Tulsa Aquarium

This Sunday, Mark had the fun idea of loading up and heading to go to the Tulsa Aquarium! Dyer LOOOOVED the aquarium in the Bahamas, so we thought it would be a fun treat to take him again. He even started saying "fish" in the Bahamas before we had even taught it to him....smart boy! So, of course this little trip was full of "fish, fish, fish" and "Neno" aka Nemo (which he has never even seen).


Dyer & Mark in the shark tank.


Then, they went into the shark tunnel, which was super cool. The sharks were really big!


Checking out the stingrays...



Who knew they would have beavers at the aquarium?? They also had an otter and a raccoon, but I didn't get pictures of them.



Turtles!



Here, I tried to show him something in these little "petting" pools. All was going well until something went IN HIS MOUTH y'all. I am pretty sure that it was just water (praise the maker) but that was the end of the trip to the aquarium.

Candlewood Rednecks

Tonight after Mark was done mowing, he came inside and asked Dyer if he wanted to go for a 4-wheeler ride. As if he knew exactly what it meant, Dyer leapt out of my lap and went running, arms up, to his dad. The only 4-wheeler this child has ever been on is his own that says "SLOW DOWN" when you push the button, so we were cracking up that he acted so excited.

Our new house sits on barely under an acre lot, so we have lots of room to run and play, so the boys went for a ride down the hill.


Sweet boy brain taking it ALL in!


Yes, there they go through the front yard.


And down the hill they go! Don't worry, I had sufficiently lectured Mark on my child's safety. In case you are wondering, the white flags are there for Jack's invisible fence training.


Going in loops down in the lower part of the yard... Our playset is still in the works. We're filling in the base of it so it will be much prettier & safer for all of the kiddos.


Coming back up the hill, Dyer was still just taking everything in!



Now it's parked under the house! Mark let him push buttons and he was making the "vroom vroom" noise while he was steering. Love being a boy mom! There's always something new to explore, push, crawl on, or smell.

Weekend in OKC with the Morgans

We've had so much fun on these little getaways over the past month! A few weekends ago we packed ALL of us up to go West and visit some of our very best friends, Sloane and Rachel Morgan. We hadn't had the chance to go and see where they live since they moved there a couple of years ago, so this trip was LONG overdue.

Dyer did pretty great on the ride over, and as soon as we pulled into the driveway he made himself right at home at their place.


Saturday morning Mark & Sloane went and shot guns and drove super fast go-carts while Rachel & I stayed in and played with D for a while and then we hopped in the car and took a little tour of OKC/Nichols Hills. Such a fun town and it was so neat to see where they have been living & working all of this time! When the boys came back home, the girls went out for a pedicure and a little relaxation.

That night we had a babysitter and went out to a really great dinner on the lake. The pictures make it look like we were in South Carolina or something!



Sunday we said our goodbyes after yet another awesome meal (um, we like to eat!) and then George took over the driving home since we were fat & happy from our fun with the Morgans!

Weekend in Texas

Last weekend Mark and I packed up our bags and headed to Fort Worth for the wedding of one of our dearest friends, Chase. Somehow Chase snagged up one heck of a girl when he found Leah. They sealed the deal at a beautiful chapel, reminiscent of the Cooper Chapel in Bella Vista, in Fort Worth and had a fun afternoon reception in a town close by.

The Dyer man opted to stay for a weekend with his Mimi and Pop (my parents) and they spoiled him like crazy, as always! We were so blessed by a weekend of sleeping in (we slept til 10 the first morning!!), staying up late with friends, and just going & doing whatever our hearts desired since we weren't on a little one's schedule. THANKS mom and dad for giving us a fun getaway weekend!

On our first day there (Friday), we headed down to the historic Fort Worth Stockyards where we ate at a fun saloon, looked at the old wooden stockyards, shopped for cowboy boots, and saw the rodeo & cowboy museum. (The pic at the top is from this fun day!) Sounds like my kind of fun, right? Guess who wanted to do history + cowboy day? Not me! But, it turned out to be REALLY fun! We also got to hang around with Scott & Lauren, and our favorite little lady, E-G. She kept pinching me in the car for not bringing her boyfriend along!



