I often think of laughter as a distant memory or an old friend. I look back on it fondly, missing its authentic sound and voice. I never forget, but as time goes on, the small details lose clarity.
What exactly did her voice sound like?
That door was what shade of blue?
And time continues. Moments and faces fill the spaces once occupied by those tiny details now fussy in my memory.
I often think about laughter in this way.
I often think of laughter as a muscle once used, once strong.
The memory of the motion — the running, the lifting, the punches — is still there, but the memory isn’t enough to maintain the strength.
It must be flexed and used. It must be broken and strained, so that it can grow stronger.
I often think about laughter in this way.
With motherhood came the responsibility of more lives than just my own. Lives I put before mine — even as I sleep, with one eye open. Always watching, always looking, always thinking….
always worrying.
I find it so easy to worry, yet so difficult to laugh. The worry plays the trump card in every hand. The laughter is moved to the “do tomorrow” list.
I’ve strengthened the muscle of worry. I’ve revisited its memories and face. I’ve let my laughter muscles atrophy.
The worry voice sings loudly:
Did I play with them enough today?
Did I show my love?
Did the bill get paid?
Why didn’t he nap?
What will others think?
What if… what when… how will…
From the lightweights to the heavy-hitters, I allow them to consume me. Punching down the genuine laughter, leaving reasons to worry behind.
If you can get me to laugh — really laugh — you’ll hear chuckles turned to silent, shoulder-shaking laughter. As I silently laugh with tears streaming down my face, small squeaks make their way out as I inhale. An friend of mine used to call me “window washer”: my laughter mimicking the tiny squeaks you hear as the glass is polished until it is shiny and clean.
Shiny and clean.
Motherhood isn’t shiny and clean — you can do it all “right” and still be left with heartache.
Is it possible to laugh while the heart hurts? It is possible to genuinely laugh when life just feels hard and heavy?
I want to be the window washer again.
Harlow has a laugh that is simply beautiful. She squishes up her nose. She squints her eyes shut. She giggles loudly. She laughs often.
The other day I said to her, “Harlow, I love your giggles.”
She replied so matter of factly: “I just love to laugh, mommy.”
And in that moment I realized that laughter is like so many things forgotten: it doesn’t have to be.
It is a muscle that doesn’t want to be lost. It is a sound that wants to fill the air. It is a feeling that wants to be experienced, contagious to oneself and others.
In that moment, I realized my motherhood needs my laughter.
Laughter doesn’t mean that everything is perfect. Laughter doesn’t mean that I have this motherhood gig — or life gig — figured out.
Laughter means finding joy in the tiniest of moments: to even for a moment forget all the reasons to worry. I want to show my kids that life is more than responsibilities–being their mommy is more than the weight of it all. It is having the honor to laugh at the crayon mural on the freshly painted wall, to laugh at the joke you’ve heard one thousand times, to laugh with joy when it doesn’t mean you are happy.
Even in the middle of heartache.
Laughter may not make the world shiny and clean, but I’m beginning to believe that the sound of true laughter has the ability to polish a small piece of the heart. One moment at at time.
Well this project might be my new favorite. I know. I know. I always have a new favorite…but that’s probably a good problem, right? I love pushing myself creatively, but I also love making something we would maybe otherwise buy. A mobile, coat hooks, snack bags, and now fleece socks for Harlow’s rainboots!
If you know anything about Pittsburgh, you know it rains a lot. It can be gorgeous and sunny, too, but I always joke that it’s why we pay Pittsburgh prices. If we had weather like San Diego? We’d be paying for it too! Well, it’s also been raining a good bit here in Boston…and we don’t pay Pittsburgh prices…so……. Anyways….I digress.
Rainboots. A must around these parts, but they always seem to eat the little socks Harlow wears when she takes them off. I knew I could buy a pair of fleece socks, but we decided to have fun making and customizing a pair together instead!
The PDF patterns for the actual sock is available at the end of this post, but to alter the pattern to fit your selected boots, you’ll need a few measurements of your own as well.
The first measurement we will need is the sole of the boot. The biggest thing here is the length — then determine how the boot fits/how wide you want the fleece sole piece to be cut. I used the outline of the boot as my sole piece — including seam allowances.
You can take the length of your sole measurement and modify my pattern. Using the .JPG available below, you will want to resize the sole to the correct length — depending on how much you are resizing it, you may need to change the aspect ratio or the width will be off. Be sure to modify all of the pieces at the same time — especially the “foot” and “sole” pieces.
