lolli dolls.

i have officially found the cutest little creations ever.

ever.

a little etsy shop called lollipop workshop, where these precious "lolli dolls" come from, has just taken a few whistful moments of my life.

a birthday girl lolli doll
(she is completely customizable for your favorite bday girl!)


another sweet lolli doll as a cake topper


would you not have LOVED this as a little girl?
i am pretty certain that i would have stared at her endlessly...


...and what about this wedding cake topper?
also customizable - and i think as cute as can be!


i think these cupcake toppers are adorable.


they can hold candles, too!


and the gift wrapping? genius. love it. precious.

i follow a blog called bakerella. if you haven't read it, you should. she is too cute, and always whipping up some amazing baked treats! the creator of lolli dolls sent bakerella some custom goodies the other day, and she posted her surprises on her blog:

bakerella's very own lolli doll, made to look just like her!
(notice the "bakerella" sign!)


here's the little lovley holding a tray of her famous cake balls


the teeny-tiny dessert table.
i am in awe of the detail in this precious work of art!
(also featuring the cake balls & her even cuter cake pops)

a lolli doll b.f.f. for bakerella's little niece & assistant chef :)


the lolli's and their dessert buffet, together.

i mean, really... does it get much cuter?

i would like to be completely irrational and order one for emma's birthday. :) however, i am restraining, simply because i can hear the shock & border-line-rage in jason's voice as he asks exactly how much i spent on that little cake topper for our 3-year-old. :)

i wish i had thought of these cutie-patootie gifts, i bet they're SO fun to create!

lolli dolls? yes, please.

school girl.

emma started the new year of mother's day out today. she has been so excited to "go to school," and was all giddy while we were getting her dressed and getting all her "gear" together. :)

here are some pics from this morning:

big girl all ready for school
[she looked in the mirror and said "i'm a princess!"]
...because skirts/dresses always mean you're a princess! :)


so silly!


cutie backpack


nap mat that my mom & i made last year for mdo
and the lunchbox that matches her backpack!


emma & mommy


really wish she were looking at the camera in this one!


walking with daddy
[she's SO grown-up!]


all lined up!
her classmates this year are:
anna, aslan [like the lion?], caden, camryn, chloe, emma :0),
jack, jackson, lucian, olivia, samuel & zoya

emma's little cubbie
[she found her name all by herself!]

nesting.

my sweet friend michelle & her hubs jeremy are expecting chloe faith, their first baby, in october. our group of girlfriends from church through her a shower on sunday, and we had a cute little project.

we had all the guests make a page for a blessing book for chloe & michelle. everyone wrote a prayer or a character quality that they hope miss chloe has... or some encouraging words for michelle as she journeys through the transitions of mommy-hood.

here is the little directions page i made for the blessing book station:

chloe's crib bedding is from pottery barn kids & features whimsical little birds
in blue, green & coral so i tried to go with that theme...

i made front & back covers for the book, too, and tied it off with a sweet little ribbon:

front cover: mommy & baby chloe
"for this child, i have prayed." I samuel 1:27


back cover: little horton family :)

i really hope michelle treasures her little blessing book. the blessings, prayers and wishes written for this little family are all so sweet... chloe faith is already so loved!

i'll post pics when the little chick-a-dee arrives. :)

3 new posts below. :0)

she's excited.

this is what emma's reaction was when i told her we get on our airplane to florida tomorrow. we've been telling her for weeks about this trip, and she keeps asking how many days... 10 more days, 4 more days, etc...

today, the count is down to ONE. and she's excited. :)

travel bag.

i ordered this bag from etsy.com for emma kate, and it came in the mail yesterday! we were so excited to get it - isn't it SO cute??

it's the perfect duffle for trips and future sleepovers. :)

i highly recommend this little etsy boutique... click here to browse their cute things!

(in the meantime, this sweet little bag will be on an airplane to florida with me and emma tomorrow morning!)

fancy toes & butterfly chairs.

my mom introduced us to her favorite nail salon right before my brother's birthday - elegant nails & spa by firewheel. it is so great! they even have the sweetest mini pedi-chairs in the shape of pink & purple butterflies!!!

yesterday, "nonna" (jason's mom) took me and emma to get our toes done before our trip to florida. needless to say, emma loves having her nails done... what girlie-girl doesn't? maybe we've started this habit a little too early... haha, but its so much fun. i can't wait for special mommy-daughter days in the future!

here are some pics from girlie day:

emma in her butterfly chair...
what little girl wouldn't LOVE this chair?
(from when we went with my mom)


this is the life!
how many 2-year-olds have two pampering assistants??


yesterday, getting toes done again...
concentrating so hard.


pretty toes!

boy, oh boy.

i have had the pleasure of creating some new invitations lately... both for baby boy showers! :)

here is my latest work:

this first one is for my friend, sunny, who is due to meet her baby boy in mid-september. sunny and i have been friends for around 7 or 8 years... we started dating our husbands during the same week, and got married a month apart! :) i am so excited to meet her little guy, and so blessed that we are still in each other's lives.

