John Littlefield, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition: The Augustin Family
Hey guys, Johnny here and this week I'm writing to you from Paris. Not Paris, Texas, mind you, but Paris, France. Now speaking of Texas, this week we find ourselves in the Dallas-Fort Worth area of the beautiful state, to help the Augustin family. There's Amber the mom, and our hero this week, Peter the dad, and Cameron, Emily and Lane (the kids).
Now, Amber loved photography her whole life, but it wasn't until her husband Peter gave her a camera for Christmas that the award-winning Amber Augustin Photography was born!
When Amber was pregnant with her third child, doctors informed her that there would be complications, Amber was hospitalized for 26 weeks and gave birth at 30 weeks. This was an extremely trying time for the Augustin family, as the time ticked away with each moment filled with the fear that little Lane possibly would not make it. Each day Amber would visit the intensive care unit and take pictures of her new baby boy. As time passed and Lane got stronger and stronger, Amber's worst fears passed as well, and Lane went home and now is quite possibly the cutest happiest cowboy in all of Texas.
Now usually as life returns to normal people tend to naturally forget the past and look towards the future.... but not for our hero; Amber couldn't shake the memories of little Lane in an incubator so small and fragile, and also would be reminded of that fragility when she would look at the photos she had taken in the weeks of Lanes recovery. This sparked an idea. Amber's story had a happy ending, but for many families they unfortunately don't. Amber's motto has always been "Believe, serve and give" And that is how "Tiny Works of Heart" was born, a free service in which Amber captures these sometimes fleeting moments forever for the families with her camera.
Now for any of you who have never visited an ICU for premature babies, it is not for the faint of heart, but Amber goes daily into the eye of the storm to serve these families to the best of her talents armed only with a camera.
So I know what you're thinking: "Why are you guys here?" Well, every good photographer needs a studio right? Amber's studio and business was based out of her home, and on Father's Day 2007 a devastating flood destroyed the Augustin's family home leaving them with just the clothes on their backs. Since they cannot afford to raise the house and rebuild, their home has sat abandoned as they not only pay rent for an apartment but a mortgage as well.
"Tiny Works of Heart," as well as her own business, was put on hold, leaving many families that rely on the precious gift that Amber supplies waiting. So to answer your question, my fine friends, as to why we are here, we cannot allow these families to wait any longer. The gift that Amber supplies, captures fleeting moments of mother and child and turns it into their eternity in the form of a photograph. So on behalf of all of us over here at Extreme, thank you Augustin family, thank you Texas, thank you to our builder Wall Homes, and thank you to the incredible volunteers that helped put "Tiny Works" back on the map!