Check out these cowboys!


That night we had rehearsal dinner at a fun local spot. It was really fun seeing these hometown boys all together and having such a good time. Here's Mark, Chase (groom), Scott, and Josh...


After dinner we headed to the beautiful chapel for rehearsal on a really gorgeous night!


After rehearsal we all decided to stay out and have some fun! These are some of my favorite pics from the whole weekend!
Here is Chase the groom in the Texas shirt, John (one of his best buds), and Josh Farrell, our hometown friend.


Then for the girlies! I love them so much! Carrie, Lauren, and Me!


And the most handsome guys in the whole town of Fort Worth (especially that one on the right!), Bo, Josh, and Mark!


Finally the wedding day had arrived! Chase & Leah tied the knot at 11:00 in the morning so we had a full day ahead. Leah got up at 5AM to be ready in time for pictures. What a trooper! She looked beautiful and Chase was quite the dapper groom! Some of my very favorite things from their reception were their cake topper that looked just like them, the sketches on each table of something fun from their relationship (drawn by one of Chase's friends) and of course the UofA/Texas A&M cake since we love to give Leah a hard time about her Aggie roots!




Here we are with the newlyweds!


We sent them off in a sea of bubbles, including Mark literally following them to their car and blowing bubbles in the window.



Later that day we hopped on a trolley with the Farrell's and Bo and went to the adorable square near our hotel! We spent the afternoon out on a rooftop patio and then went to a really, really great dinner in a different part of town. Sunday we did a little shopping for the house and then hit the road back to see our little dude. Congrats to Leah & Chase! We had such a fun weekend getting to see a new town and celebrating your new marriage! We love y'all!

We've Grown & Moved!

Back to it! It looks like the last time I blogged was way back in 2008 when life was simple & sweet as newlyweds! Well, life has only gotten sweeter...

We've grown from a family of 2 (okay, 3 counting Jack!) to a family that includes a 16 month old busy boy! That's right, Dyer James was born on March 31st in 2010. It's been the greatest adventure of our lives and I must say....he's pretty fantastic! Life changes every day with him in it and it keeps us on our toes. Here is our sweet little man...


We've also recently moved! Just a small move across town, but it is taking our every extra minute right now as we get settled in to our hopeful "forever home" here in Fayetteville. We are loving the extra space for our little man to run & play at his own pace! Jack also has a much, much larger yard to run & play in!

Mark just started a new job at Kimberly-Clark about 6 weeks ago (yep, right when we moved) after being at Unilever for almost 5 years. J.Bailey Occasions is going through some new, exciting changes that will be announced soon {fingers crossed!}. It's been a blessing to have such a flexible job while toting a new "team member" around town.

My parents also recently moved from Fort Smith up to our stomping grounds! They are about 20 minutes away in Rogers, which is close to us and all of our Missouri family. I can't believe that they actually did it after 24+ years in The Fort. We love having them nearby and seeing them grandparent our little man. It's such a blessing that they are a part of his everyday life!

My sister, Jonna, also recently got engaged! We are in the beginnings of planning her Fall wedding and my, oh my, it's going to be beautiful.

So, stay tuned as I go back in time to catch up on life the past couple of years. No promises on being a 'regular' blogger here--too much pressure! Thanks for checking in!

Lots going on....

It is a gorgeous Sunday afternoon in Northwest Arkansas, and after a great morning filled with church, our friends, and some good ol' home cookin' from Momma Dean's...it is naptime. Oh, Mark just sat up on the couch, straight from his sleep, because something exciting happened on the Cardinals game on the tube. HA!

We have had lots of fun things going on lately. Between birthdays, mother's day, graduations, weddings, etc... we haven't had much time to ourselves. So, we promised each other that this weekend would be our weekend together. Friday night we went to Stomp at the Walton Arts Center, which was lots of fun! Then, a couple of my friends from home surprised me in town, so we met up with them on Saturday for brunch. We had a fun day cruising in the Jeep (sunburned shoulders for me!), before the hard work began. I did some gardening in the front, and picking up in the back. All the while, Mark was digging a trench for the 3rd time to fix our sprinkler system that Jack had pulled up. It took him all day, so I really hope it is still buried this morning. We went out for dinner at 9:00 and quickly hit the hay when we got home.