The next modification you’ll have to make is for the leg of the boot. The best way to do this is simply place your boot on the pattern piece — the ankle of your boot should hit at the bottom of the pattern piece. Extend the piece with more height or change the width, etc. Just make sure it’s about 1/4″ taller than your boot leg and the opening is about 1/4″ wider as well.
When you’ve created your leg boot piece, you’ll need to alter the cuff of boot piece to match the opening width. I promise this will make sense as you do it. :) You can also change the height of the cuff piece if you want more or less folded over!
After you’ve created your pattern pieces, cut everything out of the fleece. Be sure to cut the pieces on the fold that need to be — the foot, leg of boot and cuff of boot.
If you are just creating the fleece boot, you can skip to the construction section of the project, but if you are embroidering the cuff like I did, then keep reading here! As I’ve mentioned previously, I’m still very new to embroidery, so between learning about all of the thread and stabilizers and designs and whatever else, I’m also figuring out what works for me. I’ve decided I’m approaching it like quilting: there is not just one “right” way of doing things.
Moving on! Goodness, I’m a bit rambl-y today — sorry!
Because we are embroidering on fleece, I’ve chosen to use 2 layers of a medium weight stabilizer and a layer of water soluble stabilizer on top. I love the water soluble product for materials like minky, fleece and velvet — it keeps the design from sinking into the fabric. A quick rinse and it’s gone.
Hooping — getting your sandwich taut within the embroidery ring — can be a little intimidating at first. Try to hoop your fabric as centered and straight as you can. I find loosening the outer ring, pulling the layers tight and then tightening the rings seems to work best for me.
After I’ve hooped my fabric, I use the plastic guide to line up where I want the embroidery image to go. I’ve purchased this image (Hallie the Hippo from Doc McStuffins) from iBroidery — there are thousands of images and text available.
Align your embroidery pattern using the PE770 screen. I always check the perimeter of the design — as shown in the video — so I can see exactly where it will stitch. When you are ready to begin, just follow the color instructions on your machine. This design took 20 passes to complete.
I always recommend watching the thread throughout the entire process. One catch of the thread can mess up an entire color, so you want to be sure it’s loosely feeding the thread, as the tension on the machine takes care of the rest.
When the design has been embroidered, you can begin the construction of the socks!
I used a serger for mine, but a zig-zag stitch would work great too. You don’t need to worry about the fleece fraying, but the zig-zag stitch will allow for stretch. First, mark the middle of your boot leg and foot pieces.
Using pins, line up the top of the foot piece with the bottom opening of the boot leg piece, as shown below.
Serge in place.
Next, pin the cuff piece to the boot leg piece as shown below.
Sew in place. Be sure to check the direction of your embroidery design, so it’s right side out and up when folded over the boot.
For this next part, you will be pinning the back of the sock and also pinning the sole to the foot piece. I like to do this in tandem, so you can remove any excess from the top of the foot piece. (No matter how many times I measure, I always end up with a little excess on this piece.)
Pin the back seam down to the top of the foot piece. Pin the sole to the foot piece, starting at the center of the toe.
When you get to the back, pin in place and cut the excess fabric either with a scissor prior to sewing or with your serger.
If serging, be sure to tack your threads in as shown above! After you’ve sewn down the back seam, sew around the sole.
One thing that terrifies me most about being Harlow’s mommy is making sure I cultivate and encourage her contagiously joyful spirit. Don’t get me wrong, girl can throw one heck of a tantrum….and she may or may not practice crying in the mirror….but she brings a smile to most everyone with her joy. Add in her sense of humor and goodness gracious she has me in stitches.
She’s witty and finds fun in the smallest things. She has the most incredible imagination and nurturing spirit.
One way I see her joy for small things is her naming or nicknaming people or things. She does it with such authority and intention that they usually tend to stick. She also just has a knack for rattling off something that makes sense and is cute to boot. Andy’s parents requested to be “Grandma” and “Grandpa,” but no matter how much we used those names, she would see them and declare, “MEMA!! POPPOP!”
The names stuck.
