2 months already!!

Guylan is 2 months old today! Wow!! I just can’t believe how fast time just flies by.

Yesterday was a day full of cleaning and preparing to leave for the weekend to go visit Ma & Pa Holland. The way I most enjoy cleaning and getting stuff done around the house these days is putting Guylan into our Moby Wrap. There are so many reasons I just love having him in the wrap. I love having him close to me. With him in the wrap he knows where I am – right next to him. I also like that he is able to see everything I am doing. I feel like he is just a sponge, absorbing everything in his environment and when he can move around with me in the wrap I can tell him what I am doing and keep him mentally occupied. He also takes his best naps in the wrap. Well-rested babies eat well and well-fed babies sleep well and babies that sleep and eat well are happy and happy babies equal happy mommies. Get the picture. :) Wraps are just great.

While I was cleaning today Guy fell asleep in the wrap, like normal. Since he loves sleeping in the wrap, I secured his head to my chest with part of the wrap and continued on cleaning. I finished the kitchen where everything I was doing involved me standing (dishes, wiping down counters, etc.) and moved on to the living room. Now, in the living room there were a lot of things on the floor that needed to be picked up, so I had to bend down and grab them, stand back up and put it where ever it was supposed to go, then go back to grab the next thing. After bending down to pick up the first thing Guylan gave a grunt as I stood up. I looked down at him to make sure I was not hurting him and there he was…head rested against my chest, dead asleep. So I giggled at him and bent down to grab then next thing. He did it again, and again, and again. Man, he is just too cute. As I was listening to him grunt I was reminded of his first week of life. When Guy was a newborn every time we would shift him he would grunt just like today. I hadn’t realized that he stopped making that noise a while ago. It was such a sweet sound. I just can’t believe how much he has already changed.

I just love our little man so much. What a great blessing. I could just stare at him for hours in amazement. How remarkable our GOD is that he could take and egg and a sperm and turn it in to a human and that that human grew in my belly!! Wow!! I will forever stand in awe of HIS capabilities.

Birthing Pool Test Run

Yesterday we received our birthing pool in the mail!!! How exciting!!! According to the directions we were required to fill the pool and test it out with in 48 hours of receiving it. So, last night was our birthing pool test run night!! So much fun. It was so easy and fast. The pool is sturdy and oh so comfortable. It was so easy for me to move around and shift my weight (which isn't such an easy thing to do these days). I am sooo excited to labor in it. Here are some picture of our test run.

9:42pm Here's Nathan clearing off the coffee table that must be moved to make space for the tub

Here are some of the extras the kit came with: a thermometer, a debris net, sanitation scrub, instructions, a floor tarp, and a pool liner (for easy clean-up)

9:50pm Nathan hooking up the 25 foot hose that came with the pool using the yellow y-valve that also came with it

Lucy inspecting the hose...it was good :)

Lucy helping Nathan put the tarp out...she is so helpful.

Nathan "modeling" the awesome bag that the pool came with

9:57pm Tarp ready, pool ready...time to inflate!

10:03pm Getting there...that black pump came with the pool. It is an amazing dual action pump. It fills up the pool with both the down and up pump...it went so fast!

We discovered this on the bottom of the pool. :) No diving? Bummer.

10:12pm All done inflating. Now, for the water.

10:41pm Pool is all filled up to a sweet 90 or so degrees and Mama is in it and lovin it!! :)

Nathan and I enjoying our sweet birthing pool. We watched a comedy show (Thou shalt Laugh) from the pool. So awesome. Yesterday was a very hot day and our apartment was super warm so the watching comedy from a pool was a perfect way to end the day!!

We ordered our tub from www.yourwaterbirth.com. It is the La Bassine model. It is going to be such a great pool to birth in!! SSSOOOOO excited!!

We can't wait to post pictures using this pool to bring Guylan into the world gently!! Only 4-10 more weeks.

Much Love,

N&B (and G)

Guylan: The Meaning

Nathan and I have given our little boy the name Guylan because we like it. (I told the story of the creation of Guylan's name in a previous post.) So, I was having a conversation with one of our friends, Nick Self, just a few days ago and he encouraged me to look in to the meaning, origin and definitions of his name. So I did and found some very interesting things!! Here is the meaning of his name:

When I looked up "Guylan" I got nothing. There were only two websites who even acknowledged Guylan as a name at all. So, I decided to look up "Guy" since that is the name we started with. According to a few different sources Guy could mean a few different things. From a German origin it means, "wood." Not so exciting, I know. From Welsh it means, "lively." Now, this one has already proven to be true. I could feel Guylan dancing in my belly at 16 weeks!! We definitely have a very lively baby. In Old German Guy means "warrior." This one is pretty cool. I also really like that in French Guy means "guide." Very cool, huh.

