Goodwill

When Nolan moved to the States not only did he not speak English, but he didn't have a car and wasn't allowed to have a job for several months. Thankfully we lived next door to a shopping center that had a grocery store, Goodwill, and several other small shops. Nolan fell in love with Goodwill. He was shocked at the brand new to slightly used things people would give away. Often you can find things that still have the original tags on them. I can't say it is his favorite store anymore, but he still stops by there often.

The other night right after dinner Nolan mentioned he wanted to run by Goodwill to get some new work shoes. He works with water a lot, so there in no need in getting nice expensive new shoes. I reluctantly agreed to go with him and brought along a fussy-ready for bed Santi. MAN am I glad I did. Not only did I find a pair of long-johns in Santi's size (to die for), but we found Baby Boden pants ($42 new), several baby Gap shirts, some cute Old Navy pants, and the greatest Batman rain boots ever. Santi has worn the boots every waking moment since.

If I keep finding such amazing deals Santi may never get new clothes! I guess thats the best part though. All these things LOOK brand new. Haha! No one would ever know I didn't spend a fortune. Thank you Goodwill. And thank you everyone who donates adorable clothes so I can buy them for $1.

Adorable pants.

The shirt on the middle right is my favorite. It has little arm "tattoos".

The boots that he loves with all his heart. He now points to Batman when I ask him where he is.

The best part is this is what I woke up to this morning. Nolan let me sleep in and this
 is what he was wearing when I woke up. Be still my heart. I could burst!

Say cheese!

I can't even stand it! This is what the little pants does when I tell him to smile for the camera! He is completely and totally edible! And I am an out of control mom who can't get over the cuteness!

GOAL!

I knew it was only a matter of time. At 15 months old Santi scored his first goal! He could do this ALL day long! He does expect applause, praise, hugs, and screaming "goal" when he scores! Im sure our neighbors love us!!

Oh the faces

Santi may not be able to vocalize a whole lot yet, but man can he get his point across with facial expression. Every once in a while he can be shy, but most of the time he wants to be the center of attention. He has noticed that when he makes silly faces people laugh. And when people laugh he gets attention. Thus, millions of silly faces...on command! Each of these are from this morning.

He now make the "stink eye" on command. And yes, he does this when I say "stink eye"!

Also he does "the face" on command. That always gets a laugh. I thought the lady at the bank
was going to fall out of her chair the other day when he did it for her.

This is the "smile for the camera" face. And yes, he ALWAYS does this one with his eyes closed.

An accidental real smile!

Presh!

Who you lookin at!"

Señor tiny is gone!

What happened to my tiny little baby? He grew up into a toddler too fast!! He was so munchy and little and now he has longer legs than me! He is HUGE!

My little karate kid!

My giant man-baby!

Its ALL about the futbol!

There once was a little boy who played futbol barefoot on the dirt streets in Lima. That little boy grew up and continued to play, he played semi-pro, pro, and eventually started coaching he loved the game so much. Well, that boy had a baby. The first present he ever bought his baby was a futbol. The little baby never stood a chance, he was destined to love the game too!

We were all shocked when the tiny baby started kicking the ball at only a few months old. He had just learned how to sit up by himself. Once he was able to walk he started kicking the ball. Only time will tell the rest of the story...

He wasn't even a week old and he was already taking pictures with his first futbol!

Matching jerseys!

Learning to sit up so he can play!

Loving on the ball!

Adorable little munchkin!

Where ever there is a little Santi, there is a ball close by!

Playing in the park.

His jersey finally fits! With matching socks! My favorite part!

Nolan's dreams starting to come true.

Even Easter has a soccer theme. 

Obviously he swings with the ball.

After kicking the ball the first time he saw that I had the camera out and came to make a face for the picture! He is such a little poser! Then if you listen closely, soon after I say goal, (when he is by the tan chair) you can hear him say "pelota" which means ball in Spanish.

Even pregnant with a ball!

We even have bloopers! Have you ever seen the commercial of Ronaldinho from when he was a kid? He does AMAZING tricks and goals. Well, I think when Santi is famous and the best soccer player in the world this video should be part of his commercial!

15 months

All my life I heard that the second you see your child you fall madly in love. Its the only person in your life you love without having to get to know first. Im not going to lie, it didn't really happen like that for me. I have a feeling Im not the only one, but maybe one of only a few. Its not that I didn't love Santi, of course I did. I loved him before I knew him, but it didn't happen as everyone else said.

The moment I saw my baby for the first time I felt odd. I felt as if he was someone else's child. It was all a little too surreal! I thought he was great, but not really real. It was such a weird feeling. As the months have gone by and I have gotten used to the fact that I do have a child I have fallen more and more in love with him! I feel like now I understand what everyone was talking about before.

Santi is the greatest thing that has ever happened to Nolan and myself. He is such a little sinner, from day one, but he is so perfect at the same time. I am officially one of those moms. You know the ones? The ones who think their child is the greatest thing that has ever happened to planet earth. Everyone else is wrong though because Santi is the greatest thing!! Haha! It can be so annoying to hear other people talk about how amazing their child is...and yet that is what I do.  Santi is all I can hardly think about. What a precious gift from God he is to me! He is totally making me a different person.

He is a very smart little boy and knows how to win my heart! He just recently started
handing out hugs and kisses freely! He melts me!

Little man is 15 months old today. The first few months went by sooooo slowly, but now time is flying by! I can't believe my tiny little baby can run, kick the soccer ball, play with cars, laugh at us doing silly things, make silly faces, dance, do puzzles, enjoy books, and have such a great personality. He is too young for all of those things!!!! He was just born like yesterday! How is this possible?

He LOVES puzzles!

To celebrate being 15 months, we went to the doctor. Im not sure that is what Santi would have chosen for the day, but its what we had to do. You would have thought the world was ending when the doc had to look in Santi's ears. Bless his heart! Lets just say he isn't a fan of getting checked out. All is good though. Mr. Pants is very healthy! He is in the 25-50th percentile for weight and 75-90th for height! He is above average in everything they check for at this age including fine motor skills and language development. Thats my boy!

Here is my favorite video of Santi thus far in life. He is laughing so hard he can hardly breathe. He is pretty sure that his Papi hung the sun, moon, and the stars. He cries every day when "dada" leaves for work and screams for joy when he comes home.

My redneck, tan, blonde, Peruvian child.