Then And Now

Eight months ago today our in-country rep presented us with Ashton's Ethiopian passport, birth certificate, and official adoption decree listing us as his parents and authorizing him to return to the US with us. It feels like ages ago and yesterday all at the same time. I've been working on portfolio that documents pictures of Ash at each month as well as his "firsts", and looking back at the pictures I'm amazed at how much he's changed and how much has happened in 8 short months.

Ashton then, first view (11 months), updated photo (12 months) and with us (13 months)

And now (21 months)



Ashton Then, his first looks at mommy and daddy (13 months)



And now, with mommy (20 months) and daddy (19 months)



Then, his first bath (13 months), and bath time now (17 months and 21 months)

His first swim (13 months) and first sled (19 months), and if dad gets his way there will be a picture of his first time skiing tomorrow! (Yes, I checked, they do make ski equipment for 25 lb not quite 2 year olds...)



And perhaps most importantly, Ash's first shoes (13 months), my shoes (17 months) and dad's shoes (19 months)

And these are just a sampling, a very small taste of the volume of pictures I have in Ashton's portfolio of "Months and Firsts" that I'll eventually put together in print form to document our first year together. That's going to be one heavy book of photos.

(PS, If you don't mind me making one small suggestion that could save you hours of time later, create a folder on your desktop/hard drive titled "Months and Firsts". Then, each time you snap a pic of a first or get a cute shot near or on your child's monthly birthday just title and store them in this folder for future use. I title mine beginning with his age in months so that they display chronologically, then add an event or other identifier after to help recall the moment. For example, 13Months_FirstSwim. Just an idea that may have spawned from personal experience of wading through thousands of photos just to find one for each month and a handful of firsts...)