her nursery is vintage cars, airplanes and trucks... so cute! i loved this invitation when i saw it... and thought it was perfect!


this invitation was made for a sweet woman from church. she and her husband are in my parents' small group, so our families have known each other for years. her niece is having a baby boy, and carol asked me to do the invitations!

i love the whimsy in this turquoise & lime stroller invitation... so cute!

you can "stroll" on over to my emma kate designs blog to see more of my work. :)

have a great weekend!

what a man.

mmm. just look at him. what girl wouldn't swoon over that slightly-toussled, bad-boy vibin' hunk-ova man?!

and really, the more america got to know mr. wes hayden from austin, texas, as he dabbled in lovin' on jillian, it was just by chance that he gained some publicity for his album comin' up, right? i mean... he only told us about his new song and new album once ever 5 minutes througout his time on abc's "the bachelorette."

it's not his fault that such a beautiful (and probably pre-written & ready-to-go) song needed to be played on tv about 10 times within the first 3 episodes. and who woulda thunk that his entire band would just happen to be available to give jillian a little mini-concert during the home-town date?

and the whole girlfriend thing?? maybe noone told wes that not only should he not be on a dating show on national tv while he's dating/in love with laurel from back home, but that it's probably not something he should share with all the guys that are also pining for jillian. and maybe no one told him that when he's trying to lie... ahem, i mean... explain the whole girlfriend-misunderstanding to jillian, that he should refrain from using the term "girlfriend" to describe said "laurel." and maybe noone explained that jillian would indeed view this little tv show one day, and that his true colors would eventually be visible to her and to all of america.

you can't blame him really. i mean, what an honor to be named "the first man in bachelorette history to make it all the way to the top 4 with a girlfriend."

and i don't think there's ever been a man more excited at the rose ceremony, knowing he's going home, because as he told us all, when he got home, he's "havin' a LOT of {insert 3-letter-word that rhymes with /x/ here}!" what a gentleman. really.

what girl wouldn't want him?

here is one of wes' shining moments from last night's episode:

"i don't know much about the music scene in barcelona, but uh, i had a song on my 2nd album that was actually #1 in chihuahua, mexico, so i feel at home, ya know, livin' around spanish people."

i mean, he's right. the market in chihuahua, mexico is very competetive... or so i hear. and it is only natural that he would feel "at home" with an entire race of people, simply by having a popular song in one of its descreet citites. and what better time to plug your album, yet again, than when you are supposed to be discussing all the reasons you love the girl that 3 other guys are vying for?

hmm.

maybe miss laurel from austin knows something we don't.

because i sure don't see any redeeming qualities in this guy...

thank you, jillian, for sending him home.

i will be enjoying the remainder of this season's "the bachelorette," sans-wes!

glorious.

last week, when i got into my car at around 3pm after school, this is what my poor little jetta read the temperature as being:

106 degrees.
i mean... i knew it was hot. i burned my bum through my jeans on my charcoal gray leather seats... but oh. my. goodness. 106 degrees? that should be illegal.

so, imagine my delight when, on monday of this week, the weather had changed dramatically after some much-needed rain on sunday! as i walked around campus at TWU, there was a beautiful breeze... the air was almost "soft" it was so comfortable. this is what "miss etta" the jetta told me the temperature was at 3pm on monday:

86 degrees!
20 whole degrees cooler than it was only a few days before!
isn't that crazy? and man... those 20 degrees make a HUGE difference!

it was a MUCH needed break from the endless weeks of over-100-degree weather we've had so far this summer.

and it was glorious.

i could live days like that everyday... but it probably won't happen in texas. :)

...and she's off.

jason's sister, lindsey (emma's "aunt lulu") left for new zealand today. she will be gone for 7 weeks on a summer project with campus crusade for christ, international. she will be part of a team of 10 college-aged believers ministering to the students at the university of victoria in wellington, new zealand, and also helping with the new zealand campus crusade national winter conference.

of course, we will miss her very much! lindsey and i have grown so close over the years, and especially over the last year, since she's been back in texas. she and jason are SO close... he loves his little sister so much. and emma... well... she just adores her "lulu." she'll miss her tons, that's for sure. however, we are so excited for this journey she will be taking, and to see how God will work in and through her during her time away from the busy-ness of life here in "dallas."

please be praying for our sister, as she grows in the Lord and serves Him overseas. pray that she has the time of her life, and comes back renewed, refreshed, and excited about the work He has called her to do!

to follow lindsey and her teammates on this adventure, click here.

i've placed a link on my blog-list to lead you to the blog she and her team will be updating throughout their journey. i'm sure she would love to know you followed her trip and prayed for her while she is gone.

we love you lindsey! we know you will have a blast! soak up every moment... it'll be gone before you know it. :0)

daddy's day.

