The Stacy Pasley Blanket

When I was 17 my friend Stacy made me a blanket for Christmas. She made one for all of our friends and they were all so different and cute. I used mine the rest of high school, brought it with me to college, and now I use it as a married person. We use it so much that Tyson specifies what blanket he wants by saying "the Stacy Pasley blanket." Tyson and I use it on our bed. Then Brycen was born and he grew to love it. We would bunch it up on our bed for him to sleep on during naps. He slept in his crib at night, then during the day his nap times would consist of the Stacy Pasley blanket for padding and one of his many other blankets he's received during his life.

Over the last few weeks Brycen hasn't slept very well at night AT ALL. We've been assuming it's from teething. He started waking up about every 3 hours, then 2, then somehow he got to waking up about every 1 1/2 hours. It has been miserable. At first Tyson and I would bring him into our room from his room, bunch up the Stacy Pasley blanket on the bed, then put Brycen on it. Then one night before bed Brycen had just had a bath and he was having a bottle on our bed. We went in our room to get him to put him in his crib and he was wide awake, and soaking wet. He had spilled his bottle all over himself and the Stacy Pasley blanket. I put it in the laundry room and Tyson went downstairs to find an old comforter I used when I was younger. We bunched it on the bed, changed Brycen's clothes, and Brycen went to sleep on the comforter.

This was when Brycen started waking up more often. He'd be in his bed, cry, we'd bring him in our room and calm him down with a bottle, he'd sleep there for a while, then wake up crying. We'd put him back in his bed, he'd wake up again...over and over and over till we decided to stay awake. And this has happened over the last week.

Then yesterday I decided to try something new with Brycen's routine. I thought it would be a good idea to cut one of Brycen's naps out of the day to get him more tired at night. When bed time came he started out on our bed to get him to sleep. Then the thought came to my mind: What if we used the Stacy Pasley blanket in his crib? I had washed it but never put it back on our bed. So I bunched the blanket up at the end of Brycen's crib. Tyson went in to put Brycen to bed and he cried. But only for about a minute. Pretty soon he was silent. We went in to check on him and he was snuggled up to the Stacy Pasley blanket. That was about 9 pm. He didn't wake up till 8:00 this morning. He didn't cry once. We even went in his room to check on him. It was a miracle! I put Brycen down in his crib for his morning nap (first time in months) and he went right to sleep on the Stacy Pasley blanket.

Stacer, I'm sure you had no idea when you made me that blanket that it would play such a large role in my life and be such a blessing for me and also for my baby. Brycen thanks you! And so do Tyson and I! You're a great friend and always will be. :)

Brycen taking his morning nap with the Stacy Pasley blanket

(It's the black, white, and blue one underneath him.)

And of course Bear is there too. :)