I think my favorite part of the Guy name research was when I wondered across the definition of "guy" in the dictionary. Of course it could just mean "a young man", but it also means "An object to steady , guide, secure of embrace something with." How cool is that!! That was by far my favorite definition!! :)

I sure can't wait to watch our son, Guylan, grow and fulfill his purpose in this world. We love you little Guy.

Belly Pictures and a Video

We have taken some photos over the last two months and a video documenting my belly growth. Its so interesting to look back at every photo. I remember feeling SO BIG at for each one, but I just keep getting bigger. Hehe... So, here they are:



19 weeks along...




21 weeks along...


24 weeks along...


Still 24 weeks...

Here is a video from our last appointment with our AMAZING midwife, Brande. Nathan was able to catch Guylan's heartbeat on our camera. It is really quiet at first because Nathan's finger is blocking the mic. Give it a sec and Nathan moves his finger and you can here the 'woooosh wooosh woooosh" of Guy's healthy heart!! Best sound ever!!



Enjoy.

It's been so long!!

So, here we are in Rushville, IL at "Peace of Earth." This is where Dale is doing his internship. Awesome place!! We decided to come to him this week for a band practice. It took us about 50 minutes to drive 31 miles. We aren't going to tell Dale we got a little lost. Oh well. :)

We are all just sitting and hanging out before we get to jamming. I realized that Nathan and I haven't written a blog in quite a long time!! So, here I am just writing to check in and give a little update about what has been going on since our last blog.

We have found out that we are going to be the parents of a little BOY!! We have already chosen a name: Guylan Micah Holland. We have had his name picked out for quite some time. Nathan has always liked the name Guy. I like it too, but it sounded like a very grown up name for a baby and I wanted something that we could shorten. So, Nathan told me to come up with something I liked to add to the name. So, I just started adding endings to Guy and Guylan was a perfect match. I was very excited to find out that when you look up Guylan on baby name websites they say it doesn't exist. So happy our son will have a unique name that is still beautiful and not way out there. We chose Micah for his middle name after Nathan's big brother. Nathan and I both admire and look up to him and look forward to him passing on all sort of wisdom to our baby boy. As a side note: If we have another boy in the future we plan on giving him Nathan's other and bigger brother's name as a middle name: Joshua. :) We feel so blessed that all of Guylan's uncles and aunts will be greatt sources of knowledge and wisdom. (Love you guys!)

We can't wait to hold you baby Guylan!! :)

Let's see what else has been going on:

-Well, we spent Christmas in Franklin, TN with the Cantlon/Davis side of the family. Always an enjoyable experience. :)
-Spent New Years with the Holland side of the Family!! Also very enjoyable. Can't wait till Guylan and Lilah can play together.
-Never Say When went on a 2 week winter tour through out the midwest to celebrate the release of our FRIST ALBUM!!!
-Oh, yes...NEVER SAY WHEN RELEASED OUR FIRST ALBUM!!! Give us a call or e-mail if you want to buy a physical copy or check it out on itunes, cdbaby.com or just about any other place you can download music.
-Nathan started his LAST semester of college

I am sure there are more exciting events to add to that list, but my brain is drawing blank.

Here are 2 pictures from our sonogram. Have fun trying to decipher them. :)


Here is "THE PICTURE". So sorry my sweet Guylan for posting your private parts...I promise I will take them off line by the time you start dating (when you are about 20 years old). :)


Here is Guylan's face. He is laying sideways. Look at those chubby cheeks!! :)

18 weeks pregnant tomorrow!!

We just had an amazing Christmas with my family here in Nashville, TN. Now, we are getting ready to head to Rockford, IL to spend a late Christmas with Nathan's family on New Years. We are very excited about that!! We will get to be with Nathan's whole family at one time!! It is so rare that all of us get to be together all at once!! Yay!!

Nathan just took some pictures of me for our 18 week celebration. Here they are:

Checking in...

I am 16 weeks and 2 days pregnant today. I am dying to feel the baby inside me. I want to feel it moving or kicking…something!! It is so weird to be getting bigger and feeling the effects of being pregnant, but not be able to feel my baby yet! I’m ready, God, let me have it! ☺ Man, I am just not very good a being patient. I want to be holding our little one in my arms already.

