Sunday 18 December 2011

Waves of grain

Round 32: June 2036 (Winter)

last update/next update

James Novak is 61 and Madelyn is 56.
Maia is 34, Aaron and Calvin are both 33, Ethan is 30, Connor and Lila are both 23 and Willow is 8 months old.)
Narrated by James Novak

It’s getting very cold in Sullivan but that hasn’t dampened people’s enthusiasm for wandering around outside at a car lot. Business at Novak Motors is still booming.


I wouldn't mind getting less business from kids who can’t even drive yet but I don’t have the heart to shoo them away. Maybe they’ll remember my lot in a few years, when they get their licenses.

Connor worked at the lot for me a little bit right after graduation but he’s happily working in crime scene investigation right now.

He never had any real interest in sales or business, though he’s helped out the most, out of our sons.

LinkConnor has moved out of Maia and Ethan’s house now and is rooming with his friend Josh. Their apartment is in Exeter, just a couple of blocks away from his girlfriend Lila’s place.

He’s finding finances a lot tougher now, as his rent is a lot higher than what Ethan asked him for. I’m just glad Connor has always been sensible with his money. He might find it hard going but I don’t need to worry about him burning through all of his cash.

Ever since they got together, Connor’s girlfriend Lila has been visiting with him more and more.

I’m actually Lila’s boss, so if I’m ever scrambling for something to talk about, there’s always work.

Lila talks about that all the time anyway. I’m sure she’s after my job one day but I’ll probably retire in a few years anyway, so I’m not so concerned about that.

Madelyn and Lila are very different women; Lila is all about her career and no one would ever describe Madelyn that way.

Somehow, they still manage to get along well. Madelyn has always been good at “bridging the gap” with people she doesn’t have much in common with.

Madelyn has never had to do much of that with Maia though. They clicked right away.

They have bonded even more since Maia and Ethan gave us our first grandchild, Willow. Madelyn has loved being able to give Maia advice and commiserate about the tougher parts of parenthood.

Maia is a lot older than Madelyn was when we had Aaron but they felt similarly unprepared beforehand.

I have to admit that when I first heard Ethan and Maia had named my granddaughter, Willow, I thought it was a little silly.

Now that the name is attached to an actual little person though, I hardly think about it at all any more.

Willow is such a pretty baby and you can tell how proud Ethan is to finally be a father.

Madelyn has already asked him when we’ll be seeing #2. She just can’t help herself sometimes.

Ethan says they’re not quite ready to even talk about that yet! Willow’s first birthday is in October and they’re not going to consider expanding the family until then.

I think they’re just really enjoying Willow right now, as we all are.

It’s fun for me and Madelyn to have a girl in the family, after raising three boys.

Aaron and Calvin were approved to adopt last September and ever since then, we’ve been awaiting news of our next grandchild. It’s felt like such an incredibly long wait and we’ve really had no way of knowing how long the wait would be.

Of course, it’s been even worse for Aaron and Calvin but they’ve both stayed positive about it. They’ve had the nursery since before they were even approved, so all they’ve had to do is wait.

This month though, Aaron and Calvin finally got the phone call they’d been waiting for and found out they’d been matched with a child.

They came over to tell us about it that night and there was plenty of celebration going on.

We found out they would be adopting a girl. She’s a little older than Willow, so she’ll have a cousin close in age.

We could not have been more thrilled for them and couldn’t wait to meet our new granddaughter.

Aaron and Calvin took custody of Amy this week and Madelyn and I went over to meet her.
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Amy was a little bit shy at first and buried her face in Aaron’s shoulder when she saw us.

Curiosity got the better of her after a while though and she just had to check us out.

Madelyn got some giggles out of her pretty quickly.

All in all, it only took Amy a little while to warm up to us.

It was love at first sight with the cat though. Poor Ulysses.

She is bonding with Aaron and Calvin so well already.

It’s really wonderful to see. Aaron and Calvin are building a strong family unit with Amy and they’re going to be fantastic parents.
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Extras:
Just some Amy-spam, because she's so cute!

Super-excited for nap time!

LinkShe's mobile, which I'm sure is just thrilling for Ulysses!
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I always put toddlers up on a dining table or counter to get good close-ups and Amy decided to grin at her new dad while she was up there.

Amy has been in the adoption pool for as long as any of the other adopted kids in my game (it's kind of funny to look at her relationship panel and see that she already knows Susannah, Matilda and even her uncle Connor!), so she's obviously not biologically related to anyone in Sullivan. But she does bear a passing resemblance to Madelyn, I think. That's pretty cool - she even has the grey eyes.