She’s named TeeTee (my sister, Kaitlyn), Cat Kate (Aunt Kate), Oranges (who she also named Jonesy, which has also totally stuck), and a handful of others, but the naming doesn’t stop with people. She names Andy’s work buildings (Red Work, Green Work, Grey Works and now Blue Work), stores (the “ball store” = Target), food (princess pasta among others) and lastly, shoes. I’m sure I’m forgetting something, but we will move on to shoes — since that is kind of the entire point of this post. ;)
These boots have proven to be much more than just your average cowgirl boots, however. I honestly wasn’t sure how much wear these boots would get, as Harlow can tend to be a princess and the pea about how things fit, feel, etc. (The apple didn’t fall far from the tree in that regard.) These Chiara boots are made with leather, so they are breathable and durable. In the fall and winter, Cowgirl Boots were worn with leggings or jeans, but wearing them with skirts and dresses is her favorite look for spring.
Am I giving you the impression that Harlow is pretty opinionated when it comes to her clothes? ;) She is, and I honestly love it. The other day she was wearing pants, but decided as we were walking out the door that she needed to have a skirt as well. She left the house wearing a floral skirt over floral pants, and she sported that look for the rest of the day.
I guess what I’m saying is: Harlow has an opinion about what she wears, and if she hated these boots, she wouldn’t be wearing them. Comfort is her biggest hold up — every sweater get the itch test around here — and shoes go through a rigorous test as well. These Umi boots have been through the Harlow test and made the cut. I love that they are made so well, because it means they can be passed down to others still in great condition, even after being worn a ton! I’ve tried to shift into a buying less quantity, more quality mindset, but so far I’ve been extremely pleased with the result.
I’m loving bright and bold colors this spring! Here are a few in particular that I’m loving!
Thank you all for your encouraging comments, texts and emails over the past few weeks! I’m so behind on replying, but I promise I am trying — and I’ve read them all–crying usually!–and I’m beyond thankful for them.
It’s starting to feel like spring around here, well, a little bit. I’m ready for sunnier days, but early next week is forecasted to be in the low 70s! YES. PLEASE!
Tomorrow we are heading in on the train to spend time with this fabulous trio — can’t wait!
You don’t have to be around long to know that I adore . Love’m. Like’m. Can’t get enough of’m.
I’ve loved receiving post-baby, pre-baby, growing-baby and now post-baby again! When I was pregnant with Jones, there weren’t maternity clothes available, but I still received some of my most favorite Fixes to date!
But life with baby bumps and Fixes just got a million times better! Mmmm yup. Stitch Fix now offers maternity clothes! It’s true! It’s true!
I actually got to try out one of their first maternity dresses back in September when I was about 3 weeks out from Jones’s arrival. It was great those last weeks and since it’s super nursing-friendly, I still get use out of it now.
These were two of my favorites from one I received while pregnant with Jones! You can see my first bump-fix here — and my second one here.
In addition to maternity, also just released their new availability for petites! Don’t get this confused by circumference — it’s not XS, it’s defined by shorter inseams, shorter arms and narrower shoulders. I’m tempted to try out a few petites pieces given how narrow my shoulders are — I shall report back!
If you are new to and want to give it a shot, you can sign up ! If you’ve already tried Stitch Fix but are expecting or would benefit from the petites pieces, be sure to let your stylist know in your Fix notes! Make sure to log in and update your profile to reflect your due date and/or petite sizing!
Have fun! I’m excited to see these maternity and petite Fixes!
Even though Pittsburgh has had a pretty cold winter, I hate bulky coats. I need something to block the wind, so I love a coat with a bit of length. When I’m lugging around a carseat (because COLD) and a 3 year old, bulky is annoying and I tend to overheat, even in the coldest temperatures. This faux waxed canvas parka from Joules is perfection.
It’s not too bulky, it keeps me warm, it has a great hood, it has awesome details, big pockets and it’s timeless.
Who’s ready for Spring? We hit record lows this morning in Pittsburgh, and we are lounging around the house with another 2 hr delay! I’m hoping they don’t end up canceling entirely, Harlow’s super sad to have missed Thursday due to the cold already!
I proudly wear my Maman Poule title — and this ridiculously comfortable sweatshirt — on the regular. I really can’t get enough of it.
Nor have I ended my campaign to make Maman Poule a used phrase and title here in the US. ;)
I also cannot get enough of Jonesy’s sweet giggles — no one makes him laugh harder than his sister! And she will do just about anything to get smiles and laughs out of him.
Happy Friday!
xo
sweatshirt c/o emoi-emoi. my obsession and love for it? ALL. ME.
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