I read in my pregnancy book that the baby can now hear pretty well and is learning our voices. So, I have been singing to the baby for the last few weeks or so. I learned in college that babies can learn while in the womb and can show preference between songs, stories, and peoples voices. These things they heard a lot in the womb can also comfort them once they are born. So, I have been singing the same couple songs to the baby. Nathan also sings to the baby. Sometimes it’s a real song. Sometimes it’s something he made up just for the baby. While he is down there singing to the baby, I have him tell the baby, “It’s okay to kick mommy because she wants to feel you.” So far the baby hasn’t listened yet. I guess we are going to have to teach it the skill of listening to what daddy says. ☺

I have been feeling good lately. Very energetic. Very happy that my cold in gone. I just have some congestion, but it sounds worse than it feels. I have read numerous places that most pregnant women experience congestion for most of their pregnancy, so I am not concerned.

Well, just wanted to check in for the morning. I have to head off to work at the café 11-1, then teach music lessons from 3-6. I hope all my students show up today!

Hope everyone is doing well.

P.S. I have been looking at our wedding pictures lately. So, I thought I would post some of my favorites. Here they are:

Second Trimester ALREADY!!!

Becky here!! Alright, so I know I haven't been writing on here a lot. I really want to, but life is very full currently. I promise I am going to make a better effort at it from now on!!

So, this past Tuesday was the first day of my second trimester!! Wow!! I am in my 4th month of pregnancy! I sure cannot believe it. Our little baby is going to be here before we know it. Only 6 months left!! I was reading my pregnancy book, that my mama got me, and according to it our baby is about 4-6 inches long and weighs about .25 of a pound! The baby has been growing and changing so quickly. I sure have found such a deeper love, passion and fascination with God through this time. As I have been learning about how a baby forms and how many intricate things are happening all at once and how many of those intricate things could go wrong...it amazes me that anything goes right!! God is sure a great creator. There is no doubt in my mind that he is behind all the creation of our world. Speaking of growing and changing...I have been doing some of that myself! According to the book my mama gave me if you haven't started wearing maternity pants by this time in your pregnancy you are doing really good. That made me feel good because although I had to say good-bye to two of my pre-pregnancy pants, I can still wear most of them!! :) At my last doctors appointment I had only gained one pound. I have my next appointment next Thrusday...I will let you know how it goes.

Nathan and I took a picture of my stomach as soon as we found out we were pregnant. This was at about 4-5 weeks. I thought it was only appropriate to mark the monumental occasion of entering my second trimester by taking another picture of my belly. There is not too much of a change, but when I look back and forth between the two pictures I can tell a difference. Can you see the difference? At this point I don't feel all to pregnant...more just that I am getting chubby. I wonder if people look at me (who don't know I am pregnant) and think....humm, she is gaining weight! Hehe...I will show them in a few more weeks I will be unmistakably pregnant! I am really looking forward to that time. So, here are the pregnant pictures of me....hope you enjoy!!


Here I am at 4-5 Weeks pregnant


And here I am now at 12 weeks and 2 days pregnant!!