We have 28 days until our annual vacation to the Bahamas. It turns out that Jonna isn't getting to go with us afterall, but Richard is still going to come along. The only good thing about Jonna missing out is that Mark & I get the bedroom rather than the sleeper couch! WAHOO! But, we would much rather sleep on the sofa and have Jonna there. But since she can't....

Today is my mom, uncle (her twin), cousin, and sister's mother-in-law's birthday. Happy birthday to all of you! It was also my great-grandfather's birthday. In celebration of births, I doodled some baby names in church this morning and Mark rolled his eyes at me. He said he likes Jack. I have narrowed the names down to Mary Allison or Allison Kate, all after my grandmothers. Hope we don't have a boy first. :)

I am super busy with work right now, and we just received BIG news from Mark's job on Friday. He has had a change of jobs (for the better) to be a forecaster and demand planner for Unilever. He will be doing this work on deodorants! So, keep on buying your Degree, Dove, and Axe! I am so proud of him!

Jack is doing well. He is singing in the back yard as we speak. He has an unusual talent with this. He ate Mark's sunglasses case yesterday, but thankfully the glasses made it out okay.

What's New...

Hi everyone!

I recently realized how upset when I get on to read blogs and they haven't updated in weeks...and then I realized I haven't updated mine in MONTHS! Yikes...

Let's see, let's see. Wedding season has officially kicked in for me. My first wedding of the year this year was Lauren & Stuart's gorgeous April 5th day. It was "as close to perfect as it could be" according to the FOB. (father of the bride) Next on my list was Race for the Cure, in which I formed a team called Brides for the Cure. Together with Dale & Amy we had a team of over 60 people and raised over $2500! We finished in the TOP 10 teams out of 200 in our first year. The race was this weekend and we had a great time. Couldn't have been better weather! Coming in 2 weeks I have Lauren & Dusty's wedding, a possible NYC trip to see my good friend PB for his birthday, then the LIVE UNITED fashion show for the United Way (I got to design!), then Abby & Chris' wedding on May 24. In June I have Suzanne & Ben's wedding and VACATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! One wedding in July and then a couple of months off!

We are so excited to head to the Bahamas again (Mark hasn't been back since our honeymoon) and this time my WHOLE family gets to go! I couldn't be happier. All 6 of us haven't been there in several years. It's going to be a blast. Now that my sister & I are both married, it's a fight over who gets the bedroom and who gets the foldout in our condo. We think mom & dad should get the fold out bed and the 2 of us couples get the bedrooms! HA!

I have to say that I do have the best hubby in the entire world. He has been so helpful and wonderful through this busy time. He had his 25th birthday a few weeks ago and I actually, for once, surprised him with his present! I was so proud, and it brought tears to my eyes. He is looking forward to a cool hunting trip in the next few weeks, and a fun summer spending weekends at the lake.

We are hoping to make a trip up to Kansas City soon, and Carthage too. We haven't seen my side of the family since Christmas and I am having withdrawals.

Jack is still crazy. He weighs 100 lbs now. I had a breakdown last night after he smacked me in the face--I started crying and decided I was done with having a dog. Mark was impressed with my serious "take down" skills as I flew across the room and tackled Jack. But then, Jack decided to apologize and I decided I loved him again. Mark completed the fence around the air conditioning unit since Jack destroyed that as well. Our backyard is (knock on wood) somewhat Jack proof now with mini-fences all around. I just have to take a deep breath when I think about Jack. I do love him, he is just a lot of work. We're reluctantly thinking about a friend/bro/sis for Jack to calm him down & so he would have a play mate. Do I want to have another huge dog on my hands? No. I want a little one that I can dress up like a human. Mark says no.

Well, I have to go and run some errands. Gotta get outside on this gorgeous day! Here is a fun pic of us at the Dave Barnes concert a few weeks ago. Thanks, Dale & Meredith, for the tickets & the invite!!