Ginger Bread House

Pierce has been asking all month to do a ginger bread house. My mom bought him a Wilton kit last week so we embarked on making it today. We started it when I put Holt down for a nap this afternoon, thinking it would be an hour activity and then Pierce and mommy could have our quiet time. Well, we completed it at 8:30 tonight. Who knew you had to let parts of it dry for an hour and then two at at time before you could complete it. Pierce loved decorating it and we both enjoyed the left over candy that we just couldn't find a place for. I do think it was a wise choice to do it when Holt was down, I can only imagine the mess and fighting that would of evolved.

Video Two

so i realized this is really dark after i watch it but try to look for Holt's movements if you can...

Latta Christmas Show

This made my night tonight. I was out walking and came in to this performance by the boys. They were on stage (we will have to work on our stage lighting next time) and Pierce was practicing his song for the Christmas show they are doing at school. I have been begging him to sing it for me for 2 weeks now and then I come in and he's doing it for daddy. It made me melt. The second video is of Jason rapping and Pierce going along in his mircophone while Holt dances. I wish you could see Holt dancing better, if I can get them to do it again I will retape.

Thanksgiving, Spaghetti, Chewing, and Lesson Learned

Check out Holt's nose, only Holt could get the spaghetti up his nostril..

Brody pushing Holt

We went to Durham for Thanksgiving. The boys enjoyed playing with their cousins. We did attempt to get a picture of all of them but that didn't turn out so well.

How can a child chew food in his mouth for literally 15 minutes straight without swallowing it while at the same time eating macoroni and cheese from the center and swallowing that part? Pierce is my 'good' eater of our boys these past few months. He almost always tries what I put on his plate and will always eat at least part of his vegetables and fruit. However, he has started this new thing where if he doesn't like what he's eating he chews on it FOREVER and it totally grosses me and Jason out. We will be playing in the den 20 minutes after dinner and see there is still a wad of food in the corner of his mouth, GAG!

Lesson learned...

I took the boys to the nature museum last Wednesday and then we went to the prk to play afterwards. It was pretty cold so we drove up to the park. After we had been playing about 30 minutes I notice lots of police officers in the parking lot with vest on. So I ask another mom what they are doing. She says "they are doing a license check right in front of the parking lot and using this lot to pull people over in." Great..since I didn't bring my wallet, therefore I don't have my license. The lady is with her family and feels sorry for me so offers her husband to drive my car out and then I can drop him off around the side. I say that ok, thinking oh they'll leave soon or I can figure something out. Well, one by one everyone leaves the park except this one family and they are still checking every car driving past and coming in the park. So I relent and ask for help..the wife says she'll drive my car out since she has her license, her family will follow us down the street and get her. The whole time we are getting in the car Pierce is saying "Mommy are we going to go to jail." So I quickly give him a snack hoping he won't repeat these words when they stop to check her license. They ended up not even stopping us, I guess they figured who would drive out of here without a license. The sweet lady told me her husband is a DA and he said they probaly would of given me a ticket and made me wait for someone to pick me up so I did appreciate the 'lift.' All that to say..always keep your license on you.

Please and Jumping

Holt finally said please this past week and its the cutest thing. He also said Pierce but prefers to call him some version of brother. This is also a video of him jumping. He squats all the way down, jumps, and lands smack on his bottom and it doesn't bother him a bit.

More Birthday Pics

This was my first attempt at a slide show. I tried to put together pictures of Pierce from the past 4 years. Enjoy watching our boy grow!

Happy 4th Birthday Pierce!!

