After losing her legs while shielding her two children from a deadly tornado this spring, Stephanie Decker deserves a special Mother’s Day.

Decker, her husband Joe, and their two children flew to New York for a week of fun and pampering. First up: seeing the musical “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark,” which was a big hit with 6-year-old Reese and 8-year-old Dominic, as well as their parents.

Then Stephanie and her family got to enjoy a day of pampering, topped off by a super-glam photo shoot, organized by style and beauty expert Mary Alice Stephenson and photographed by Nigel Barker of “America’s Next Top Model.” They all got to take in a Yankees game. And since she lost her wedding ring (along with her house and most of her family’s possessions) in the 175-mph tornado, husband Joe gave her a new one.

“That’s a whopper!” TODAY’s Ann Curry cried, admiring the very sparkly new ring.

Take me out to the ballgame…

“I think she earned it,” Joe said. “She’s my hero. I love her greatly.”

Reese told Curry that she knows what her mom did for her and her brother. “I like that she took care of us,” she said. “She loves us, and I love her too.”

Though Stephanie enjoyed the glam life and certainly loved her new ring, she told TODAY Moms the biggest highlight of the week for her was actually going to a New York Yankees game. She and her family are huge Yankees fans, so meeting some of the players was a thrill.

The highlight of the week for Stephanie? Watching her kids meet their baseball heroes on the Yankees.

“They gave us such a warm welcome, and they took the time to talk to our kids,” Decker said backstage at TODAY. “That meant a lot.”

One of her first goals after getting out of the hospital was to attend her son’s baseball games (her husband is also a baseball coach). She was able to do that, and even got to throw out the first pitch at a University of Louisville baseball game. So watching her children meet their baseball heroes was a fitting gift for this mom on Mother’s Day.

All along, Stephanie has said she just acted on instinct and did what any mother would do to protect her children. And her words to other moms this Mother’s Day are simply to follow that instinct: “Just take care of your child. Most mothers out there protect them just like I did. Take care of them. Hold them close.”

Indiana mom Stephanie Decker says she simply acted on instinct when a deadly tornado struck on March 2. As her home was ripped to shreds, she threw a blanket over her two children and lay on top of them, shielding them with her body as debris rained down. They emerged without a scratch; Stephanie lost one leg below the knee and the other leg above the knee.

She has blogged for TODAY Moms as she made her way through surgeries, rehab, and finally home, where she recently celebrated her daughter’s 6th birthday and got her first prosthetic foot. TODAY brought Stephanie to New York this week for a Mother’s Day surprise. She knew something was up, but she had no idea what! Here’s what Stephanie wrote for us earlier this week.

This is such an exciting week for us as we head to NYC! We are still so completely overwhelmed at the support from our friends, family and our newfound friends all over the world!! We will be eternally grateful for everything that has been done for us! I love and have read all the notes and cards mailed to me and I am inspired by all of your kind words!

Our first night in New York was fabulous! Took the kids to see Spiderman and it was incredible. What an enthralling show and the kids are mesmerized! Looking forward to day #2. However, it is filled with surprises that I am being kept in the dark about!! I wonder what NBC has up their sleeve? More to come on our journey… and I will fill you in on today’s surprises

Find out about Stephanie Decker’s fund for tornado victims, the Stephanie Decker Foundation. Read more about Stephanie Decker’s amazing story, in her own words:

One of the best parts of working on America’s Next Top Model for me obviously are the photo shoots. They have been called extreme, over the top, unrealistic, crazy and more but the reality is they are a lot of fun and we have always been about pushing the boundaries on ANTM.  My first shoot this cycle was at the Sepulveda dam in Los Angeles, an iconic location where many a movie and advertising campaign has been shot.

With 11 girls to shoot on location in just one day we have our work cut out for us. We are dealing with constant light changes as the sun shimmies across the sky. We have a bunch of props in the form of low riders – super cool vintage cars with tricked our hydraulics in candy colors. Several male models covered in tattoos  and of course I want to change the position of the cars and the angle every shot.

We always start bright and early on ANTM but with shooting the lead in and getting the girls ready through hair, make up and styling we rarely get started with so many girls until the early afternoon. Which means 11 shots in just the afternoon hours, well at least that’s the best light in my opinion.

