Thanks for your help. Sorry it took me so long to respond, I have had to take care of some stuff that required me to be away from my computer.

I'm unsure exactly what you mean when you say.

2. However, the switch does not cross Rx,Tx, rather it connects over to pins 2,3, and only
    if you solder in jumpers yourself for the alternate-position. So, the switch has to be in the
    default [pin 0,1] position, and you need to cross-wire pins 0,1 using external jumpers.

I'm not sure where I need to solder in these jumpers and if you mean for me to connect pins 2 and 3 from the Arduino to the shield and how/where you want me to cross wire it. Sorry if this is a stupid question, but would you mind just laying out where all the jumpers go? For example: arduino,p# -> shield,p#

Thanks!

the shield that I'm using is: https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10854
It says you can connect it to 5v and it regulates the voltage down to 3.3v. I'm able to communicate between the 2 Xbee's that i have so i would think that they power that it is provided is okay.

I don't know how easy it is to see in the picture but i have the switch at DLINE which i believe is the USB side. However, I have tried it both ways as well as switching the wires up. Being that i have the switch to DLINE and the TX -> TX and RX -> RX in the form Arduino -> shield. Am I supposed to do it like TX -> RX and RX -> TX instead as I had it in the first picture that i posted?

I'm using Putty as my terminal  software and it is configured as followed: http://i45.tinypic.com/29l1nxx.jpg
The device is set up as follows: http://i49.tinypic.com/535uhe.jpg

Actually those are a little mixed but have all the information none the less.

Okay i have tried doing what you said (I believe). However it's still unable to communicate over serial.

Here is how it is now wired: http://i49.tinypic.com/33yklmu.jpg

Thanks for your assistance!

Thanks for the reply, Ive tried taking that out already and i still can't get it to work. Is there anything else after that I need to do either on the Arduino, the shield or on the computer to make it know that you are trying to communicate with the Xbee correctly?

I have tried to just put the shield on top of the Arduino and wiring it up like this:
http://i49.tinypic.com/jidq44.jpg  I tried just putting in the image and it looked awful on this elderly forum software.

Edit: Is it maybe that it's still using the Arduino drivers?

I'm trying to set the baud rate of the of an Xbee using an Arduino and it seems like it should be an easy task using terminal software or X-CTU. However, I've been unable to connect to the Xbee using the Arduino as the serial device that is connected to the computer to set the baud rate. I'm mostly wondering if it's even possible to do this or if i need additional hardware outside the Arduino and the Xbee Shield from SparkFun to be able to communicate with the Xbee directly so that I can set the baud rate. I'm using an Uno R3 if that helps. I can provide any additional information per request.

Thanks for your assistance!