I can hardly believe my baby is 4 years old. Wow..where does time go? Four has really hit me because I feel like there is no baby left and he is turning into this big boy. Pierce is so full of life and has the biggest heart and sweetest spirit, he makes us so proud. I have to tell a sweet story from today. He now has his 'quiet time' in the play room. He had been up there playing for a while and I went up there to read while he played to be up there with him. I fell asleep while he was playing and woke up to him taking the blanket off the couch to cover me up and then he layed down beside me and we both slept another hour! I hope he will always be able to lay with his mommy and be my buddy.
We had a big weekend and birthday day. Saturday we had his firetruck birthday party, he loved it. Mom Mom and Pop Pop stayed the night and took us to the pancake house for breakfast, Pierce's favorite. He got 4 candles on his pancakes. Daddy took today off today and we started it off by going to get donuts. We went to Ray's Splash Planet, the boys had a blast, and then had lunch at Chick-fil-a. Gran and Pop came over for pizza and we opened there presents and his present from Aunt Arturina. You will see his smile in the picture, she managed to fine a game called "Pass the Trash" on Ebay. Its a Milton Bradley game from 1974! We just played our first game, I must say we all enjoyed it, thank you Aunt Arturina and Sandy!!

Dress Up

I am finally uploading pictures from my camera from August on and came across these pictures. I guess this is a boy's version of playing dress up. Pierce came up with this outfit on his own and an hour late Holt recreated it.

Here's a funny Pierce story. Last night when we were getting them out of the bathtub, Pierce was saying somthing about using money to pay a babysitter (you think he's bored with me?). So I said, "You want me to use your money in your drawer to get a babysitter for you guys?" He said, "no, that money is only for broken houses or broken windows." Bless his heart, he broke a friend's window throwing the ball through yhe window several months back. Being my first experience with a broken window and trying to teach a lesson I had him give me a couple dollars out of his drawer of money(being change and dollars that relatives send him), to help pay for the window. Maybe this was a little harsh?

Fire time

We took advantage of a chilly night last week and had our first fire of the year. Pierce loved having fires last year, as it was our first year with a 'real' fireplace. He's been asking all year when can we have one. As you can see from the picture they were both pretty fascinated. And yes we had a fireman on hand in case it got out of control.

Thank you..see post below

Thank you and letting the air out

The first video is of Holt saying thank you. Its not quite words but sounds that mimic the word. Pierce imitates it perfectly. He refuses to say please which is driving me crazy but I can only laugh when he starts to giggle every time I say please. I'm not so sure what is so funny about saying please but he always just giggles when I ask him to say it. The second video is Holt 'letting the air out' of his belly. Jason has been doing this with him for several months and it makes me laugh every time I see it.

Halloween

An attempt to get 7 boys and one girl to sit still for a picture in costume

Here are some pictures of the boys from Friday night. They loved being in costume and enjoyed having three chances to dress up this week.

Duck Duck Goose

This is not the best of videos but I was trying to capture a typical game of 'duck duck goose' at our house. Pierce loves it and Holt does too, but doesn't quite get the concept. As soon as we say we are going to play he starts running around saying "duck, duck, duck." Then when its Pierce's turn he starts chasing whoever is running around. When we tell him its his turn then he decides to sit in the circle.

Snow Cones, Lions, Chips, and Tour Buses

Our neighborhood had a fall picnic this past Saturday. The boys had their first snow cone and loved every last drop. Pierce also got his face painted like a lion and was practicing his roar in this picture.
These were some funny comments made by Pierce on the way to church on Sunday...
"Mommy look at that big school bus over there". I said to him, its actually not a school, it’s a tour bus. "Oh what’s it going to tear down"?
As we drove by Quail Hollow, Jason said I guess it won’t be called the Wachovia championship anymore. Pierce followed this comment with, "I want chips on my grill cheese". What?!

Brothers

Pierce had his first field trip for school on Thursday. We went to Windy Hill Orchard. It was a haul but we had really fun time. Went on a short hay ride, stuffed a scare a crow and had lunch with his preschool friends. He is doing really great this year and really seems to love school which means a lot to mommy. Mommy has really enjoyed her one on one time with Holt too.

Before I tell this story do know that my boys are normal and have their days where they fight over every toy in the house. However, there are some really sweet times between them that make me cherish having two boys and their relationship. By Wednesday, I had not found anyone to watch Holt so I could take Pierce on the field trip with just him. So I said to Pierce, "do you want mommy to find someone to watch Holt so I can take you by yourself or do you mind if Holt comes with us?" Without even a second guess he said, “Mommy let’s take Holt with us, I want him to come.” In my head I thought he’d want just me but he really loves his little brother. Whenever Holt is upset or throwing his daily tantrum, Pierce walks up to him and tries to calm him down but hugging him and trying to rationalize with him. Holt wants nothing to do with it but the gesture is sweet. Most mornings Holt gets up before Pierce. If I do so much as mention the name Pierce or brother, Holt runs to the stairs to look for him and starts giggling and calling for him. He follows him around like a puppy all day and imitates anything he does.

