THEY ARE HERE!

I am so pleased to announce the arrival of my precious babies: Elizabeth "Lizzy" Lynn and Gideon Andrew Carlisle were born Friday, September 11th, at 7:49 am and 7:50 am. Lizzy weighed 7 pounds, 10 ounces and Gideon weighed 7 pounds, 3 ounces. It is such a joy to have two big, beautiful, healthy babies. Stephen, Abby Anne, and I are so blessed beyond belief! Our family is now complete that these two little bundles of joy are here!! I will post more later!! I just wanted to give an update...that the twins are here!! Thank you for your continued prayers...and please...keep them coming!

Why Yes!!! I am pregnant...WITH TWINS!

I am nearing the end of my pregnancy!! Praise the Lord!!! Who knew carrying twins was such hard work!!! I am beyond ready for Elizabeth Lynn and Gideon Andrew to get here!!! I have been pretty much "homebound" for a couple of months now...only getting out on rare occasions. I will be the first to admit....I AM HUGE!! No one needs to point this out to me...trust me...I KNOW! I never thought my belly could get this big...but crazy things happen when you have close to 12 pounds of baby in there. I just want to share for your entertainment some of the comments I have gotten over the past few months regarding my belly:

"Who are we- Octo-Mom?"
"Please tell me there is more than one baby in there!"
"Are you sure it is okay for you to fly?" (Note that I was only 24 weeks pregnant at this time!!)
"You look absolutely miserable!"
"Poor thing!"
"You are as big as a house!"
And my personal favorite is just a plain, simple "WHOA!!!!!!!"

These are only just a few comments I have gotten...not to mention the looks! I will say this pregnancy has had it ups and downs, but I could not be happier to have been blessed with these two precious babies: Gideon and Lizzy!! I know once they get here and I see their precious little faces- it will all be worth it!! NOW COME ON LIZZY AND GIDEON...(2 weeks if not sooner!!)

Lizzy and Gideon's Baby Shower

All of the yummy food!!

Lots of gifts for the babies!

My wonderful friends and hostesses: Molly Strom,

(Me and Abby Anne) Ashley Hooten and Chloe, Ashley Yancey,



Deanna Wallace, and Wendy Farrell.







On June 6th, I had a fabulous baby shower at my sister's (Wendy) house. We had such a good time. Lizzy and Gideon got all sorts of wonderful things that we just can not wait to use! Abby Anne has been "testing out" a lot of the gifts....just to make sure that are ok for Lizzy and Gideon! She is going to be such a good big sister!

Pretty Baby!

Abby Anne had her first big dance recital at Robinson Auditorium in June. They danced to Pretty Baby. Abby Anne is going through a somewhat "clingy" stage right now... I am sure my growing belly has nothing to do with it! I am sorry to say she didn't really seem to "enjoy" the actual dancing part....but she most certainly was a pretty baby...the prettiest one there, in fact! We are glad to have a summer break from dance for right now. We are planning on starting gymnastics in the fall and maybe dance again with Cousin Aislynn in the spring!!

Summer Fun!

I know! I know!! I haven't posted anything in a really long time. Life has been crazy around the Carlisle household. However- I am about to get all caught up! Abby Anne has already been enjoying her suumertime. She loves to be outside...just like her daddy. She has enjoyed her swimming pool, sprinkler, and she LOVES the ice cream truck. All she has to do is hear that ominous tune, "Do your ears hang low?" and she runs to the front door screaming for ice cream...or popsicles anyway!!! We are having a good summer...our last summer with just the three of us...next summer we will have 5!!! I am afraid the Carlisle craziness is just beginning!

WE ARE HAVING..........

A boy and a girl!!! We could not be happier!!! Our little boy will be named Gideon Andrew. Our little baby girl will be Elizabeth Lynn (we will call her Lizzy!) Of course the names are not just random...they have significance. We decided we wanted to use Biblical names- since Abby Anne is from the Bible...okay well not Abby Anne-but her real name, Abigail. Gideon has such an amazing story in the Bible of being a warrior for the Lord, which is our prayer for our little Gideon. It goes further than that, though. Stephen is a Gideon- which for those of you who do not know- is an organization for men who pass out Bibles to hotels, military, schools, etc. My Pop was also a Gideon, so the Gideons have always been special to me. Andrew is Stephen's middle name. As for our little Elizabeth Lynn...Elizabeth of course was the mother of John the Baptist. She so desired to have a baby. The Lord knew her heart and desires and answered her prayers, just as He did for us. Beth is also my middle name! Lynn is my sister,Wendy's, middle name. It is so funny how you can see personality even on an ultrasound. Lizzy was laid back, relatively still, and calm. Gideon, on the other hand would not sit still!!! (Which explains why I feel him all the time moving around in there!) Everything looked perfect, heart, kidneys, bladder, brain, legs, arms, fingers and toes!! The Lord has blessed us above more than we could ask or think and we are so excited to meet our little ones. Abby Anne looks forward to being a big sissy to Gideon and Lizzy, too! Continue to pray for all 5 of us in the next few months!!

"Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think...unto HIM be the glory!" (Ephesians 3:20-21)

No Thank You!

Abby Anne cracks me up with all of the new things she learns each day...she catches on so quick. Sometimes I wonder just where she picks some things up. Her new thing is that she MUST dance with her daddy each time someone sings on American Idol or dances on Dancing With The Stars. After it is done- she nods her head and says, "Thank you, Thank you!" As if the audience were clapping for her...and only her! We have also been trying to teach Abby Anne to say no thank you instead of just yelling no (or nope!) when someone asks if she wants something. Well-I am now afraid she has picked this one up a little too easily!!! Last night I asked Abby Anne, "Can Mommy have a hug?" And she answered in her most politle, sweet, little voice, "Um...No thank you!!" What a funny girl!!! At least she was polite about it!