snow day!

i only remember three or so snow days when i was younger, but they were the best days ever! so when we got a call from the school district at 6am{!}, i was pretty excited for the kids. and even better, cory got a snow day from work too! 

needless to say, we had tons of fun in the snow. this year our snow creation isn't frosty, it's a huge snow fort, whose only entrance is a tunnel. as the snow kept coming and coming, the fort got bigger and bigger. cory also used ryan's snowblower to harvest snow from the neighbor's! it's a toss up who had more fun, the kids or cory! 

the snow continued on through early saturday morning, so more playing in the snow for everyone. the girls, anna and i went sledding, cory and connor went skiing, and then the whole fam {minus will}  and anna went ice skating! little known fact...{at least to me even after 9 years of marriage}...cory is a really good ice skater!! he totally smoked me. yes i was the one inching along and he was the one zips along and sprays snow on you as he stops!

snow harvesting.

a huge icicle at grandmas!

poor else was frozen by the end!

cousins.

elsie was born just 7 weeks after her cousin carson. about a week or two after she was born we sized the two of the up. carson looked massive against elsie!

then last night will got to meet, or probably better said, reunited, with his new cousin thomas. born just 8 weeks apart. pretty fun to have cousins so close in age!

will's big day.

we had will's baby blessing yesterday. it was such a beautiful day, surrounded by friends and family. will is such a sweet happy boy. we sure do love him!

will and his namesake, grandpa packer. 

is gpa will's namesake or the other way around?

december instagrams.

this was what our december looked like.

homemade ornaments.

movie night.

will @ 1 month.

mabel's christmas dance recital.

connor as "blitzen".

rocket launching with the scouts.

sicko-s. 

elsie wore 3 blankets out this month. 

she loves to rub the satin tag on her cheeks.

christmas bread.

sisterly love.

connor making such sweet notes.

the last note found on the ceiling.

happy dreams.

setting up the nativity.

santa and his elf.

new jamms and sleep next to the tree.

ski pass for connor.

movie night. cars 2. connor's collection.

winter wedding.

will meets gpa jaxon.

evidence of the blankies wearing out.

eagle hunting with new christmas binoculars.

welcoming will.

sweet baby will was born november 5, 2012 at 3:13pm. he was 7 lbs 9 oz and 21 inches long. i still need to go back and check, but i think that is what connor weighed. that's terrible to not remember, but i don't. he was born on a monday. i was induced. we went in at 7 to get started. things moved along nicely and he was born just after 3. the big surprise was that he was a BOY!! we were totally expecting him to be a girl. 

i was worried that he'd leave the hospital without a name because we really hadn't discussed boy names {we really thought he was a girl}. but before the second night in the hospital we had his name picked out. william russell brown. william is a family name on both sides, the closest being: william smith {grandma packer's dad, will's great-great grandpa} and william knecht {grandma clark's dad, another great-great grandpa}. and then russell for the middle after my dad {russell, will's grandpa}. 

it was hard for me to feel like we could name him just after him being born. with the others, we had their names picked out before they were born. it was a process of winding down possibilities and then finally deciding on one and letting it gel for a while. i was worried that this "gelling process" would take a while because we didn't know boy or girl. but sure enough, we created a list in the hospital, winded it down, picked one and let it gel, and surprise, surprise, it worked! 

we sure do love this little guy!

getting ready to head home!

obviously, these pics are not in order. just moments after being born.

connor was my bud! all he wanted to do was just come and sit next to me.

so excited to be a family of 6! crazy.

such a proud daddy.

this cute sign was taped to will's crib when we got home. connor has been loving making signs and notes for people lately, and when after he first met will at the hospital, he went right home and made this for him. let's just say, that connor was, and still is, super excited that will is a boy!