Road Course

I have to give Jason credit for his creativity when he has time with the boys. He had them outside in the cul-de-sac one afternoon and had set up this course for their scooter car. They loved it. I really enjoyed seeing my 6'4 husband on the scooter too, I was going to post it but videos take so long to post I think I'll wait. Thanks for the fun coaster car Aunt Susan!

Charleston

Mommy and daddy got three fun nights away in Charleston. Jason had a conference and mommy got to participate in all the great 'spouse' activities while he worked. I got an afternoon at the spa, went horse back riding, and went to a private Saks shopping and fashion show. I could handle this trip once a month! We also took a carriage ride to dinner one night with the group, had awesome food and a cooking lesson by the some of the chefs at The Charleston Grill. Thanks Gran and Pop for watching the boys, what a blessing to be able to get away and know the boys are in such good hands!

Dreams do come true...

We went to "Touch a Truck" in Huntersville today. And guess where we headed first? The trash truck!! The boys loved it and enjoyed all the other trucks as well. There was every kind of truck and transportation you could imagine there.

Pierce's T.V. debut...

My dad sent in a picture to the news station of one of him with his fish at the beach, it will be on this weekend, Saturday at 6:45am and Sunday at 8:45am on WCNC.

Pictures from Labor Day Weekend at the Beach

Here are some pictures I took of the boys on the beach with my dad's new fancy camera. Now I'm really wanting a nice camera and some lessons. I have the utmost respect for my photographer friends who can get great shots all the time, as you will see its not in my genes. But for my talent, I thought these were some cute ones..

Future Linebacker?

Holt had his 18 month old check up today. He weighed 28 lbs 1 oz and was 35 inches tall which is the 97% and 75%. It will be interesting to see if he stays this big, as Pierce has thinned out with age. If not Pierce needs to watch out for Holt in their wrestling matches.

Holt's Potty Trained!

Oh wouldn't that be so nice! He did, however find his brothers new underware in the laudry basket today. After trying to get his shirt and shorts off himself and then insisting I remove them he did manage (with mommy's help) to put on not one but two pairs of Pierce's underware this morning. I did leave the diaper on underneith to avoid a disaster.

Trolley Ride

Pierce and Emily

Daniel and Holt

Last week we took a ride on the trolley from South End. It was pouring rain but was still really fun. There were 24 of us, only 7 being adults! We had a short lesson and then about a 40+ minute ride. It was a little longer due to a truck hitting the gate at one the stops on East. The light rail and trolley had to wait for it to be fixed. After initially being told it could taken an hour, we were very much relieved when they fixed it much faster, as being stuck with hungry and potty ready toddlers would not of been too fun. The kids loved the trolley and afterwards we all headed to Rudino's for some pizza. Don't you know they loved us in the middle of rush hour!

I surrender!

Last week I realized that I am DONE trying to attempt pushing these two boys of close to 65 pounds and running. It was one thing in our old neighborhood where I could map out my 2 mile route and manage to avoid any hills. Then we moved here and there is no avoiding hills in this neighborhood as every street is a hill. I tried to do it at first and then shifted to running down the hills and walking up, and now I will only walk and that is when I feel really desperate to get out of the house and exercise.

I must say I have treasured the time with these boys in this stroller, as I have watched and felt them grow and listened to the conversation develop from me talking to them, to them carrying on their own conversation(if thats what you call it) and more often yelling matches. I really do think they could of woken people up sleeping in their houses some mornings. I can't count the number of waffles eaten, planes spotted, or times we've stopped to see the ducks, or most exciting seen the trash men or trees being cut down.

Not in their mommy's footsteps...

