Our First Family Photo!!!!

Could life get any sweeter than my baby girl?!

I think not!! :)

And Baby Blomgren's Name Is....

Norah Linn

Kelly and Norah are doing great! Kelly's cousins, Jess and Ky, just happened to be in Colorado Springs this weekend visiting Kelly, so they were a huge blessing to Kelly during the delivery. Kelly and Norah will be going home tomorrow afternoon sometime. Kelly did a fantastic job and I am extremely proud of her! Norah is hanging out with Kel in the room, chilling out, eating, and sleeping. Thanks for all your prayers!

BABY BLOMGREN IS HERE!!!!!!!!!!!

Kelly delivered our little girl this morning at 7:16. She is 4 lbs, 13 oz. She came a bit earlier than we expected, but so far mom and baby are doing great! Here are a few pictures I have so far. I'll keep you all updated as I get more info.

A New Kind of Love...

This coming weekend is going to be a very joyous time for our families!! Colleen and Steve (David's brother) are getting married :) David and I are so sad to miss the wedding but we are thanking God for his faithfulness to our family by connecting Steve & Colleen. They really do seem to be perfectly matched and we couldn't be happier to have Colleen as a new sister! Both the Blomgren's and Moselle's will be celebrating with Colleen and Steve this weekend so that makes it even harder to miss but... again, we have so much to be glad for.

Steve & Colleen, We love you so much and want to support you and your marriage for the long haul. We will stand by you through thick and thin and hope you can count on us anytime you need a friend, brother or sister by your side. We would do anything for you guys and we are so thrilled for your marriage! Have a blast this weekend (if possible in leu of our absence)!

Mmmm, Local Iraqi Food!

Chicken, beef, and lamb kabobs with cucumbers, pita bread, and some special purple sauce!

Growing Baby Belly!

I thought it was fun that I was wearing the same shirt for my 23 week (6/25/09) picture above and my 33 week (9/3/09) picture below!

And here we are at 34 weeks and starting to feel the pain :)

Sentence Served: 91 days

Sentence Remaining: 88 days

We are now 51% of the way done with David's stay in Iraq!!!! Thank you Lord. Celebrating each milestone along the way and thanking God for His faithfulness in so many areas.

Here are a few of the things I'm thankful for thus far:

1. David's Safety
2. David's job, he seems to enjoy his work
3. The communication that I've had with David, it's been better than expected!
4. Learning to appreciate so many things about marriage and my spouse specifically that I've taken for granted at times
5. The support David's been shown by friends and family through packages, letters and encouraging emails - this also greatly encourages me!
6. A new appreciation and understanding of our troops and all they do for us. Thank you to our Airmen, Soldiers, Marines, Sailors, Coast Guardians :), Foreign Officers & Ambassadors, Public Health Service members and anyone else I've left out -- THANK YOU for serving. Another huge shout out to the families that support them, it's a tough job (I know now :)).

More Midwest Fun

Blog pictures are always fun right? These are some of the last from my trip back to the midwest...

David's parents and myself!

Kim, Kristin and I trying to get our ears cleaned out. I love girl time with these girls!

Catching up with cousin Jes, Shelby, and Dawn :)

And last but not least, my aunt Mara-Liisa and her two boys - Lukas & Noah

IL Shower of Love :)

Since I was so blessed to have been able to visit both IL and MN last week I have a few major highlights to share.

One of the best things during the vacation was the shower in IL. David and I both feel so much love and support from our family and friends back home and it was just another reminder of God's goodness in our time of need. Thank you to everyone for your generosity and support for Baby Blom as well as David and I as we're apart. We love you all so dearly.

The shower was given to us by these wonderful ladies! Thank you Karen, Colleen, Kristin, Sootie and Heidi - I had a wonderful time!

The greatest part of the shower was all the lovely women that attended. Here's a picture of some TU ladies - above we have Hannah & Kim and then myself and Jen :)

More TU love from Heidi and Abby!

Opening gifts

Kelly, Barb and Sally

Kim and Mom were able to drive to IL to attend as well, thanks for coming!

Al Faw Palace

Here are some pictures of my colleagues and me at Al Faw Palace---one of Saddam's former palaces. It was immaculate. It was built by him in 1991 in honor of his soldiers that regained the Port of Al Faw from the Iranians in the 1984 Iran-Iraq war. All over the walls inside is written, "Victory and glory to the warriors who freed the city from the enemy, the persians." We, of course, have control of it now, but will soon be giving it back to the government of Iraq, I'm sure.

Wendy and Bryan (the most impressive mustache of all)
Sitting on Saddam's throne that was given to him by Yaser Arafat.

Outide of the Palace. Don't worry, the nastiness on my upper lip is no longer.

We LOVE the MN State Fair!!!!!!!

One major highlight from my trip back to the midwest was my visit to the MN State Fair with my family!!! So much fun!!!!

Planning our route for the morning :)

1 of 3 or 4 stops at the cheese curd stand... this makes mama oh so happy!!

The crowd! It looks so intimidating and crowded but it really wasn't bad. God bless the Senior Citizens/Kids day. Once we found out it was Senior Citizen/Kids day we were worried but all the old and young treated us well :) It probably helped having one in our group (my dad! :))

Another must is the French Fry stand

Papa Bear

AJ

Mama(s)!

I was a little worried about lasting the whole day at the Fair but... God is good! I kept up with everyone (for the most part) for the whole 11 hour day. I did have a little waddle at the end of the day, sore pregnant feet.