This year I am thankful for many things.

The first thing that comes to mind is my husband. I could never have imagined God would give me such an amazing husband. He loves me, even on bad days! And he loves our boys. He is kind and gives people the benefit of the doubt. He is a constant example of patience and remains positive even when I am distracted by the negative. He’s even willing to clean toilets when I am so big pregnant that it is getting tough!

I am so thankful for a healthy, happy little boy. Jackson brings us so much joy. He is a typical 2 yr old with rough times of day but he is constantly bringing smiles to our faces with his fun personality and all that he has to say. Lately he is talking my ear off all day!  I am thankful that he is cancer-free and doesn’t even have a memory of all that he went through!

I am so thankful for Owen in my tummy. Last year we spent Thanksgiving day grieving the loss of a pregnancy. It is surreal to be nearly 36 weeks pregnant with an active, healthy baby boy. For the first 18 weeks of this pregnancy doctors told me that the baby might not make it with the hematomas. We are so close to holding him, and for that I am so thankful!  I am also thankful that he is coming out soon. a big, breach baby is not the most comfortable thing to carry around with a 2 1/2 yr old!

I am thankful to be back in the US, living near family and friends. Jackson has never lived near family so that is extra special. It has been such a blessing to jump back in with friends here.  They have welcomed us back with open arms and we have enjoyed great fellowship! Jackson has been enjoying his buddies!

I am thankful for our friends that are spread around the world. It seems as we go different places and make new friends we all continue to move and expand around the globe. It’s hard not seeing people as much as we would like but it is neat being able to share life with people near and far.

I am thankful for my parents and my dad’s recent passing of a big exam for work. When we told Jackson that PopPop passed his exam Jackson exclaimed “Dear, PopPop”. We are all very excited for them!

I am thankful to have a temporary home. It isn’t our home but it is a cozy place with plenty of space to settle in for our months here. I am thankful that Jackson has settled in and is peaceful here. All of this transition is a lot for us so feeling settled for a bit is wonderful.

These are just a few things that have come to mind…I know there are a million more reasons to be thankful!

Happy Thanksgiving!

-We are down to crunch time with the 4th of July…you can be praying for Seth that he will feel like everything is in order and that it all goes off without a hitch! His stress level is high but he is handling it like a pro. He did pray last night that it would be over soon though! 5,000 people is a lot to feed and entertain! As of the 5th he will be available for any party planning needs you might have..for a fee of course!

-We have a CRV that needs a new owner! Please pray that it sells quickly and that we can get a good price so that we can buy a car in the US.

-I finished working last week which is a huge relief! It was great timing for my patients to leave for the summer. I have still had morning sickness and some days all day sickness so it was about time to stop pushing it! Pray that my morning sickness goes away so that I can keep up with our energetic boy!

-Jackson is having quite a few tantrums these days! Pray for patience and that we will be the best parents we can be! The combo of morning sickness and the terrible 2’s is tough!

-Today I had to talk to our maid about letting her go. We have had a lot of this since we arrived. Anyhow, Sonia our original maid that left for maternity leave has offered to come back for our final 2 months. I can use her for a day or 2 a week for doctors appts and basic cleaning and not have someone in our home all of the time. It is a happy thing for our family but pray that this maid finds a job quickly and that we can get transitioned for our last couple of crazy months!  I know having a maid is weird to almost all of you but it is expected here so we are actually bucking the norm by only wanting someone to help minimally. I am ready to buck the system!   It has been a luxury but truely I am someone that enjoys having my home and my space so I would rather do more and have peace!

When we announced that I am pregnant we mentioned that I have 2 hematomas.  I am continuing to try to take it easy, no exercise etc. We have had some complications with the doctor here and last week had to switch doctors. Our next appt is the 17th of July so we are  praying that between now and then we will see major improvements with the hematomas and if possible that they would be gone completely. This has added a lot of stress to this pregnancy as you can imagine. Pray for peace as we wait! On the 17th we are also hoping to find out if it is a boy or girl! I think that will help me move into the big excitement phase!!