emma is very, very blessed to have such a wonderful daddy! (and i am very blessed to be married to him.)

we got to celebrate "daddy" on sunday, and i think it was a great day!

we woke up early to go with jason's parents to the first service at woodcreek, but they had to wait until the later service, so we made an impromptu visit to our sweet friends the berardinellis, and coaxed them to come to breakfast with us! it was a great way to start our day... yummy breakfast at cindi's cafe in richardson... really sweet friends... lots of fun. :)

then, we headed off to church to do our normal sunday-thing.

we spent the afternoon taking naps and doing homework (guess who?)... we were so exhausted from katie and cory's wedding (which was saturday!), that we had kind of a lazy day.

we topped the night off with some great italian food at covino's with "nonna & grampa" (jason's parents) and "lulu" (jason's sister lindsey). it was a wonderful way to celebrate jason's dad, kevin... who doesn't love food and fellowship? :)

here are some pics from our special day:

the card emma made her daddy at church


emma & 2 of her favorite guys: grampa & daddy
(my daddy "papa" is the only one missing!)


we love daddy!


emma actually took this picture of us!


"lulu," "grampa," emma kate & "daddy"
after dinner at covino's

...and finally...

this picture is not from father's day, but it's really sweet. our family is so happy... we really love each other. we are blessed to have jason as our husband and father. he adds laughter to our home. he makes us smile. he is silly. he loves hard. he makes our family complete. we love him so much.

happy father's day, jason!
you are so loved.

hope you all enjoyed father's day... either celebrating the father of your little ones, your own father, or someone special in your life that played the role of a father. moms always get so much attention, but we need to remember how important our daddy's are. :)

have a great day!

kiss kiss.

this is going to be a quick post because i have class in the morning!

emma has a new obsession. kiss. that's right. as in, the 80's hair band. lead singer gene simmons. this obsession began when adam lambert performed with kiss on american idol. she just loved their songs, and we were stunned when, 3 days later, she identified kiss by a picture on youtube! since then, she asks for kiss just about everyday. we watch the american idol performance over and over again, emma serenades us on her guitar, and she even talks to kiss on the phone! :)

she says, "mommy, kiss' eyes have black on them. they're so beautiful." (in reference to the black paint on their faces.

needless to say, kiss is not what we would expect our 2-year-old daughter to love, but its innocent enough. :) she only knows one song, and it's a great one!

here is a video that "nonna" shot during a poolside performance last week. :) i love how she's just mindlessly singing it!

enjoy! i hope it makes your day!

just in case you can't tell... she's mostly singing:
"i wanna rock & roll all night...
and party everyday!"

she's the best air-guitar player around, too!

bridal tea.

i am so excited about the shower my mom and i are throwing for cory's fiance (my soon-to-be sister-in-law) katie! we decided to do a kitchen & recipe shower at the chocolate angel in richardson. it's this sweet little tea room with the most delicious food! the ladies at the chocolate angel catered mine & jason's wedding... it was beautiful!

anyway, i just wanted to share some of the details...

here's katie's invitation:

i think this retro-apron invitation is SO cute!
if you can't read it, it says:
"mix a sprinkle of love with a handful of kisses -
soon cory and katie will be
mr. and mrs.
but as we wait for that special hour
let's honor katie with a
kitchen & recipe shower!"

here's a picture of the chocolate angel's super sweet tea room:

isn't it just so beautiful?

i can't wait for the shower! i think it's going to be so cute... we're having "afternoon tea" with iced teas, tea sandwiches, pastries, tartlets, fruit, salads, etc... i love it!

i hope katie enjoys it... we really want her to just feel so special and loved. :)

i'll post pics from the shower after the fun!

go romo.

emma loves romo. "romo" is her #9 romo cowboy's jersey... she loves to wear "him" whenever she can! at one point, i had to pry "romo" off of her, because she'd warn the thing for 4 days straight... luckily, we didn't have anywhere special to go! :)

here's the best pic i have of emma wearing her "romo." (notice the stellar soccer skills - child prodigy? i think so!) haha...


so, the other day, emma was wearing "romo" and admiring herself in the mirror. she smiled and yelled out, "GO ROMO!" i thought this was cute, and that she needed to learn a little cheer for her beloved man-in-blue. :)

so i taught her this:

"R-O-M-O, Go Ro-mo!"

(i even taught her the traditional "ready? ok!")

so cute! we practiced this all day, so we'd be ready to perform for daddy when he got home from work.

we were all ready to show jason our fun cheer... emma wanted me to do it first (just a bit of stage fright), so i started...

"ready? ok!
R-O-M-O, Go Ro-mo!"

and then emma proceded to do her version of the cheer...

"ready? ok!
E-R-E-R-E-R-E-M-G-B-D-H-P-R-E-O, Go Ro-mo!"

haha.

classic!


happy sunday,