The Holiday Season!

Wow- I have taken quite a hiatus from blogging lately!
With Joel being back to work full time, social engagements and the kids hit with their fair share of sicknesses over the last 2 months, I haven't had a whole lot of extra time on my hands to blog about our life!
So much has happened!
Finn is full on running and climbing like crazy and getting into EVERYTHING. He is quite mischievous and I think we will have our hands full with him for years to come. His personality is coming out a lot more lately, too. Like his brother, very stubborn and active but still very much mama-centric when he's tired or hurt. I have been told by most people that he's the happiest baby they know (except they haven't seen him in a carseat screaming at full blast). But for the most part, he is extremely happy and smiley!
Gus is developing into the curious and loving boy we always knew he would be. He loves his trucks, organizing his trucks, counting his trucks and singing "Wheels on the Bus". He also is obsessed with skyping right now, especially with Opa and Oma...he asks multiple times a day, it's pretty cute.
Now onto Christmas!
We had a wonderful Christmas full of our very own family traditions that we are creating for the boys. We went and got a huge Christmas tree up Skyline this year and it was an awesome family tree farm and the boys even got to see snow on the ground! It was cold, but Gus had an absolute blast running in the snow and "approving" our tree. Finn wasn't a fan of the snow-at all. But he did like being hauled around in mama's arms the whole time.
Gus was very, very shy with Santa this year and Phoenix of course sat right on his lap without an issue. They both got SPOILED for Christmas with Gus getting a new bike and Finn getting a ride on jeep...not to mention the mounds of presents they both got from Grandpa Dale and Oma/Opa. Needless to say our house is over-run with new toys.
On that note, we also did our yearly tradition of "paying it forward"/ "Random Acts of Kindness" with the boys. It's something we have vowed to do every Christmas season to teach them the "true meaning" of Christmas (and no I am not talking about Jesus, I am talking about giving rather than receiving). Having almost lost my life in childbirth in late 2012, I really saw how important it was to be kind and giving because this life can be gone in the blink of an eye- just like that. It got me to reflect and think about the legacy I want to leave when I pass away. I want my children to know that kindness and empathy should always be at the forefront of our lives and that we should give while seeking nothing in return. This to me is the true nature of not only Christmas and the holiday season, but of life in general. I hope when my body leaves this earth that I am remembered for leaving this tradition with my kids and that they will continue to honor me by living a life of kindness.
So here are some of the things we did during the month of November/December:
1.) We dropped off homemade whoopie pies for Thanksgiving and a Thank You note at Portland Providence Maternity nursing station (these nurses and the obgyn there were the ones that went out of their way to heal me after labor with Phoenix and I am forever grateful for them.). This main nurse on duty was ECSTATIC to get these little treats as a token of our gratitude. That made my day. I had tears in my eyes when we left the hospital. It just feels good to make someone's day with the simplest homemade gesture!
2.) We gave some more cookies to the Hawthorne Fire Station and the firefighters on duty there and thanked them for being true heroes. They were very grateful and even gave Gus a personal tour of the fire station and let him sit and "drive" the big firetruck. It was awesome!
3.) We made several stops at our midwifery to drop off goodies for the hardworking 24/hour on call midwives. They have an amazingly hard job and of course there are many women there that will forever hold a very special place in my heart for everything they have done for me and my family throughout my two pregnancies and two labors.
4.) We gathered up a HUGE garbage bag full of toys, baby clothes and books to donate to a domestic violence shelter. These places are often in dire need of these items as women who are leaving abusive relationships often bring nothing but the clothes on their back with them.
We made this act of kindness really sink in by explaining as best we could to August what we were doing and having him pick out all the toys and books to give away that were his. This really will instill in him the act of giving hopefully!
5.) I gave a friend $100 to help her buy her daughters some presents for Christmas because her husband had just lost his job before the holidays. Although I consider this being a good friend and not a random act of kindness I'm adding it on here in hopes that will inspire someone to do the same for their friend who could use the help!
6.) I stalked the pinterest board of the head receptionist at Alma Midwifery (who has been nothing but kind to our family and was always fun to talk with when we went in to our appointments) and made her a canvas art mod podge of  a weiner dog that she had pinned (she owns these type of dogs and LOVES them). When we dropped it off to her (she had NO idea I had made an exact replica of one of her pins), her facial expression was gift enough for us! I hope she loved it, and I think she did!
7.) We gave a plate of food to someone who was homeless on a bitterly cold night in Portland.
8.) We made Christmas cupcakes and delivered them to our local firestation right down the street from our house.
9.) Our last holiday act of kindness will be this weekend and will involve us dropping off flowers and a card to the hospital and having them give it to a patient who has had no visitors.
By listing these, I want to bring attention not to what we did, but to inspire other people to do the same. So many people these days focus all their energy on hate, negativity and bitterness and all that does is breed more of the same. I wish more people would take 1 day out of the year to just "be nice" and go out of their way to make someone's day. You never know what positive impact a small, random act of kindness can do for someone.

And now I say "good riddance" to 2013. Not because it was a bad year (it certainly wasn't) but because 2014 is going to be the year where I become even better, even healthier and hopefully we will adding to our family in the coming months! I'm always working on being a better mama, a better wife, a better friend and this year is no exception. I can't wait to see what 2014 has in store for the VanValkenburg-Huff's! Happy New Year!