Thursday 22 April 2010

Ordinary

Round 26: Spring 2023
last update/next update

Evan is 34, Ione is 27 and Justin and Xavier are both 2.
(Lia, Asha and Olivia are all 26, Araminta is 60, Henry is 58, Finn is 22 and Declan is 2)

Narrated by Ione Moretti

I don't get to go out with my girlfriends as often as I used to but now that the twins aren't as little, I try to take some time for myself every now and then. I love playing pool.

Then we have our real catch-up session over dinner!

The most frequent topic last time was the impending birth of Lia's twins. We're all excited for her but I think I'm the most excited. I can't believe we'll both have twins in a few months time.

Lia and I like to tease Olivia and Asha about when they're going to get married and start pumping out babies. Olivia and Steve have been together for almost 8 years and Asha and Luc have been together for almost 10. It's about time, right?

That's usually followed by Asha dismissing us as "old married ladies" and then all of us dissolving into laughter.

If (when!) Olivia and Asha become "old married ladies" too, I hope we can still all stay close. These girls have been my friends since primary school!

I've been an old married lady for exactly 3 years now, which I can't quite believe! The time has passed by so quickly and it's been pretty wonderful.

Starting a family so early into the marriage was difficult but at least Justin and Xavier are sleeping through the night now! We can actually have a little uninterrupted time together once the twins go off to bed.

Evan is still such a great dad. He was so terrified when I got pregnant but he's been fantastic.

I think he used to be a little scared of being alone with them sometimes but he enjoys being with them more now. He does most of the twin stuff once he gets home from work, so I can relax. He's always done that, but he's less fretful bout it now.

I'm really excited that the boys are old enough to play with some of the toys I make now. It's so much cheaper for me to make them than buy them. Xavier still requires supervision though, because he likes to spin faster than his tummy can handle! He's a little daredevil, like Justin.

I'm back at work but only part-time, so I'm still home with the boys a lot. I don't know if it's because I'm not shouldering all of the child care any more, or because they're older but things are a lot less stressful.

Even when they start copping an attitude with me (who knew 2 year-olds could have attitudes?!), it's a breeze compared to dealing with newborns.

It's so hard to say goodbye to them when I go to work but I think I'm sadder than they are. I've organised my work schedule so that I only work on Evan's days off. That sort of thing is easy when your husband is your boss!

I was a bit worried about having two boys; I was always in awe that Evan's parents managed to raise FOUR! But Justin and Xavier are very sweet boys.

They get along so well with their cousin Declan. Finn and I try to get them together as often as we can.

Finn is living out in Exeter with Victoria and their kids. I think our parents were still hoping they'd move in with them after graduation but that was never going to happen. Finn's very independent, so he's liking it in the apartment, even though things are pretty tight, money-wise. Space-wise too, I imagine.

Speaking of my parents, we still can't get rid of them! I'm just kidding; we'll take all the help we can get!

It's just a little strange to walk into Justin's bedroom expecting to see him sleeping and instead he's getting cuddles from his grandpa.

Dad is an awesome grandpa though. He does way more than he needs to but it's definitely appreciated.

And Mum manages to give just enough parenting advice without sounding like she's nagging or being pushy.

Dad though, as much as I love him, is getting a little pushy about the grandchildren thing. He's 58 and he already has 4 but he wants another!

Some days I want to have a third and others, I think I'd be content with the two we've got. Evan doesn't feel any strong desire to expand our family but he would, if I really wanted to. So we don't know if we're done yet. I'll have to find a nice way to tell Dad to butt out so we can discuss it without any external pressure!

Notes:
  • Title is from Ordinary by You Am I. Wasn't expecting to find that one on Grooveshark but there you go! It's hard to find Aussie alternative stuff streaming online, especially from the early 90s like this song.
  • So how many pictures is too many when all you're shooting is 4 girls having dinner at the pub? Because I took over 40 and used a grand total of 5!
  • Henry is the one who invites himself over. Every single day. I teleported Araminta in. But they're both very involved grandparents.
  • Ione has the want for a baby, which I've locked but she also has a constant fear of a baby. So I guess she either thinks two is enough, or that's her Pleasure secondary at work. Henry really does want a fifth grandchild but whether he'll get one from Ione and Evan or whether he'll have to bank on Finn and Victoria (or Elspeth, lol!) is up in the air right now. Ione's fear will not necessarily stop me from letting them try. I might take them off BC next round, once the boys are at school, and just see if they try of their own accord.

15 comments:

  1. Well, you know how I stand on babies and sim reproduction... the more the better :P So feel free to let them pop out babies, I won't mind :D
    Evan and Ione are so sweet, and so are the twins, you really manage to get some good genetics out of your sims!