Updates

So, it's been a while since the last post. There has been a lot going on! Never Say When is done mastering their cd and is getting ready to put ISRC codes on the songs, copyright the material, then send the master out to have the replication process done! Hopefully all of this work will pay off by having the finished product in hand by the end of November.
And of course there has been a lot of talking about our baby! We have had our first sonogram and heard it's heartbeat! 186 bmp. And we saw the baby wiggle a little! What a miracle. 8.5 more weeks until we get to figure out whether it is going to be a girl or boy. We have decided to not go with pink or blue. We like neutral colors. We were thinking that we were going to do animals as a theme, but are now thinking that we will be doing brown and white. Thanks to all who are offering us baby stuff! We are so blessed to have family members and friends who love us enough to offer to help us in so many ways!
So, we currently travel with Never Say When on most weekends. This entails packing the car with people and luggage and instruments. Since we will be adding a car seat, child, pack and play, stroller, and baby bag to this mass of things, we thought it might be a good idea to look for something with a little more cargo room.....A MINI VAN! And with that thought we automatically lost 10 cool points. But that's okay, we were very excited to be able to stretch out our legs on long trips rather than curling up in a ball in the backseat in order to sleep. I say "were excited," because it didn't happen like we thought it would. Here's the story:
Becky and I get excited when we found some time to look for a van. The first place we went to was Urban Motors - a branch of a used car dealership from Chicago. We looked at a conversion van that we thought looked comfy but decided it would not be fun to drive around town all the time. So we looked at the Ford Windstar (1998, 127000 miles) next to it. After looking at another minivan that smelled like a child's vomit on the inside, we decided that the Windstar looked really clean inside and out. After talking to the salesman who said he could probably do an even trade for our car we left, telling him we might be back. We Carfaxed Becky's car and the Windstar and found that they both had very clean records. It seemed that we were getting a great deal for the van and the salesman, in turn, was hasty to make a deal since he was getting the more marketable car (what college kid is looking for a mini van...oh wait, me). We went back and test drove the van and immediately found something goofy and unexplainable with the brakes. We had a knowledgable friend check it out and he could not explain the odd grinding feeling either. I figured it had to be the ABS (especially since the ABS light was on). We took it back to the dealer and said that there was something goofy going on with the brakes. He immediately said that he would fix it. Easier than I thought. So we told him that the handle on the inside of the sliding door was not working and he agreed to fix that too. Wow...nice guy. We left telling him that if those were fixed we'd be interested in making a deal. The next day, Becky made some calls to bigger dealers in Macomb and asked what they could do for us. The best we could get from them was a decent van for our car plus about $3000. Since our goal was to not spend any money we asked the second dealership if we would be getting a good deal for the Windstar. He said that we were probably getting a fair trade but we should test drive the van and take it to PM Auto - a local independent mechanic's shop. We went to test drive the Winstar with high hopes. The salesman handed us the keys and said that the brakes were new and we were ready to go. We drove the van to the auto shop and the brakes were fixed! After about a half hour at the shop, the mechanic came out with a list of abou $1750 of work that needed to be done in order for the van to not break down immediately. And guess what...the brakes were only about 50%. Lame. So we took the van back to the dealer, told him we were going to walk away and showed him the list of problems with the van. His response was that they were all routine things that exist because the van was older. Um...no. There were fluids mixed in with other fluids due to a leak. There was a fluid that was supposed to be a light color and was black due to metal shavings. Both tierod ends were bad and could break, easily causing a fatal accident on the highway. There was a bad rear bearing. It pretty much needed a new radiator. These problems may exist because they have developed over time as the vehicle got older, but they are not routine things. They should have been taken care of a long time ago. We could have bought the van and died in it the next week. Or at least been $2000 in debt. Thanks, Urban Motors, for a poor first car shopping experience. Did I mention that our mechanic said that he's seen a lot of bad stuff come out of this particular dealership? Huh. I wonder why. Wait, no I don't. I'VE seen bad stuff come out of the dealership. I dont' think that I will be going back there. Apparently, you can't even trust the used car dealer in a small town. And now I am done spewing my anger about Urban Motors.
So the van search may go on if GOD decides he wants to put something in our past. But we see that GOD provides even if his answer is "No, Hollands. Wait for a different vehicle." He has ultimate control. I think of how disappointed I get because I can't go get in my new van to drive to Rockford this weekend. But then I realize how great GOD is that I am not unsuspectingly getting in a dangerous van to drive down the highway at 2 am!
Well, I hope you enjoyed the story and are keeping your feelers out for anyone who wants to trade their good condition van for a 2000 Pontiac Grand Am in good condition!

the Hollands

It's a Baby!!

So Becky and I have been rearranging our apartment to make room for the baby that is to be here in about nine months! That's right...we're rediculously excited to be pregnant. While this was not "the plan", we are immensely blessed and proud that GOD would consider us worthy of bearing a child! We found out one week ago today...on Monday. After Becky's body was doing some unusual things and she was two days late for that certain time, we went and took four pregnancy tests that all proved positive. She took an official test today at the Health Dept. and it's still a go! The first positive test resulted in me being excited and Becky covering her mouth, turning BRIGHT red, and crying. She didn't know how to feel at first because all she could think of was the birthing process...ouch! But, we have gotten over that and are super excited that we're going to have a little baby.
We have rearranged our bedroom to fit a crib and a changing table. The baby's going to have to sleep in our room since it is only a one-room apartment. We thought about moving, but Becky wants to stay put so we can be completely settled and comfortable when the baby comes (and not unpacking when she is 8 or 9 months along).
Since we are in a band and will be playing at Cornerstone around the time the baby is one-month old, we have looked into the protective earmuffs for infants. The adorable things cover most of the baby's head! I can't wait to have my baby at a gig wearing those! Anyways, they are not recommended for kids under 6 months since their head is so soft. I guess we'll have to go with the earplugs or babysitter for the first few loud gigs.
Speaking of loud gigs, Never Say When just played at Auburn Christian Church in Auburn, IL. What a blessed time! This is definitely one of our top gigs so far. We played for about an hour, had wonderful sound up on stage (which can be a huge treat to musicians), got free food, got a great and unexpected love offering, were able to help kids raise money to go to CIY, and met some really great people! We signed some autographs, including a girls arm. Dale is definitely turning out to be the heartthrob of the band! Who would have guessed? huh. lol. It is times like those that show me that GOD has us in the right place with music!
Well, I'm going to do some homework!

the future daddy - Nathan