We made it to the third trimester!!!

Sorry, it has been quite a while since I last updated Charlie's blog. Things are going great, and I am over 28 weeks along now. It is almost surreal that time is flying by so quickly at this point in the pregnancy. It is amazing to us that our little Charlie will be here in a few short months. We are excited and also extremely nervous about having a newborn to take care of. My legendary need for sleep is going to go by the wayside.....wish me luck!!!
At the end of May, we took a trip home to Washington to visit family and I was lucky enough to have TWO baby showers for Charlie. My aunt Carole Leigh and my cousin, Marisa, held the first one in Marysville, and we had such a blast seeing family and friends. My Mother in Law, Norine, held the second shower in Bellevue, it was amazing to catch up with everyone. I feel so lucky to have had two incredible showers, and to be able to share the pregnancy with our friends and family. Thank you again to everyone that made it :-)
One of the BEST parts of being home was the fact that my entire globe trotting family was there. My parents flew in from Munich right before the showers, and my brother, Peter, flew in from Brisbane, Australia a few days later. Having the whole Hansen family together again was the best present I could have asked for.
As for things in Colorado, we are moving into a new house in mid July. While moving and being pregnant aren't exactly a good combination, we'll make it work. Peter is going to head down our way for a week to hang out, and we will be utilizing his strength for lifting and moving. We are SO excited to get out of the current rental we are in, as it is just way too small. We need extra room for guests, and of course, a NURSERY! I cannot wait to get Charlie's room all set up for his arrival, we are going with a nautical theme. This is in preparation to position Charlie to follow in his father's footsteps as a sailor.
I am now visiting my doctor's office every two weeks since I am in the third trimester. I had an appointment today, and everything is looking great. I am measuring right on target, and I am feeling many periods of movement and kicks throughout the day. I just pray that the pregnancy continues to go smoothly as we get towards the end. I am starting to feel more uncomfortable, and I am NOT enjoying the heat of the Summer in Colorado while being this pregnant. All in all, I guess if that is my only complaint, I am pretty lucky.
I have included a slide show of some recent pictures from our last ultrasound and our trip home to WA!

We're half way there!!!

Ok, I lied, we're a little over half way there. I will be 21 weeks along tomorrow, and I am feeling the little guy kick all the time now. We had a VERY exciting milestone about a week ago when Ben felt him kick for the first time. It was amazing for both of us to share two of the biggest kicks I have felt so far when Ben had his hand on my belly. I think Charlie was putting on a performace for his dad, and we were both very impressed.

We had our mid way ultrasound today, and it was so exciting to see baby Charlie again. First, we confirmed that he is still 100% boy...no questions there, Ben was very proud. He was very active and flipped around quite a few times. He is measuring right on track and looked totally healthy, what a relief! However, he didn't give the ultrasound tech the view she was looking for on his heart, sooo...we get to have another ultrasound in a month ( I am obviously SO upset..haha) to see if we can get the measurement.

Grandma Norine had the opportunity to go with us to the ultrasound and see her grandson for the first time. She had so much fun checking out his little profile. He gave us a great profile shot and his also another of his little feet. Let's just hope he inherits his dad's foot genetics and NOT MINE!! I have attached our two favorite ultrasound pictures.

Our first post

My first blog is just to keep our family up to date on little Charlie's progress.
Here are the basics so far: we found out I was pregnant on January 9th, 2009. We were both VERY excited and couldn't wait to find out more about our little one. His due date is September 19th, and I am super happy to have a baby arrive in the Fall (my favorite season.)
We both had a hunch that the baby would be a boy, and found out we were right a few days before my trip to Germany to visit my parents. We decided to name him Charles (Charlie) Thomas Daniels. We both wanted the name to have a significance to the family and who better to name him after than Grandpa Chuck? I know that he is so proud to have his first great granchild named in his honor. The middle name, Thomas, is very special to Ben's family. His Uncle Tom died young after suffering from a progressive genetic disease called Friedreich's Ataxia which attacks the nervous system. We are both so happy to give Charlie a name that represents loved ones that have passed on to honor their lives.
Other than that, I have had a wonderful pregnancy so far. I didn't get the dreaded morning sickness and have felt great so far. Maybe this means I will have a terrible labor? I sure hope not :-)
Grandma Norine is going to be heading down for the big 20 week ultrasound scheduled for May 7th. We are really looking forward to seeing Charlie again, and hope that everything is progressing as it should.