Here's the boys at the nature museum this week touching a SNAKE! If your wondering Pierce isn't wearing a necklace, its his gold medal in the hurdles, aka jumping the plastic cups.

Cute sayings..

Here are a couple funny things Pierce said this week...

On Friday, Jason was working from home, and Holt was down for a morning nap (yes I know I said I gave those up but 4 days this week he was up between 5:15 an 5:30, so that equates to having a morning nap) so I took Pierce out with me to run and errand. After we went to Gardenridge I said, "Pierce, we are going to go on a date, a bagel date. Pierce said, "What's a date mommy?" A date is when you spend special time with someone you care about, like sometimes mommy and daddy go on a date and go out to dinner. When you get MUCH older you will take girls on dates. To which Pierce replied, "Ok, but Mommy, I'll need directions."

One day I was getting Holt out of his crib and calling him cutie and being sweet with him. Out of no where Pierce said, "This is a cute one. (I guess referring to Holt?) I think we should buy a sister one day."

Veterans Park

We went to Veterans Park last week with some friends. They have a great spray ground, the boys loved it.

To nap or not to nap?

I think I’ve finally relinquished Holts morning nap. I know I’ve said this several times before. However, we are on day three with no nap. So I guess our morning outings can start even earlier now! This is good, bad, and sad. Good that we can get up and go and not wait for Holt to wake up midmorning. Bad, because one nap for most toddlers would mean a longer afternoon nap, oh, but not for my little Holt. I usually just get an hour or so at best. However, my biggest concern is when will I shower? And a little sad because this is my only one on one time with Pierce and he relishes in having mommy all to himself during this time.

Pierce has always been an incredible napper. Even up to a month ago at 3 ½ he would sleep at good two hours most days. But every good thing has to come to an end and it is. However, mommy is really having a hard time letting this go as it is her only maybe hour of peace and quiet each day. After getting really frustrated over being scared of the rain the other day then waking his brother up after his only 45 minute nap for the day, I decide the next day that I would turn his nap time over to quiet time. I was so proud of myself when I found him asleep after of 10 minutes of reading books. I was priding myself on look what happens when you give up a little control, but then I remembered I gave him Benedryl for his hives and it was the medicine not mommy’s doing that took him off to la la land.

New Word

Holt doesn’t have too many words yet that we understand well. However, only my son would include the word, TRASH, in one of the five words he will say. Pierce loves it! I think Pop and Gran are a little offended being that he said trash, before he said their names. :)
My aunt called this week and asked me, “How does it feel to have not one but two aspiring trash men?” We are reaching for the top in the Latta household. My mom assures me their aspirations will change when they get older. I’m hoping so, as Pierce also told me that he wants to fight the enemies when he gets older, not my first choice for my little boy.

Holt loves sunglasses, hats, boots, etc. Today he put Chase’s boots on at the pool and then took off my visor and sunglasses and put them on.

Ladies Man

This was Pierce Friday night with his friend Kelly, she lived across the street from us before we moved, and Pierce obviously thinks pretty fondly of her. They watched a movie just like this with arms wrapped around eachother, too cute!

Overcoming old fears, in with the new..

This is Pierce swimming at the pool today. We are still amazed because literally at the beginning of the summer he was scared to go in the big pool and now that's the only place he wants to be. We couldn't believe he wanted to go off the diving board, we are so proud of my him for overcoming his fears!

If only...we weren't scared of the rain. Pierce has this new fear of rain, however it only occurs if its raining at naptime or bedtime. Isn't that interesting? And you can't imagine how scary it is at those times but how much fun it is when we are playing in it outside or even watching it from inside during the day.

Trashmen

This is a video of the boys playing trashmen. They have been doing this all weekend. Holt adores anything his big brother does and he has really taken to this one. We love it because it is entertaining them but if I hear one more beep from a trash truck I may lose my mind!

Shoes

Holt loves shoes. Since I finally put him in them at 14 months he wants them on all the time. He brings them to me as soon as get dressed or he sees Pierce put his on. He has now mastered walking in his brothers size 10 crocs and even managed to somehow walk in mommy's tennis shoes.