Notes:

  • Title is from Waves of Grain by Two Gallants.
  • I swear, if you guys have any Sims with a decent amount of cash for start-up and you want to make them really rich, a car lot is the way to go! James has all 5 wholesale business rewards, so that really saves him money too. He only has about six cars on the whole lot and he sold them all in about 3 hours - brought in about $30,000. James and Madelyn would have had a ton more money if he'd started the business when he was a much younger man.
  • I used the same method to decide when Aaron and Calvin would get to adopt that I used with Rose and Joanna's artificial insemination - a yes/no roll every game month, with a yes indicating the guys' lucky month. James and Madelyn were originally scheduled for May, so I just moved them forward one month so I could write the adoption into their update. I was quite happy with how the timing worked out!
  • I cannot even tell you how long I've been waiting to write this post! I let Aaron and Calvin call the Adoption Service about three days before I played the rest of the update. So I just had all these cute pics of Amy hanging around and I couldn't show them, because I didn't want to spoil it! But anyway, Amy's here now, so I can spam away. :D
  • Amy is a Capricorn, so I gave her a January birthday, which makes her 10 months older than Willow. They'll be in the same class at school, when they're ready to start.
  • I am officially on school holidays now, so updates should hopefully continue to be quite frequent. I'm not going away for Christmas, so there shouldn't be any major slowdown for the holiday either. I'm so looking forward to my six weeks of mostly uninterrupted Simming time!

19 comments:

  1. I'm so behind in commenting even though I've read all updates. I thought what the heck, I'm just gonna comment on this one now.

    I'm so happy for Aaron and Calvin! They've been waiting for what seems like a very long time and now they're finally parents. Amy's a real cutie and she does look a lot like Madelyn.

    Six weeks! I'm so jealous, lol. We only get 2 days off before Christmas and 1 day off before New Year. Have fun on your Christmas break! :)

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  2. Holy mother of pearl, Amy is just adorable!! There is room enough in my heart for all the little toddler simmers lol they are just too cute!

    Wow James is an elder now, man have the years flown for him. Glad to see his business is still booming. I may just have to see if one of my sims can get into the car sales business one day. $$

    So good to see little Willow, Ethan and Maia. I hope to see another little Ethan or Maia just like Madelyn lol.

    Great update!!

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  3. Sari, I'm happy for any and all comments, "behind" or not, so comment away! :D

    Aaron and Calvin really have been waiting a long time. The whole reason they moved to this house was so they'd be in the best position to adopt. I think they're going to be really happy with Amy. :)

    Heh, I don't know if there are any jobs in existence that get more holidays than teachers! Permanent teachers need to spend a lot of that time planning but because I'm a substitute, it's true holiday time for me. :D Enjoy your own down time these holidays!

    Thanks for reading!

    Nicky, Amy's a cutie, isn't she? I can't get enough of Sim toddlers. They're just so sweet.

    Yep, James aged up at the beginning of this round. He's doing pretty well for himself with his business. I also still have working his "day job" as a business tycoon and that pays really well too. It's not a bad lifestyle.

    Next time I play Ethan and Maia, I'll be interested to see if they try again and if they're successful. Maia didn't take too long to get pregnant with Willow but I'm not sure when Sim fertility takes its biggest hit. So fingers crossed they can have one more. And yes, a redhead would be nice! ;)

    Thanks for reading!

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  4. Amy is soooooooo cute! And I noticed immediately that she seemed to look like Madelyn; I even checked the eyes, LOL. It's funny, I cannot wait to see Willow when she ages up and I'd love to see another one from Maia and Ethan!

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  5. Aww Amy is such a cutie, i hope she and Willow have a good relationship.

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  6. Amy is TOO cute!! So happy for them and to have their child now! Can't wait for Willow to age up to see what she looks like, and hopefully the two girls will be fast friends. This family will be way different the next time you pop in for Christmas, now with two granddaughters to make a lot of noise.

    I hope that in sometime that Ethan and Maia will try for at least one more baby, I am guessing that Maia will be adorable. It'd be super cute if they had a red head, that is assuming that Ethan has a recessive red.

    Glad that the car dealership is going well for them, too bad they didn't start it sooner. It does make good money, if Annie marries Cesar, that is she will be gaining. But Cesar runs the lower end car lot, his Dad has the fancier cars. But still, lucrative.

    Connor and Lila are really cute together. It'll be nice if they get married and have a kid or so.

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  7. Welcome, Amy! She is a cities. It is neat that she's a redhead like her grandma.

    I agree with Sari, I'm jealous of your six weeks of simming time! LOL. You have always been a consistent updater. I really admire that!