As always I am shooting with my Sony A900 DSLR with the Zeiss lenses 85mm and 105mm. Lighting wise we used Profoto 8A packs, a beauty dish with a grid and various magnum reflectors for backlight and side lighting. We also utilized a fog machine to add atmosphere.

The girls were dressed in flowing gowns with classic English hats commonly worn at events like a day at the races in Ascot by designer Philip Treacy flown in from England specifically for the shoot. Fashion loves juxtapositions and what better than gowns, hats with low riders and tattoos!

let me know any questions you may have about the shoot and I’ll do my best to answer

best Nigel

For my 3rd year in a row I was at CES presenting for the world leader in consumer electronics and maker of my trusty A900 – SONY. One of the many exciting things of being associated with the most cutting edge brand in technology is that I get to test experimental equipment and be the first to try out various prototypes. Not all of which make it to the consumer because of price or demand.

Last year I was supplied with 3 brand new pieces of EQ that only became available after I announced them yesterday at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in front of a crowd of thousands.

You all know I love my job and that I am passionate about photography and film, so getting to experiment with gadgets that no one has ever seen but only imagined, is my kind of assignment.

My Q, a man called El-Deane  at Sony is the fellow responsible with getting me the equipment if only a little begrudgingly, “Make sure I get it back immediately and don’t break it Bond…..” (actually he calls me Nigel but in my head….)

My job so said M was to master these new gadgets and breakdown the mysteries for the world….. Lucky for me I was armed with the new A77, the NEX-7 and the Bloggie Live…..

So here’s the skinny – The A77 is the fastest DSLR on the planet, capable of a blazing 12 frames a second! Not to mention it has the worlds first 24.3 Megapixel APS-C Sensor so each one of those 12 frames can be processed out at almost 70 megabytes a shot. And lets not forget to mention that all those shots are in perfect focus because it is able to continuously auto focus using phase detection while simultaneously capturing images….How can it do this I hear you scream! Well it has a translucent mirror duh…. no really it has a translucent mirror. While all other DSLRs on the market have a swinging mirror that reflects incoming light first on to the auto focusing screen then on to the image sensor when you press the shutter release. The A77 has a translucent mirror that bounces the light onto the auto focus screen while simultaneously directing the light onto the image sensor – no swinging mirror! Hence 12 frames a second with continuous auto focus. Oh and I forgot to tell you that the lag time between hitting the shutter release and the A77 actually taking the picture is a mere 0.05 seconds. That by the way is the fastest lag time of any DSLR in the world.

Now you know I shoot movies and TV commercials as well. The A77 also shoots full 1080 HD video in both 60i 60p and 24p for ultra smooth and cinematic quality video that is unsurpassed by any of it’s rivals – and it continuously auto focuses using that translucent mirror when shooting video too.

The NEX-7 does most of what the A77 does although at less than half the weight and size, who says great things don’t come in small packages ladies… The NEX-7 is essentially the game changer. A pocket camera that has a 24.3 megapixel sensor, shoots 10 frames a second, shoots full 1080 HD video in 60i, 60p and 24p has the fastest lag time of any camera on the planet of 0.02 secs so you never miss the shot, has a OLED view finder (which it shares with the A77 – the worlds first and only) The OLED view finder replaces what all other cameras have which is a LCD view finder. LCD viewfinders and screens are back lit so contrast and blacks are always going to be compromised. OLED stands for Organic Light Emitting Diode and they work by sending an electrical charge through the organic compounds that make up the diode which in turn glow. Thus creating a much brighter image with absolute blacks and incredible contrast.

The NEX-7 is also very user friendly despite it’s Ferrari like roar, my 6 year old son knows how to navigate his way around the camera and takes stellar shots every time. A chip off the old block maybe but the Tri-Navi system of three easily workable dials on the back of the camera make it a breeze to change the aperture, shutter speed and ISO with the flick of a finger.

And last but not least the Bloggie Live. Well you may or may not be into blogging but I am and your reading my blog now. Blogging and social media is basically the main stay for today’s youth and the ability to share their videos and photos immediately is what it’s all about.

The Bloggie Live is WiFi enabled……it actually allows you to stream your video direct from the Bloggie to FaceBook, YouTube or your website live as you shot your video or stills! For crying out loud you can live in your own reality show and broadcast live for the cost of a few hundred dollars – is nothing sacred anymore!!!

This is the future people and you heard here first.

00NB over and out……