That’s about it from here! Hope you are all well!

Baby, oh, baby the places you’ll go!

The worlds you will visit!

The friends you will know!

The horn-tooting apes

From the Jungles of Jorn,

Will hoot a big toot

On the day you are born

….

You will find from your very

first moment in space

you’re surrounded by new friends

all over the place!!

…

While you are busy growing

we’re all busy counting

the days till we meet you-

excitement is mounting!

…

You’ll find this world’s a great place to begin,

but it could use some help-

which is where you come in.

So now, As my voice burble-urps in your ear-

with a bump-thumpy sound that is not very clear-

the words I am saying you hear in your heart,

and know that I wish you the very best start.

It’s a scrumptulous world and it’s ready to greet you,

And as for myself…

well…

I can’t wait to meet you!

-Dr. Suess

9 weeks- facing up with head at bottom and feet upward

2 pictures above from today. measuring 11 wk 6 days

That’s right. We are expecting! I am just a couple days shy of 12 weeks. It has been a rather eventful 12 weeks with the discovery that my placenta was pulling away from the uterus and then my time in the hospital that we mentioned on our previous post. I have been on “taking it easy” status per doctors orders to avoid bed rest (by the way this isn’t possible with an almost 2 year old!). We went back today to make sure things were improving and for our 12 week appt. I still have the places of concern but the doctor thinks they have improved. I am still on restricted activity but I am not having to go on bedrest which was the next step if there was no improvement.  He looked to see if he could tell if it was a boy or girl but it wasn’t clear enough with the legs crossed so we will try to see next time!

We shared with some of you in November that we had miscarried. We decided it would be best to save our news this time until a bit further along. I think until people experience miscarriage themselves it is hard to know how difficult it is. In the future I might take more time to reflect on miscarriage but for now we are simply rejoicing that this baby is continuing to grow and thrive! Pray with us that the hematomas will resolve completely and that the doctor will reassure us that we are finally out of the woods!

We expect the baby to debut around Christmas! So, another DC baby.  The timing has worked out well in that we can still do homeleave and then we get to be settled and in a home by the time the baby comes. We will then get to be close to family and friends until the baby is about 6 months old. We are looking forward so much to this new season!

May 1 in many countries is called May Day.  It is celebrated for a variety of reasons, but it is almost always a day of celebration.

For our family, May 1 will always be a day of celebration as well.  Because one year ago today, May 1, 2008, Jackson went in for surgery.  And when he came out, we were expecting to find out if he had the REALLY BAD kind of cancer or only the BAD kind of cancer.  If his leg muscles were going to be severely disfigured or if he was going to be able to walk just fine.  If we were going to be starting chemo and radiation immediately or if it could wait a week or two.

But when the doctor came out and told us it wasn’t cancer at all and only a vascular malformation, you can only imagine our relief and our excitement.  After the doctor told us, we told her to tell our parents, who were waiting with us.  There was more celebration.

Which is why May 1 will always be the Kolb’s personal holiday.  Always be a day of celebration.  Always be a day of giving thanks to our Great God, the Great Physician, who protected our baby.

I won’t speak for Kristen, but I’m pretty convinced, after reflecting for the last year, that God changed the mass in his leg from a malignant mass to something benign.  When a Colombian radiologist (at Colombia’s best hospital), a Colombian orthopedic surgeon (one of Colombia’s best), an MD Anderson radiologist (who had been reading scans for the last 25 years and works at the #1 cancer hospital in the US, if not the world), an MDA pediatric oncologist, an MDA pediatric surgeon, and an MDA pediatric orthopedic surgeon all agree that it’s cancer, it’s hard to imagine that it’s not cancer.  But praise God, literally, that they were wrong.

If you want to re-read our post from last year, here it is.