The Fishbacks: Visit to Iowa

I am officially finished with 9 weeks of pregnancy and I am feeling pretty good! I actually found out last week right before I left for Iowa, the results of my blood work. I am not anemic like I initially thought I might be. I did discover that I have to eat a huge load of protein all the time and it's kind of a pain. If I don't eat that much protein, I get super dizzy and feel sick. I never realized how little protein I used to eat before. Anyway, as long as I keep the protein going, I feel great! Of course I'm still a little dizzy, but I guess that doesn't go away just because I am pregnant...but at least I'm not bed ridden.

So that was the good news...the bad news however, is that they discovered that I have hypothyroidism which explains a LOT! It's not really bad news because it can be treated and is getting treated now. I just wonder how long I've had it since I've never had to have much blood work done before. Anyway, I hear some of the symptoms are being really tired (just thought it was because of teaching...but I guess it was extra), limp hair that falls out a lot (this was a big ah ha moment), and not being able to lose weight (no wonder I couldn't lose after working out everyday hardcore for several months this past summer/fall!!!!). So anyway, now that I am on a cynthroid, I will have to take it for the rest of my life, but as long as it keeps my thyroid in check, I can't complain. Also, my jeans that I was wearing all the time were just a little snug before right after I washed them, but once I wore them they would stretch out and be great. Well...I put them on this past Thursday after I had already worn them once (already stretched out) and they were pretty tight and uncomfortable. And so it begins... haha Most of my work pants are stretchy and comfy so that wont be a problem until next year. I have a pair of jeans that are too big to wear, but I think those will probably fit me in the next couple of weeks and probably right now as well. My stomach is getting hard right above my belly button...harder than it used to be, so that is pretty exciting! :)

I flew up to Iowa Friday to visit my family and to see how the house was coming along after the fire. It was so great to see my family and to spend a good relaxing weekend with them. The house is moving along pretty well and it's going to look GREAT after it's all finished! I can't wait to see the finished product. My brothers are HUGE! Jonny is 6'1'' and Isaac is 5'10''!!! Jonny is getting pretty strong to play baseball and Isaac has been lifting weights and he is so stinking skinny. He's the skinniest out of both Jonny and me at that age and now as well. I always thought Jonny would be skinny because he was a stick when he was little, but he filled out. Jonny's not fat, but he's not skinny either, he's definitely got some muscle on him. It's just weird to see my little baby brothers all grown up. Jon is also going to prom and I cannot wait to see him all dressed up in a tux. He's really excited because he gets to take his date to prom in a corvette! Isaac has a girlfriend and he's taking her to a junior high dance this coming weekend. It kinda stinks to be away from it all and to not be able to see those exciting things, but at least they keep me posted and sometimes send me pictures. I also had a good time talking with my parents but it always seems like it's never enough time. Here are some of the pictures of the house:

This is the living room. Still a mess but the walls are painted.

This is the kitchen dining area. They found a pantry in the wall that they knocked down to add more room to the kitchen. Someone had built a wall around and in it. They are planning on putting shelves in there along with some sort of door.

Again the kitchen with the half bath on the far wall. The laundry room is on the right.

This is the kitchen wall. There used to be two windows on this wall, they had to rebuild because of water damage so they took them out because they were useless.

They were wanting to cabinets, but they did not get damaged and it was not covered. They are settling for new countertops. The walls in the kitchen used to be white. Now they're bright red!

This little black marble pattern sample will be the countertops.

Jonny's bedroom, painted but still some work to be done. This is the room where the fire was pretty much contained so now it's looks so much better!

Isaac's bedroom. There used to be a chimney in the left corner by the window the stuck out and you could never put anything over there. They took it out and it's much better now!

The wall on the left in this picture used to be slanted, due to water damage, they had to take that wall down and so they built it up straight. The old wall used to be the outside wall until we built the additional room on (Jon's room) about 15 years ago.