The Baby

Last, but never least, is our baby, our youngest child, Alison. She is the cuddler, the lover, the happy-go-lucky toddler of our home. When I look at her pictures, I see a mini female version of my husband. Her baby blue eyes and her cheek-to-cheek smile - all his. The way she can't quite keep her eyes open for pictures - all his. The manner in which she cautiously embarks on new adventures - yep, his too. I tell him often he would have made a beautiful little girl:)

Like all our kids, Alison has such special character - traits that are truly all her own. She is a bit more laid back than the others - a bit more reserved with people. She likes to observe and watch before she chooses to participate with other kids. She takes a bit longer to warm up to people, but when she is does, you'll be the recipient of her admiring stare and her loving personality. She takes more things in stride than her sisters (when she's had a nap at least) and she seems to want to do everything she can to be part of her big sisters' posse - even if that means getting herself into a little trouble to do it. She is what I like to call my "tornado". She can mess up a clean room faster than anything I've ever seen, walk out of that same room without batting an eyelash and then turn around and blame the mess on her sisters.


There was a quote I ran across the other day that made me think of Alison:


"Children in a family are like flowers in a bouquet: there's always one determined to face in an opposite direction from the way the arranger desires."-- Marcelene Cox


And that, ladies and gentlemen is our Alison. When her sisters say black, she says white. When we have all agreed on pizza for dinner, she decides she wants pasta. Anything to be paisley in our beautiful world of pastel plaids. But who can blame her? She's growing up with two older sisters, both with their own pool of talents and gifts and she is just trying to find her way - make her mark on this little world of hers.



Alison is the one that sneaks into our bed at night just to get a little more cuddle time or "mommy time" during tax season. Alison is the one that no matter how hard you try to get her to "pick a number between one and ten" to resolve the argument of who is getting out of the tub first will always, always, always pick two. She's the child that would just as soon have a sippy cup full of chocolate milk than eat a real meal, the master of just about any puzzle, the keeper of the Elmo blanket that Grandma Sewick made for her. She is the singer of every High School Musical song every recorded, the pouter in the corner when she doesn't get her way, and the one that just has to tell you one more secret before she goes to bed ("Mommy, I just love you so much").



Each child brought into this world has a special gift - a gift that is only hers. Alison is no exception. I see her gift every day when I look into her baby blue eyes and I remember it when she's not with me because it is etched on my heart. Her gift is simply being here - reminding us every day to appreciate that she is here and knowing that in a blink of an eye, she could have been gone. She allows our family that moment we need every day to just stop, take a deep breathe and remember that we are so very lucky to have each other - even when we are ready to pull our own hair out with the craziness!! For those that don't know Alison's story, she was only five weeks old when she was air-lifted from Mercy General to DeVos Children's Hospital with a severe case of pneumonia. In a matter of hours she went from healthy to critical condition. It was a very stressful and emotional time for our family. But, the blessing that came out of that horrible nightmare was far greater than we could have expected...we have a closeness that comes from surviving such a terrible episode, we are forever grateful that we are a family of five (oh, six - sorry Churchill), even if that means waiting a bit longer for a table at a restaurant or driving a mini-van:) and we try so much harder to appreciate all the little moments that make life what it is...a colorful canvas painted with our memories and our experiences.



Alison is such a miracle to me - the last piece of our family puzzle that makes the whole loving picture clear. She is our our baby, our "Ali-Bubba", our angel - we just can't see her wings:)