Midwest to West

This past August God blessed us with the opportunity to move from Michigan to California. Driving across the country has always been a dream of ours and the experience was everything we had hoped it would be. Even though I have totally fallen off the blog wagon, I wanted to document this experience!

The first leg of our trip was from Michigan to Columbia, Missouri. We left later than we wanted to and drove well into the night. This wasn't really new territory for us so...no pictures. We woke up early, got breakfast at a local dive, and headed to Wichita, Kansas.

This was our shortest and most exciting day. My dearest friend was moving from Wichita to Texas the very next day so we were able to visit and stay overnight with them. Our boys had a great time playing and our husbands even offered to watch them so that we could go out and get some coffee and shop.

       

It was a much needed pit stop on our long road trip and a highlight of the trip for all of us.

        

We woke up early that morning and the guys walked a few blocks over to pick up donuts for us and then we hit the road. This was another long day for us as we were headed to Santa Fe, New Mexico. The first half of this journey (Kansas and Oklahoma) was boring and endless. There wasn't much to look at so I only took one picture.

    

New Mexico lived up to its name though! As soon as we crossed that border, we were enchanted. We spent hours pointing cool things out to each other. Neither one of us had seen this part of the country before and it had always intrigued us.

New Mexico was so green and beautiful with the hazy mountains as the backdrop.

The closer we got to Santa Fe, the milder the weather got. The view was amazing the higher up we went.

Don't mind our typical road trip bug covered windshield. This picture is exactly what I think of when I remember driving into Santa Fe.

Once we arrived, our first order of business was to get some dinner.  Xavier loved his quesadilla. 

Part II coming soon...

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Sleepy head

I have had the hardest time figuring out how to blog from my iPad but my parents are leaving for Florida again soon so I knew I needed to find a way to make it happen. I am proud to announce that, after multiple attempts and probably over 10 hours working at this, I have finally succeed! The Piedras are back, folks!

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7 Months

It has been another month since I've blogged! In my defense, we've had a lot going on in the last month. We had my sister's family staying with us, Christmas, and New Years. These events left me with zero time to blog, especially since blogging is last on my list of priorities. So, Xavier is now 7 months old!!! Woo! You're growing up so fast little squeak! Here are some updates:

He's getting better at sitting by himself. Sometimes he'll sit there for 20 minutes without tipping over. Other times, he totally lacks balance. I think it depends on how distracted he is by Louie : )
He's also army crawling now! He gets faster every day too!

At this age, he hates loud places, groups of people, and any strange man that greets him. We had to leave multiple Christmas functions because Xavier was so upset. He loves Louie. Louie makes him laugh harder than anyone else can. Dan is a close second. He still doesn't have any teeth, he's starting to wear 18 month clothes, and he's really started to play more this month. He's enjoying having books read to him and loves stealing toys from Louie. He's started to notice other babies as well. He'll spot another baby and smile and laugh at them. He's been such a joy this month! I've really enjoyed seeing him explore and push himself to learn and try new things. Although I'm sad that he seems to be growing up so fast, I love encouraging him and seeing his pride when he successfully tries something new. We love you so much, Xavier! Happy 7 months : )

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6 Months Old!

What do you know, I haven't blogged in a month : ) Yeah, sounds about right. Xavier has had a big month! He experienced snow, had his first Thanksgiving, got to know his Abi a little bit better, and sadly had his first cold! Here's what else he's been up to:

- He's wearing 12 month clothes and just today I got the 18 month cloths out because I expect he'll be in them before January.

- He no longer yells for no reason : )

- He grabs everything!

- He's really starting to play. We got all of his toys out and he's finally taking an interest in them. Oh, by interest I mean that he just puts them in his mouth but it's a start!

- He's getting close to sitting by himself. He can usually go a couple of minutes without tipping over but doesn't have prefect balance yet.

- He weighs 18.5 lbs. (80th percentile), is 27 inches long (80th percentile), and I didn't get his head circumference but they said it was 75th percentile.