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  2. It's really cool how intertwined your sims are, that they could have friends from elementary school that grow up with them. I just am in awe at your dedication. I tried doing something similar, but I'm only playing a legacy in my hood, so I gave up because it was hard enough for me to focus on one family, let alone the number you have. Also, that picture with Justin and Henry is adorable, the way Justin's hair is sticking up! :]

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  3. So happy to see the girls back together again! I love these group of girls, so unique, but still super close. I'll be waiting to see if they have anymore, these are some that I could see stopping with the two they have. I can't remember, did you move them into a bigger place then that they could have a third?

    The twins are super cute, and liked the pictures of the grandparents being very loving towards the twins.

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  4. Gosh, your families have grown so quickly. It was nice seeing the girls again, they're such a fun group. My 3 BFFs and I are like that and meeting up is always so much fun.

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  5. Tessa, LOL, I think there are a few other Sullivan readers standing there with you! I'm definitely not opposed to letting them have a third but we'll see. I'll definitely wait until Justin and Xavier are in school.

    I can take about 75% of the credit for the genetics in this family. There's a couple of townies in Evan and Ione's family lines but it's mostly CAS or children of CAS Sims. So I'm happy.

    Christina, I definitely haven't always played like this. I don't know if you remember the old layout, where I had "one lazy Simmer's attempt at a cohesive neighbourhood" up the top. For me, what it took was writing it all down. If I write a whole little entry where Lia and Ione are friends, I remember when I play and I remember next time I write about them. I can't do legacies - I need a whole big bunch of families.

    I love that hair on boys. It's a girls' style from the EA store but it's one of the few conversions I have that is FtoM instead of MtoF.

    Maisie, I remember when Lia and Ione were born, I was thinking how sweet it would be if they ended up as best friends, like Araminta and Magdalena always have been (they've been friends since primary school as well). I'm really happy that this is how it worked out.

    The place they're in now is big enough for a third. They have an empty spare room with nothing in there but a ceiling light and Ione's toy making station.

    Apple Valley, I have a group of friends like that. We haven't known each other as long as this bunch but it's been about 17 years so far. And a couple of us are now married with young babies too, while others are still single, so we're kind of similar to how Ione's group is now.

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  6. I love this family, they are so cute. It wouldn't be so bad if they had one more baby, but they still have a long time to go. So have fun with the twins!

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  7. I vote for more babies for this couple!

    The girls' night out looked so much fun. Me and my friends used to do that too but we've been too busy to get our schedules to match for the past couple of years.

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  8. Riverdale, Ione's still very young, so they've got plenty of time to decide. If she was Evan's age, I'd be more frantic about it.

    Sari, Justin and Xavier are so cute that I might not be able to resist letting them have another.

    It's been a bit like that with my friends lately too. Sims are lucky!

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  9. I just loved the pictures of the girl's night out! That looked like so much fun. I love that the girls still get together. Plus, Asha and Luc have been together for ten years in sim time? I'm always surprised at how quickly sim time actually passes!

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  10. Awww, this made me miss my girlfriends back home - you just never make friends in adulthood quite the way you did back in school. Oh *sigh* lol!

    Finn looks so much like his dad! It's always shocking, lol!

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  11. Lunar, I love this group of girls. They're such fun. It made me think that I don't do many boys' nights out though! I don't think I've done it for any of my Sims except some of my uni ones.

    Seeing we're into 2024 today, yes, Asha and Luc have been together for 10 years! She was serious about him from the start but he was still sleeping around for the first four years. So I guess it would depend on how you count these things. It's a long time, either way!

    Laura, so true! That makes me sad, actually!

    When I had Finn grow his hair out a bit at college, I was planning for him to cut it again after graduation. But with Henry having the same cut and them looking so similar, I ended up leaving it! They really are amazingly alike! Ione is much more of a mix and Elspeth is another little Henry clone, I think.

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  12. Aww... you're right Laura. Don't worry guys, one day we'll gather and we can relive our greatest simming moments, lol. It'll be the most epic of all girl's nights.

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  13. That would be so much fun!

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  14. Ok, I am re-doing, because Blogger ate my comment. So I hope it isn't a duplicate.

    Anyway, 40 pictures, wow! It was fun seeing the girls' night out, and more Lia-pregnant-with-twins spam.

    The picture of Ione teaching one of the twins, with the other toddling in, was SO cute!

    This update was like a bonanza of my favorites--Declan, Lia, and Finn. I was going to compare Finn and Declan again, but Declan was looking down.

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  15. Francesca, there'll be plenty of Lia-pregnant-with-twins spam this summer, because I'm going to duck in and do a Gordon and Lia update right before she gives birth.

    The pic of Ione and the twins is one of my favourites too. Justin and Xavier are really adorable.

    Those Sims you named are some of my favourites too! There'll be plenty of opportunities to compare Finn and Declan when I do their update, which will be this winter.

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