Ahoy It's a Boy! Baby Shower

(This invitation was made from a Etsy.com seller)

I was so blessed to have such an awesome group of friends throw my first baby shower. It was so special, I had lots of out of town family and friends drive in for the occasion and I got so many nice things. Almost all of my big items were purchased for this first shower, what a blessing. Here are a few pictures of all the fun!

Children's Pop Art

My new favorite blog is Design Dazzle.... I thought this was awesome and wanted to share!!! I can't wait to do this with pictures of Hank!!

Turn a photograph of your baby, child or teen into a cool pop art portrait. Clever, fun and a simple way to add color to a kids room. Jeanne Winters created pop art images for her daughters nursery using photoshop.

Here are Jeanne's instructions:


"I use Adobe Photoshop, but I believe most photo-editing programs have the capabilities for this project. Convert your color photo first to Grayscale, then to a Duotone. In Photoshop this is under "Image " then "Mode." Choose two colors for your piece. I used fuschia for my dominant color and bright yellow for highlights. In order to prevent the colors from blending into a third color - like orange in my case - you must now play around with the curves. My fuschia curve is at zero for 0, 5, 10, then 40 at 40 on up to 100 at 100. My yellow curve is at 50 for 0, 5, 10, then zero from 20 to 100. The curve adjustments will dramatically effect your image, so play with these until you like how the photo appears".
She printed out the pop art images and decoupaged the images onto canvas. Any copy shop can print large images this size or you can tile an image with your printer and print across multiple pages. You will need to cut and piece this together when done - usually 4 - 6 tiles will fit a similar size canvas. Doesn't this pop art look way cool hanging over the crib?


Jeanne is a talented artist that has an inspirational gift collection "Simply Inspiring" out in Hallmark stores. To view more images and find some inspirational ideas - check out her blog jeannewinters.blogspot.com

Urban Bellies

So my pics are finally here, we are very happy with them, here are a few of my favorites.

New Fall Wine Glasses

Get ready for Fall, Thanksgiving, or Halloween with these fun wine glasses just 15.00. Cheap easy gift for those birthdays coming up!

I also love the Lime green, purple and black combination of dots for Halloween!

Email me at samanthaharughty@yahoo.com to place an order.

Black Beans and Rice Recipe

Yummy Black Beans and Rice Recipe

1 to 2 cans black beans

1 can of corn (drained)

1 can of Rotel

1 can diced tomatoes

Picante sauce (about a cup)

1 can Jalapenos (only if you like it spicy)

Serve with shredded cheese

Combine all of the ingredients into a pot. Bring to a boil then let simmer as long as you can, stirring occasionally. Pour black beans over a bed of rice. You can also add a dollop of sour cream on top if you like!

Happy Fall Ya'll

28 weeks down 12 to go!

So this was a very special week for us because we got to do some testing we had been waiting on. At 19 weeks we were told that the baby had a cyst on it's brain but not to worry too much because it should go away on it's own. Initially I got a huge lump in my throat as the doctor explained but felt better as we left when she told us that we would be her first patient ever to deliver a baby that hadn't had these cyst dissolve on it's own, she was very encouraging and told us that she didn't think it would be a problem. She also told me not to google well of course I couldn't help myself. If indeed the baby would have the cyst still at delivery the baby would be born with Trisomy 18 which is fatal. So, believe it or not the worry wart that I am, I didn't let it bother me too much. Well, we had our appointment Tuesday morning and Praise God the cyst had dissolved just as the doctor suggested it would. God is Good!

We got to see about 45 mins of ultrasound, Hank was so cute holding his feet with his hands, then letting them go and grabbing them again. It was so sweet to watch his every move. His face is chubby now and the nose I swore look liked Derric's has my nose shape to it. He is already head down which is a great sign! I was very glad to hear that, and the radiologist said he has really long feet. I said that they better not be too long because we have lots of little clothes he has to fit into before he can be too long! Derric was pumped that they might have a little height from one or both of his brothers, both over 6 feet. He said maybe we will have a tall athlete. Typical man is thinking about his future athletic skills and the woman is wanting his clothes to fit. haha! We go back to the doctor on Monday for the last monthly appointment. At 30 weeks we will be going every 2 weeks until 36 weeks then weekly appointments!

I will post some new photos from ultrasound in the morning!

Urban Bellies Sneak Peak

We haven't gotten to see them yet, but my photographer Cortney Russell through this one to me in an email to use at my shower since, my pics were just taken a few days before. She specializes in maternity sessions in which he calls "urban bellies". Very excited to see the others. Derric took alot of them with me and we used lots of Hank's stuff like his, baseball glove and ball, blocks that spell his name and shoes.

Well I had a great family shower this weekend lots of out of town guests came which I was so thankful to see, and the best 7 hostess a girl could ask for. We got blessed with so many things, it was so exciting like Christmas in September. We also received 4 things in the mail from out of town guests that couldn't make it. I felt like I should start leaving the UPS man cookies and milk since he was acting like Santa Claus bringing Hank all those presents. Ohhh.... Christmas so excited for that to come this year, Hank got a precious little Santa Suit from his Gramms at the shower. Everything was picture perfect, I will post pictures when I get some from friends.

Hank's Nursery Phase II

So, I finally got the stars all hung on the wall, and I gave in and bought the rug with all the sports on it even though I don't love it, it will do. I wanted only baseball but if that is THE ONLY thing in the room, I could manage! The Land of Nod striped rug would work the best but the price tag is silly (over 200.00). The mobile is at the seamstress as we speak, and Jennifer (my sister in law) and Chanae (a college cheer buddy of mine) are both making art to hang behind the rocker, so that won't be bare for long! The hutch baskets are just temporary I am having some liners made for some banana leaf baskets then the orange ones can go into the closet shelf.. but other than that we are pretty good.

The showers are starting this weekend so I wanted to have most of it up for my family who is out of town can see the room when they come to visit.

Will post the rest later as it is completed!! Thanks for visiting our little blog!