

Your Donations Support the Organization in Many Ways –

* By supporting the continued education of our volunteer photographers
* By allowing us to further our outreach to hospitals and hospices across the world
* By offsetting the costs associated with outreach efforts including Formal NILMDTS Traingin Seminars
* By supporting the Family Forum which creates a productive and supportive haven for healing
* By supporting the Photographers’ Forum which provides a helpful environment for our member photographers to express their feelings and receive advice on the various issues that they face in this noble work
* By supporting the day to day operations of our Headquarters Offices

This family was so fun to work with and we had such beautiful land to work on! What a treat! It makes me jealous to see all this land. I would love to have a studio on tons of acres with a barn and old truck. Maybe one day…..

This is probably my most favorite family shot of them….I love how their just laughing at what Dad was saying. It was so cute!

The little girl was so beautiful, I had to showcase just her in a couple family shots.

I love this photo in black and white with a little texture on it. Isn’t she beautiful???

I swear we did a lot more than just by the rocks, but these were my favorite of the session.
The night before, we had the REALLY bad wind here and it was still a little windy, so it blew our hair around a little, sometimes too much, sometimes just enough.

I can’t believe this guy is already 3 months old!!! I photographed him as a newborn and boy has he grown! He’s such a cutie, I could’ve just eaten him up! He looked SOOO cute in this green chair and he was sitting up great(leaning) in the corner, but it was SOOOO funny when he started slipping down.

And eating his hands was a favorite thing that night!!! I tried SOOO hard to get him to smile, but I think he thought my camera was too interesting!!!

And Grandpa came to see him and wanted a shot with him, isn’t this sweet??? It reminds me of my Pappy, who I miss so much! I think grandparents are the BEST thing in a kids life! Mom and Dad have rules, but grandparents let things slide a little more! I know my mom loves breaking the rules with mine!!!

These two were fun to work with. The little one was good when I said “ok, give me some attitude!!” LOL!!! Shorts and Tanks. I’m missing the warmer days already!!!

I’m really behind on blogging! I thought kids going back to school would give me more free time, but it’s more like more running around! 2 are in school for about 2 1/2 hours, and it’s not enought time to do much!

I had a cute maternity session with mom, dad and big brother. He was so cute trying to do what mom was doing and he listened so well. He even took a break to hit some golf balls!!! LOL!!!

I got to this senior’s house to go over clothes and was so excited when I walked into her room. She had the coolest stuff picked out…from vintage to dressy to her mom’s old dance outfits. I pulled some converse shoes out of her closet and we were set to go!

She wanted a high-fashion look, so I played around with that. I hope I got what she was looking for…I was testing the waters for me!