Last but certainly least

OK, let's all thank Cod and Baby Jesus that this is the last Easter-ish post I am writing.  Yes, I do think it's appropriate to thank both of them, because it was Easter after all.

So, in my lengthy detailed yapping about my great Easter weekend, I left off with the coloring of the eggs.  Unfortunately, it was all down hill from there.


See, after we colored eggs, everyone was milling about, kids were playing miscellaneously in different areas of the house, adults were congregating in the family room, chatting and watching some game on TV simultaneously.  And then it happened.


THE UNTHINKABLE.


We lost Nanny.


Oh.  Em.  Gee.  We lost Nanny!


I'll just remind any new readers that Nanny isn't my cute little grandma.  Well wait, Nanny was my cute little grandma, and she still is, but that Nanny is up in Heaven.  So we did not lose that Nanny.  We lost the Nanny that is Brooke's blankie.


So here's the thing.  Brooke has had Nanny since she was a baby.  She is irreplaceable because (notice I called Nanny a she.  Apparently, she is a girl.  Ask Brooke.) a) over the years I have not been able to find a replacement to have just in case, and believe me I have tried, and b) after many years of love and washing and just being dragged around, she has been reduced to a jumble of strings, so there's no way to recreate her, and c) well maybe there is no real c, but, oh man, we lost Nanny!


And let me tell you, it's a pretty BFD.  (bfd= big effing deal)  Brooke carries Nanny with her everywhere. 

She rides to school in the van every day, and waits all day in the front seat til we go pick her up. 

She accompanies Brooke outside to play in the yard,

she joins us at the pool. 

She is always there for the little unplanned naps.



And of course, she sleeps in Brooke's bed, snugly wrapped up in her little fingers.  When Brooke needs a moment, to chill out or just to wind down, Nanny helps her do it.  She isn't allowed in the bathroom, or inside stores, but besides that, Nanny is always with us.


This is the last known picture of Nanny, which was taken the day before Easter by Brooke.   Because Nanny is really her BFF, and Brooke takes a lot of pictures of her.

Nanny has been reduced to a blue tangle of strings.  And that is exactly how Brooke likes her.  She likes the strings.  And she thinks that one of the snarls of string is her face.  Seriously.  Nanny also has arms.  Just saying.


In the chaos and craziness of the day, she got lost somewhere in this very house.  Which is the good news.  But let me tell you, we tore the place up and down.  We looked in all of the random spots something could get lost.  We scoured the playroom, bedrooms -- every room -- floor to ceiling.  She is nowhere to be found.  We have never lost her before.  That right there has to give you some indication of how important that tangle of blue strings is to Brooke.

Anyway, I was smart enough to cut a chunk off of Nanny a few years back, and we keep "Fake Nanny" as a back up.  The thing is, she isn't nearly as stringy as Real Nanny, so Brooke really barely accepts it.  She did sleep with Fake Nanny, and she has been playing with her, and she said Fake Nanny might have a face.

Even though Brooke has still been looking everywhere and saying she wants Real Nanny back, I snagged a picture of her yesterday, snuggling Fake Nanny on the front lawn.

I hope it will be good enough.

B is for Brooke's Blankie. =(