- He still doesn't have any teeth.

- He's still a very serious thinker but is starting to laugh and smile a lot more, especially now that he's grabbing things and interacting more.

- He is the absolute joy of our lives and we couldn't imagine a greater gift from God!

We love you little squeak, happy 6 months : )

Oh, and happy 30th blog post to me! Not really notable but since I hate blogging, I'm pretty proud of myself!

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5 Months

Xavier is another month older already! He changes so much every month it just seems like time slips away so quickly. Here's what the squeak is up to:

- He yells the loudest and highest pitched yell you've ever heard and thinks it's hilarious. He's definitely found his voice and likes to play with it.

- He loves to jump. We're borrowing a little jumpy seat from his cousin Lane and he's really enjoying it.

- He doesn't get swaddled anymore. I think he'd still sleep better if I swaddled him because his arms wake him up at night when they are out but it was a battle wrapping him up and they don't even make swaddles big enough for such a tank : )

- He has finally noticed Louie and thinks that he's the most hilarious dog ever. Today I caught Xavier holding onto Louie's leg for dear life. He was such a good dog to just sit there and let it continue.

- He's not quite sitting on his own yet but he's pretty close.

- He thinks that his dad is hilarious.

- He found his feet!

- He likes to cuddle, be outside, listen to french children's songs, kick his legs, and yell. Did I mention that already?

- He is THE CUTEST kid in the whole world and we love him to pieces : )

Happy 5 months, handsome boy!

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5 Things

Here are 5 random things that you may or may not know about me.

1. I'm totally not into music. Don't get me wrong, I love music such as orchestra, symphony, percussion, or choir. What I mean when I say that I'm not into music is that I almost never turn music on in my car or at home. The reason that I say almost never is because I listen to music during the holiday season. Speaking of which, the Christmas station starts on Nov. 1! WOO!

2. I don't really like movies. I can name the movies that I like on one hand and I can't remember the last time that I went to the theater. I almost never watch movies. The reason that I say almost never is because I watch movies during the holiday season. What's up with me and Christmas? Anyway, movies usually make me feel like junk so I don't waste my time or money.

3. I think about Germany everyday. My experience there impacted my life more than I could have imagined. I gained a lot of wonderful things from the time I spent there. The greatest benefit was one of my dearest friends. She will be an important part of the rest of my life no matter how far apart we live.

4. I want to be just like my big sister. Most girls that have big sisters probably feel this way but I especially do. I think I've looked up to my big sister my whole life. Even when she told me that I was a robot or that my parents had wished that I was a boy, I thought she was awesome. I have the best big sister out there and I would be willing to bet money on that fact.

5. I have this thing for Chick-fil-a. To the point where I once actually drove all the way to Toledo, Ohio in hopes of finding one. Pathetic, I know...especially since I never found a Chick-fil-a there. Maybe it's just because we don't have it here in Michigan that it's become more special than it actually is. It's just a good Christian business that happens to have delicious food. If you've never been, you're probably better off never going because it will become a new obsession. Plus, you'll have to drive further than Toledo to find one.

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4 Months

I don't get much time on the computer these days which is why I haven't been posting much. I have 5 posts half way started that I'm hoping to complete in the next week. Wish me luck : ) Most importantly, I need to give a little 4 month update on the X-man.

- Although he's still quite serious, he's smiling and laughing a lot more.

- He rolls and rolls and rolls...when he feels like it.

- He weighs close to 18 lbs.

- He got to meet his Aunt Nave (more details in a post that is to come (see above)).

- He hates camera flashes, when people blow their nose, and anything that crinkles. When I say hate I mean HATE. He is terrified of these things and cries uncontrollably because of them.

- He still loves being outside even though it's colder out now. He really enjoys being all bundled up.

- He likes to do these really high pitched screams. He thinks it's hilarious.

- He's getting close to outgrowing his infant car seat, bath tub, swing, and changing table. Then what are we going to do?

- He's the most handsome kid we've ever seen : )

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