From Houston to California!

Life seems to be settling down a bit so I will try to catch up on what has been a whirlwind past few weeks.  Let me start off by saying how incredibly grateful I am to our families and friends who helped us pack and move-without them we would still be knee high in boxes in Houston!!  David's mom spent almost a week with us and did an awesome job with the kitchen, and babysitting Bella while I went to the dentist, and helping me get Bella's 6 months photos done....etc,etc.  Don't Bella and Kiki look cute in matching green?!

The weekend before we left was my 30th birthday.  My old college roommates and wonderful hubby were nice enough to throw me a little party.  The girls did an awesome job of making a food spread I was able to eat on my ridiculous milk-protein free diet (minus the ice cream you see in the photo!)....I felt very special.  Yea, for fun times with old friends....gonna miss you guys!!!

The last few days in Houston I had to have one final playgroup fix.  Bella sure is gonna miss her besties, Hunt and Maddie.  I felt so blessed to have had mom's with kids the same age as Bella to hang out with over the past 6 months....it was one of the highlights of each week!

My mom, dad, and brother helped us finish with the final packing and cleaning of our condo.  It was so surreal standing in our empty living room....Bella's first home....a tear!

So the plan was for David and my brother to drive a huge moving truck with all our stuff, towing one car, while my parents drove the other car to California.  Bella and I had the awesome luxury of staying with Kiki and flying out to meet them in Cali.  After much trouble with the truck they made it to Cali in 2 and a half days (and we got a fat monetary compensation for all the truck trouble which makes this mama happy!!).  Bella and I really enjoyed our time with Kiki...it was so relaxing-we shopped, hung out, and indulged in Twilight movies in the evenings!! 

Bella and I flew out the 4th of July and I was pretty nervous about the flight since it was me, a baby, and a whole lot of baby gear but luckily the flight wasn't full so I could bring on Bella's car seat and she slept most of the way and otherwise did awesome.  Landing in California I couldn't put my brain around the fact that this was my new home....it helped knowing my parents were going to be with us the next week to help us settle in.  David began his new job 2 days after arriving...he was exhausted, but is loving it.

Bella enjoying time at Kiki's house:

We've arrived in Cali and it's COLD!!!!

On the last day of my parent's visit we went to Half Moon Bay....a cute little town on the coast where we had lunch and then went to visit a light house.

Grandpa and Bella all bundled up:

Since being in Cali we have made many Walmart, Target, and grocery store runs! But we have also THOROUGHLY enjoyed the amazing weather and the incredible number of things there are to do around here.  Every weekend there is a farmer's market going on and some sort of festival.  It is so nice that David FINALLY doesn't have to work weekends and we can take time to go do things as a family.  We really feel like we are on a long vacation!!

Bella is sitting so well now, she can sit in shopping carts and highchairs and LOVES it!

We have a great little park just down the street that Bella and I go to every morning.  This is her trying out the swing for the first time.

Amidst all our playing we still have a lot of unpacking to do....Bella is quite the little helper!

There are dozens of places to hike around here.....and I am NOT a fan of physical activity unless it means walking miles around Disney, but this was truly a breathtaking hike around a lake with the mountains in the background.  It was quite hot and Bella was getting a little uncomfortable.

We are very close to the Stanford University campus and they have a wonderful outdoor mall that is fun to walk around.  There are flowers and water fountains everywhere.  Such a stark contrast to Houston...here the weather is so phenomenal everything is geared towards enjoying the outdoors and it is all so lush and beautiful.  It's just too hot in Houston to do this!

So that's our past few weeks in a nutshell. I admit I was so apprehensive about moving here and being away from friends and family. But it really has been so much fun; not a dull moment and there are so many ways to get plugged in here. I am very excited about what the Lord has in store for us here for the next year.

I will try to be better about taking more photos...we indulged in iPhone's so I have no excuse not to have camera access at all times!