Cha ris ma [ke'rizma]

noun

1 compelling attractiveness or charm that can inspire devotion in others.

2 what caleb has loads of.

Caleb is turning three in just over six weeks. He and I talked about his birthday while we snuggled on the porch swing this afternoon.

His only birthday wish is a motorcycle and to be able to shoot webs (which he then demonstrated... with the appropriate sound effects).

Mirror, mirror, on the wall...

Justin had the fun idea to hang this mirror for Kacie so she could stand in her crib and smile at her cute face.

Baby girl loves her blanket. That's three out of three of my kids who's most prized possession is their "bah-bah". Kacie's lovely blanket is particularly special since her Aunt Nancy handmade it for her. That's thousands and thousands of little knit stitches of love that she cuddles with every night.

Oh, she's growing up entirely too fast.

...who's the sweetest baby of them all?

Kissed by the sun...

These kids have been having such a good time in the warm weather. They love that they can just run in and out of the house all day long. I do help the boys get dressed, but they always seem to find some reason to strip back down to their under-roo's again. Oh, well. And I guess winter Elmo boots are a year round staple for Caleb's wardrobe.

Kace loves to watch the boys run and play in the backyard.

What an adorable little body.

Man, that Caleb marches to the beat of his own drum :) He's so cool!

Here's the face Kacie pulled each time the boys got too far away from her. "Wait a minute. Come back here. I was watching you!"

And here's how excited she got when they came back. I love this new trick of hers.

Such a sweet little thing.

And, so patient too! A blessing straight from heaven to have a calm and patient third child :)

This kid is funny...

...and he knows it.

Yay for being you!

I'm going to put up the pictures from our trip soon. Priorities, you know. Thanks for waiting :)

The A and the K...

They're basically twins...except just 3 years, 6 months, and 9 days apart.

Kacie's loving the spring weather! Playing in the backyard and giggling at all the funny things her brothers come up with keeps her busy all day long.

I like her.

The Asher-Caleb special...

The boys wanted to help make dinner last night so they got the assignment of making the salad. They decided what went in and how much, and I chopped. Then they worked together stirring, scooping, and sprinkling. They did a great job and I can honestly say it was one of the yummiest salads I have ever eaten. Thanks little chefs :)

Asher wanted me to especially tell Lisa about this because "she's a really good chef too."

You probably can't see them in the picture...

...but, she basically has wings and a halo.

What a little angel girl!

Hard to believe, but...

...these amazing gelato cones weren't even the best part of our European adventure!

What a dream to spend time with my love and my wonderful in-laws, feeling free as a bird, in some beautiful new places. Hey, I might even blog about it ;)

Squeaky clean and ready for bed...

The kids had fun picking out new pajamas for their adventure at Honey and Papa's house, but then they talked me into letting them wear the new jammies a few days early.

The biggest problem now is that it's nowhere even close to being dark at bedtime anymore. It's kind of tricky explaining to the boys why I want them in their beds when it's so lovely outside. Even with this little hiccup at bedtime, we're still loving the spring weather and longer days!

Morning play time...

Yesterday Asher told me that "Kacie is the cherry on top of our family sundae." Ha! I totally agree :) You know what they say... "The family that is an Ice Cream Sundae together, stays together."

Why do I even bother putting socks on those little feet?!

The boys were playing "super hero's". Asher was Superman and Caleb was Woody (he's a super hero at our house...). When I asked if they wanted to be in a picture with Kace, Caleb said "yeah, but me be just caleb only!" I guess that meant no more clothes.

Then Asher suggested maybe just the hat. Caleb thought that would be okay.

But he liked it on Kacie even better.

Hey, Cowgirl, where'd you go?

She was loving all the attention.

Okay, so...

Now that I've scared you all away from ever saying my daughters name, and heaven forbid you have to spell it for some reason, I'm going to change things up ONE. MORE. TIME!

kacie noelle carrier

I had been holding off sending in the paperwork to legally change her name. We knew she was Kacie but we went back and forth (and back and forth and back and forth...) on the spelling. I was still waiting for peace in my heart about the whole situation so it was easier to just joke about waiting until she was 18 and letting her pick her own name than it was to decide and move forward. Life is so busy after all ;) But really each time I would try to decide it would trigger the post-pardom struggles I had right after she was born. So, she waited patiently like a little angel for her name. We've been calling her Kacie (exclusively) since she was about 7 weeks old, but today (she's just over 6 months old) the peace came and I filled out the form.

I'm so thankful that Kacie has been my little lovey through this rough time. What a sanctuary she has been to me. My sweet kk, Thank you for all the snuggles and slobber kisses. For all the times you've reached up and gently rubbed my face when I was sad. What a blessing to be your mom. I love you, Kacie girl!

It was a good day!

Justin thought it was worth documenting. This form has been sitting on my desk waiting for me to fill it out for months.

So there you go, Dad. Kacie Noelle Carrier (final answer).

It has to be said...

She's my favorite girl in the whole world.

Absolute favorite.