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  8. That should have been cutie. I hate autocorrect.

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  9. Fini, the funny thing is that I didn't plan it that way! Amy was just the kid who turned up with the social worker. I was the one who put her in the adoption pool but it was so long ago that I had no clue when her turn was due (generally, the last kid put in the pool is the first one to be adopted).

    I'm very excited about aging Willow up! Theo Nihill will age up before then but it's Willow I'm dying to see. :D

    Thanks for reading!

    Sonikku3, Amy is pretty adorable, isn't she? I hope she and Willow are close too.

    Thanks for reading!

    Maisie, I know, I love her and I can tell Aaron and Calvin love her too. I was just thinking that about their next Christmas too - it was the quietest Christmas I've ever done when it was James and Madelyn's turn last time and it definitely won't be that way next time!

    I have my fingers crossed Maia and Ethan will have one more. Both of them have an IFS above 1, so in all likelihood, they will. Ethan does have a recessive red, from Madelyn. I was really banking on a redheaded boy from them the first time around but in the end, it was Olivia and Steve who gave me one!

    Oh, I forgot Cesar had a car lot! It's definitely a nice little earner. James started out with the lower end cars, just because no one would buy anything else from him!

    I think Lila and Connor might be in it for the long haul, so we might just see some babies from them in the future. ;)

    Thanks for reading!

    snarkysims, I seem to have had that happen a few times - adopted children bearing an unusual resemblance to their families. Not Connor, obviously, lol! But Susannah always looked like she could have been Betsy's bio-daughter, for example. It's fun.

    Thanks! I'm lucky and I plan to fully take advantage of the next six weeks. :)

    Thanks for reading!

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  10. Amy is a cutie, she is going to be so spoiled already. Two healthy granddaughters, I bet they are tickled with that.

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  11. So cute. I'm happy that they finally have their baby. How exciting to have another redhead.

    I really love seeing Connor and Lila together. They're really cute and they mesh so well together. I wonder when an engagement will happen. ;)

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  12. Aw, what a cute update. I love that Aron and Calvin got a baby - finally. :)

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  13. Apple Valley, wait until Kendal gets around to meeting Amy! There will be some serious spoiling going on! James and Madelyn are thrilled too, of course. :D

    Thanks for reading!

    Choco, I know, another redhead and I hadn't even entertained the possibility before Amy showed up!

    I love Connor and Lila together too. They seem to go so well together and they've only been together a year. I guess that's one advantage of being close friends first.

    Thanks for reading!

    simnovoris, I was so relieved to let these two adopt! I've known when it was going to happen since they finished their home study, so I've just been very impatiently waiting since then. ;)

    Thanks for reading!

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  14. I'm so happy Calvin and Aaron were approved to adopt! And little Amy is such a cutie! I'm pretty sure she will be spoiled! :)
    It's going to be nice to see Amy and Willow grow up together. I hope they get close :)

    I know Ethan wasn't a huge fan about his mother asking when their will be another child, but I'm kind of wondering too, lol :)

    I still like Lila and Connor together, they 'work' :)

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  15. Tanja, Amy is a total sweetheart. I'm looking forward to watching the entire family spoil her, lol! I think she'll be good little buddies with Willow. I know they're both on the shy side, so they have that much in common at least.

    I'm wondering about Ethan and Maia myself. I won't force them to have a second if Ethan doesn't roll the want but they might end up trying on their own. Seeing they're not allowed BC, it's out of my hands!

    I totally agree about Lila and Connor - they're a good couple.

    Thanks for reading!

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  16. Yay for Aaron and Calvin! Amy is absolutely adorable. :)

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    1. Amy's a really sweet kid. Aaron and Calvin are having a great time with her. :)

      Thanks for reading!

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  17. Oh, wait, there's so many things going on here! I don't remember what I wanted to say.. (I always forget what I wanted to say when Connor is implied in an update! *lol*)
    Madelyn is still so incredibly lovely. And Amy!!!! Aw, on the last post with Aaron and Calvin, I wanted to say how much I was impatient to see their child, but also how much it made sense that they had to wait. And OMG, Amy... That last picture of her is... a pure jewel!! She will be amazing when she grows up, and it's true she has something of Madelyn!!

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    Replies
    1. Ha, the presence of Connor gets you all flustered, lol!

      I'm going to be so sad to age Madelyn to elder, because she really is lovely. Amy will keep the look going hopefully, given the resemblance.

      One advantage of being far behind, huh? You don't have to wait as long as everyone else did to find out what happened! I was happy to finally give Aaron and Calvin a child and to introduce Amy to everybody.

      Thanks for reading!

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