life in stepps!: A Tale of Two Blankets!

Security blanket-an item used to provide comfort in unique situations or at bedtime for small children.

Above you will find Wells with his beloved blanky! Below you will find Counts and Wells. The blanket was a gift from Counts (Wells' best bud) and his mommy Beth (my best bud).

You may be wondering...okay, cute pictures but what's so important about a blanket? I mean, does it really require an entire post. Why yes my friends, it does!

So, it all started the week after Wells' birth. Beth delivered this precious baby gift to Wells. It was a small, unbelievably soft, blue, Little Giraffe baby blanket. I instantly fell in love with it but more importantly after only a few short months Wells fell in love with it. I mean, really in love....like obsessed in love! I realized that we had a semi-psycho kind of romance with the blanket once when Wells was about 4 months old. I washed the blanket when Wells was awake, not thinking that it wouldn't be dry before he went down for a nap. I tried, key word being tried, to put him down for a nap without his blanket. Umm, he went nuts. And so I gave him his blanky that was still wet and he fell right to sleep. Judge not my dear friends...things get desperate around here when it's time to nap! I learned a valuable lesson that day to only wash the blanket when time allows to wash and air-dry!

Months passed and life went well for the precious blanket and Wells. They continued to bond and grow. Wells carried it around everywhere, sometimes in his mouth, sometimes in his hands, and sometime under his knee and he crawled around. They were tight. So tight that the blanky went with us everywhere. And one day the blanket made a trip to Publix. It was an ordinary day, Wells, his blanky, and I were shopping around the grocery store. We shopped, we smiled at strangers, I bought beer and wondered if people were judging me as unfit, we smiled some more and even chatted with folks, we checked out, and we headed to car. That's right, we headed to the car...Wells, his blanky, and me! Right? WRONG! The blanket was gone! So, to make a long story short, I freaked out, searched the buggy, the car, went back into the store and searched the store. Frantically alarmed a nice bag boy that I had lost something VERY important to which he replied a very profound, "Oh, I have not seen it." I then convinced myself that it must be at home! So, I raced home and searched the house all to find NO BLANKET! I then called Graham, my mom, my sisters, my mother-in-law, 911, and the president to tell them all that we had lost Well's blanket! (I really only called my husband and my mom but I was really freaking out!) I did however call Publix and talked to a really helpful person who also said "Oh, I have not seen it." So I did what any mom would do, I cried. I can only begin to imagine what you are all thinking...I mean it is just a piece of silk cloth. And believe me, I agree with you. But this silk cloth is the one and only thing that provides my son comfort when I am not there to give it. It is the one thing that he wants all day! And all I could think was "What a loser of a mom I am! How could I have lost his favorite thing?" But I regained my composure and decided I needed to make this right and Wells and I headed back to Publix. I was determined to find this blanket! And I am not the only crazy woman out there because as I pulled into the parking lot I was greeted by my crazy mom and my crazy sister. I mean, we are serious about a blanket people! You can see the crazy ladies below:

(I know I said this was a long story short, didn't I?) Anyway, I left them in the parking lot with Wells and I headed back into the store to do some major hunting. I did not shop, I did not smile at strangers, I did not buy beer but really wanted to drink one, and I did not chat with folks. I frantically searched for a blanket. And I must have recruited some helpers because after what seemed like 3 hours of searching a sweet female shopper walked up to be and put her hand on my shoulder. She didn't say anything, she simply smiled and handed me Wells blanket! She found it. I couldn't even say thank you! Tears just filled my eyes and I said something to the effect of "I am not crazy, my son just really loves this blanket." She smiled some more, patted my shoulder again, and walked away! And I learned another valuable lesson about the blanket...DON'T TAKE IT TO THE GROCERY STORE!

Sweet Emma Gray Smith

I wish I could tell you that this was the last time this happened, but it wasn't! There was an instance while walking with Emma Gray (Wells' girlfriend) and her mommy Lindsey (my best girlfriend)...you can see Emma Gray above! Anyway we were walking our regular 4 mile route when around mile 2 we realized that Wells had dropped his blanket. We turned around, back-tracked a mile, only to find that it in the middle of the road, with just a few minor tire marks! I learned another valuable lesson...DON'T TAKE THE BLANKET ON WALKS!

You may be asking yourself.."You said this was a tale of 2 blankets, and we've only heard of one." And you are right. There is a second blanket! There is a beautiful second blanket that was purchased to be a replacement just in case one of the above situations had not ended brightly! I will let the pictures finish the story: