Happy b-day!

My youngest dog Wicket just turned 2 years old. Mr. Wicket is growing up so fast. He has come so far in his agility training and is such a wonderful guy. Happy Birthday buddy!

April update...

Another month has gone by and Ellie is a little older. Ellie will be eight months on Easter! Wow, babies grow so fast! Here are a few pictures. Ellie's shirt says "Q" is my favorite letter of the alphabet. If you are an agility fan you know what this shirt means. Yes, Ellie supports her Mommy's agility habit!
Looking cool in her new shades! Poor girl has a peanut head like her Mama. We had to put the straps as tight as possible.

A beautiful Oklahoma sunrise from out deck.

How I lost 25 pounds!

People have asked how I was able to lose the weight I gained from pregnancy. I should have documented it over the months but I was on the news for it and didn't think about blogging about it until now. So here is my weight lose story. First, let me tell you a little about my background. I played soccer in collage & have been physically active for many years. I taught aerobic classes for about 7 years and even became a certified personal trainer for a year. I have always been thin & was very worried about being able to get ride of the weight I knew I would gain with pregnancy. After all so many women don't lose the baby weight. I am don't a dieter & don't do pills. That being said different things work for different people. I am of the belief that you have to work to get results. I started off slow. Walking casually & increasing from there. When I was released to workout again I started with some 20 minute videos 2 times a week along with daily walking. Then I added weight training & made my 20-30 cardio workout harder. I have slowly increased what I am able to do over the past 7 months. Now I can run for about an hour without walking & am going to run/walk 13 miles in the Memorial Marathon. It takes time & everyday you get stronger. I watched what I was putting in my mouth. Until I lost the weight I wrote down everything that I eat & drink. I dislike having to do that but it truly help me pay attention & be accountable for what I was eating. I love to eat & refuse to eat food that doesn't taste good. You can still eat good tasting food that is good for your body. Two of my favorite things to eat is sugar & bread. I still had those things but in small amounts. I do the approach of eating healthy during the week & splurging on the weekend. This works for me & I can still have the things I love. When I started because breaking the sugar habit is hard I would go 1 day without sugar then reward myself with a little something special. I increased the number of days between every week until I was able to go all 5 days with out the sugar monster. I also did pudding cups a lot because it was a reward that was less fattening & you can get the sugar free version. I tried different recipes that had a good mix of veggies cooked into the meal. Another thing I like to do is cut out the bread from dinner. I opted for brown rice if I felt I needed more then meat & veggies. It took 4 months for me to get to my pre-pregnancy weight. I lost 25 pounds total. Wow, you might say but it is different for everyone & most it will take a few more months to do this. I am a nursing mom which helped burn a few more calories. If you are looking to lose weight I would encourage you to find something that works for you. If you hate what you are doing to lose weight then most likely you won't stick with it. Try finding an exercise you like & a buddy to help you along. Most of all pray about it! -Heidi

5 minute Banana Pudding

Once and a while I really need to have a sweet tooth fix. This is an easy, quick way to get a little something sweet. This is also a lot less calories and servings then baking a cake or making the original banana pudding recipe. You will need 1 small box of banana cream or vanilla pudding (also try the sugar free), a banana and animal crackers. Make the pudding according to the box. After it sits in the fridge for 5 minutes scoop out one serving in a bowl. Cut up one banana to add to the bowl and toss in a handful of animal crackers. Yum! The kids will think it is fun to have animal crackers in their pudding!