pretty paper.

here are the latest invitations i've been working on through emma kate designs (aside from my brother's wedding invitations):

this sweet invitation is for brynn, our friends missy & brian's daughter. she's having an afternoon tea and 5-course dinner at the american girl bistro for her 8th birthday... isn't that so fun? i thought this invitation was perfect for a tea party!



this invitation is for the shower i'm co-hosting for my sweet friend candice. isn't it fun? i can't wait for our happy, pink & orange themed baby shower!

you can check out more of my work at my blog:
emma-kate-designs.blogspot.com

stylish.

i'm making over my blog!

i'm not sure what i think about this new layout... any thoughts?

i have to re-do the header... i'm looking for some super cute digital scrapbooking pieces so i can make a new one to match.

but that's the kicker... it has to match. maybe that's what's throwing me off of this new makeover - the header doesn't match right now... PLUS, emma's picture is from when she was 16-months-old! aw, sweet little cutie... that was half her life ago! she's 31-months-old now... isn't that crazy?

anyway...what do y'all think?

gratitude.

i re-discovered an amazing song by nichole nordeman tonight. it was perfect timing. my cousin, gloria had posted it on her facebook profile, and it really just spoke to my heart.

i feel like this song's lyrics were written specifically for me, in this stage of my life. i am really struggling with feeling contentment with where my life is right now, and having difficulty in completely trusting the Lord to provide for us... instead, i am wanting to control everything and dictate how He provides.

this song just ripped into the depths of my heart. i wanted to share...

"gratitude" by nichole nordeman

{listen to the song here.}

Send some rain, would You send some rain?
'Cause the earth is dry and needs to drink again
And the sun is high and we are sinking in the shade
Would You send a cloud, thunder long and loud?
Let the sky grow black and send some mercy down
Surely You can see that we are thirsty and afraid
But maybe not, not today
Maybe You'll provide in other ways
And if that's the case . . .

We'll give thanks to You
With gratitude
For lessons learned in how to thirst for You
How to bless the very sun that warms our face
If You never send us rain

Daily bread, give us daily bread
Bless our bodies, keep our children fed
Fill our cups, then fill them up again tonight
Wrap us up and warm us through
Tucked away beneath our sturdy roofs
Let us slumber safe from danger's view this time
Or maybe not, not today
Maybe You'll provide in other ways
And if that's the case . . .

We'll give thanks to You
With gratitude
A lesson learned to hunger after You
That a starry sky offers a better view if no roof is overhead
And if we never taste that bread

Oh, the differences that often are between
Everything we want and what we really need

So grant us peace, Jesus, grant us peace
Move our hearts to hear a single beat

Between alibis and enemies tonight
Or maybe not, not today
Peace might be another world away
And if that's the case . . .

We'll give thanks to You
With gratitude
For lessons learned in how to trust in You
That we are blessed beyond what we could ever dream
In abundance or in need
And if You never grant us peace

But Jesus, would You please . . .


i am so foolish to think that i know best. and so foolish to worry about "what ifs." and so foolish to expect God to provide in the way that i think is best... because i know my way isn't best. but knowing that and living it out are two totally different things.

i pray this song continues to encourage my heart, as i strive to trust the Lord more and more. because really, i am blessed beyond what i could ever dream... in abundance or in need.

praying for daddy.

jason wasn't feeling well today. he went to the doctor and they say he has an upper respiratory infection. poor jason. :(

emma was very aware that her daddy was under-the-weather, and was a very good little nurse to him. it's one of my favorite things about emma - she is so very nurturing and concerned about her friends and loved ones.

while he was resting on the couch this evening, emma ran to her room to gather all her blankets for her daddy, because she just knew they would make him feel better. :)

i snapped this sweet picture of jason's little caretaker getting him all wrapped up in her blankets, right after she prayed the sweetest prayer for her daddy:


this was emma's sweet prayer for her daddy:

"dear Jesus,
please make daddy feel better,
when he sleeps with my blanket...
and my other blanket.
amen."

it makes my heart so happy to hear her praying to Jesus. i know it makes His heart soar, too!

so sweet...

mercy. power. Life.

for those of you who have followed my blog for awhile, you remember my plea for prayer for the larsen family back in the fall of 2008. lauren and matt larsen spent weeks in the hospital, by their baby girl's side, begging God for His mercy and healing for her. after suffering being born premature with an infection in her tiny body, pulmonary hyptertension, being in the NICU at children's hospital for weeks and weeks, being hooked up to massive machines that helped her fragile organs work, developing a grade 3 brain bleed, even having brain surgery and a permanant shunt implanted into her brain... after suffering all of that... precious baby Life Lucia Larsen was healed, completely healed by the power of our Great Lord.

her story gripped my heart and changed my life in a way that i don't know i can truly put into words. God shook my heart, my faith, my belief, my trust in His power. i am forever changed by the way God worked through this tiny girl.

i read a post from her mommy, lauren, on her blog tonight that spoke to my heart again. it was about God's mercy in their Life, and in her life, and how she is constantly amazed by her love for Life. and then amazed again when she realizes that this love for her child pales in comparison to the love God has for her. the Lord has taught me the same thing, over and over again, through my journey as a mother to emma kate. i am constantly floored and overwhelmed by the love i feel for my daughter. and then it hits me that God loves me in the same consuming way... only His love is more passionate, more complete, more selfless. His love is a perfect love. one of my most favorite thing about being a parent has been how God has revealed Himself and His Love for me through my motherly love for my daughter. i am so thankful that He so perfectly set it up that way. :) it has been so sweet to learn more of Him as i learn about being a mother, and about the love that is possible to have for another person here on earth. i wish that everyone were able to experience this kind of love. it is so sweet...

so sweet.

i wanted to share with you something that has further touched my heart and continues to remind me of my God's sheer power and perfect mercy.

lauren constantly updates her blog with pictures of her sweet Life. i love seeing her progress, her growth, her health, her bright smiles. she's perfect. she is like any other baby girl. she is like any other baby girl. how amazing is that???

that this baby girl, who was not expected to survive the first few weeks of her life, and then was expected to suffer great abnormalities throughout her entire life...


...only 8 short months later, is this baby girl...


...who laughs and cries and plays and is learning to sit up on her own and crawl and eat solid foods and cut teeth and say her first words and will eventually disobey her parents... who is perfectly healthy and normal... praise God for His perfect healing and mercy and power.

praise God for Life.




for more of the larsen family's journey with little miss Life:
A Royal Allegiance

for more pictures by lauren larsen:
lauren larsen photography

egg-cited about cupcakes.

so, i know this is my first post in a long time... and it's gonna be a short one! this is my first night in forever that i haven't had tons and tons and tons of homework to do, so i got to spend a little time with my sweet family. :) we played a little when emma got home from the arboretum with nonna & grandpa, then we went to our favorite place - target! - for a little much needed grocery shopping.

when we got home, i had to get to work making cupcakes for emma's easter party at mother's day out. of course, i couldn't make just regular cupcakes - it's her first school easter party!

emma picked out the cake flavor - "funfetti" - and then i colored the frosting yellow, pink & blue. i used cadbury solid chocolate eggs (with a hard candy shell!) for the easter eggs on top. i think they turned out pretty cute:


what do you think? i can't wait for emma to see them in the morning when she wakes up!

eggs + cupcakes = 2 of her favorite things! :)