Captured Moments | The Holden Household

When I sit down to play my sims family, I like to play with the intention to have fun. I stay inspired by having goals and packing my sim's days with various activities.

GOALS
I have a few goals to hit with my Holden family:

• Each sim must complete their aspiration as well as max out 3 skills of my choosing.
  
• I must complete all traditions of each holiday on my calendar as long as a family member is not "ignoring" it.
  
• Each Sunday will be a "Family Day" — this means a volunteer day, game night, movie night, etc.
  

LIFE STAGES
I play my game with aging off and set birthdays on the calendar myself. My life stage durations are below!

• Newborns will age up after 1 week.
  
• Infants will age up after 2 weeks.
  
• Toddlers will age up after 4 weeks.
  
• Children will age up after 8 weeks.
  
• Teens will age up after 8 weeks.
  
• Young Adults will age up after 24 weeks.
  
• Adults will age up after 24 weeks.
  
• Elders will pass on when I see fit (various).
  

SEASONS
My seasons are 2 weeks long each, so one whole sim year is 8 sim weeks in my game.

HOLIDAYS
I have set up many custom holidays on my sim's calendar. Each season has four permanent holidays that will stay on the calendar at all times.

Summer

• Grandparent's Day
  
• Sol Festival
  
• Father's Day
  
• Summerfest
  

Fall

• Fall Frolic
  
• Spooky Day
  
• Sports Sunday
  
• Harvestfest
  

Winter

• Polar Palooza
  
• Winterfest Eve/ Winterfest
  
• Boxing Day
  
• New Year's Eve
  

Spring

• Spring Cleaning
  
• Flower Festival
  
• Mother's Day
  
• Love Day
  

THURSDAY
A couple of weeks after the Holdens bought and moved in to their new home in Strangerville, Wade felt it was time to expand his family. He traveled to the Brindleton Bay humane society to look for a new addition. To his surprise, one puppy was left! The puppy is a husky mix. Wade asked one of the volunteers if he could walk the puppy around the building to get to know him. This puppy was so loving towards Wade and followed him around so willingly. They had an immediate bond! After coming back from their walk, Wade adopted the puppy and took him back home to Strangerville to surprise Darla. Meet Captain!
https://i.imgur.com/QH7GObu.png

Darla was waiting for Wade with a surprise of her own— she was pregnant! The Holdens were officially expecting a baby in the very near future!
https://i.imgur.com/AeXPrDm.png
https://i.imgur.com/DOBOCFS.png
https://i.imgur.com/46ZhoQK.png

FRIDAY
Darla and Wade's baby fever kicked into full gear! They went to their ultrasound appointment with everyone's favorite Obstetrician, Dr. Landgraab!
https://i.imgur.com/l2uktyK.png

Once they got home, they had a baby announcement photoshoot! They mailed out the announcements to all of their family and friends.
https://i.imgur.com/YhPFw0A.png
https://i.imgur.com/xg8KfCk.png

SATURDAY
The next day, they had a third trimester pregnancy photoshoot to remember these precious moments as parents-to-be!
https://i.imgur.com/dWdaNif.png
https://i.imgur.com/7SR9ahF.png
https://i.imgur.com/zY9zRjQ.png

SUNDAY
Late Saturday night, Darla went into labor! They arrived at the Willow Creek Hospital in the very early hours of Sunday morning. Somehow, the staff made a one-time exception and allowed Captain to join the Holden's stay in their birthing suite. He never left Darla's side, it was so sweet!
https://i.imgur.com/shH3owl.png
https://i.imgur.com/exbd4X6.png

After many hours of labor, Darla gave birth to a healthy baby girl!
https://i.imgur.com/PFT7LiM.png
https://i.imgur.com/9tqLRt5.png
https://i.imgur.com/LEfA1Cf.png

These two were both overjoyed to finally meet their family's newest addition! Parenting came very naturally to them.
https://i.imgur.com/jJGvO5p.png
https://i.imgur.com/wzMQS50.png

I am very excited to introduce you to their little angel, but she will be officially introduced in the next update. I'm waiting until she's a little closer to her infant stage. In the meantime, here's a peak of her nursery!
https://i.imgur.com/FUXlP3P.png
https://i.imgur.com/HC2Ptzw.png

Thank you for reading! As always, happy simming :)
--
lemonella

THURSDAY
It's been nearly a week in my game since Darla gave birth. Now that Wade's parents were back from their summer trip to Selvadorada, the Holden's decided to invite their friends and family to a Sip & See in honor of welcoming their little star into the world. The Sip & See's theme was "A Star Is Born" which was inspired off of a quote Darla told her baby girl as she was first putting her to sleep after they came home from the hospital "You are my sun, my moon, and all my stars."

Because Darla missed out on a baby shower, the guests decided to bring various baby gifts. Some were more practical, like baby wipes, while others showered the new baby with tons of toys. Each guest was also encouraged to write a message for the baby on parchment and stuff it into a bottle for her to read as she gets older.
https://i.imgur.com/OrNYFSH.png

Aww poor little thing was so tired, she wasn't even awake during most of her party!
https://i.imgur.com/Df6T4VC.png

Without further ado, meet Dallas Mae Holden:
https://i.imgur.com/HXwJjcP.png

Her middle name, Mae, is a family name. Wade's mother's name is Mae. Here's a picture of when Mae got to meet her granddaughter, Dallas. She was so delighted to meet her granddaughter, and she was so precious, Dallas had her heart immediately!
https://i.imgur.com/tBc0MBZ.png

Wade's father, Waylon, also got to meet his granddaughter this day. He's normally such a serious fella, but Dallas brings out his playful side!
https://i.imgur.com/SwPXS0c.png

By the end of the night, and before the moon and stars shined bright in the night's sky, Dallas aged up into an infant...goodnight, little star!
https://i.imgur.com/we7iLXK.png

FRIDAY
The next day was Spooky Day in my game, so the Holdens were encouraged to carve pumpkins, wear costumes, go trick-or-treating, and watch scary movies! Darla wasted no time and started to carve pumpkins while Dallas was taking a nap.
https://i.imgur.com/axkzG2U.png

Once the evening hit, they all put on their costumes! The family costume theme was really just a color— orange! Wade was an astronaut, Darla was a fairy of fire, and Dallas was a little duckling :)
https://i.imgur.com/i4AA09h.png

It was around this time that they discovered Dallas loves to be held. Look at that smile!
https://i.imgur.com/DFNSwSx.png
https://i.imgur.com/R8uR8Cx.png

Once the night fell, Wade and Darla put Dallas to sleep and ended the night watching Sims of the Dead.
https://i.imgur.com/Ixz58ve.png

Well, that's it for now! Thank you so much for reading, and until next time, happy simming :)
--
lemonella

SATURDAY
The weekend was finally here and the Holdens decided to call in some reinforcements— the grandparents! Mr. & Mrs. Holden were going to be staying at Wade and Darla's residence to help out with the new baby. They arrived bright and early to help out.
https://i.imgur.com/vVEJ6rH.png

Wade was happy to have his parents around, not only because they were helping out with Dallas, but because his dad is the only one who will play Simbles with him. Wade is a little too competitive for Darla's taste, but Waylon on the other hand is the one who shaped Wade into being so competitive in the first place. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree!
https://i.imgur.com/fjMvhji.png

Mr. & Mrs. Holden were such great help! Waylon handled all the feedings, and Mae took care of all Dallas' baths!
https://i.imgur.com/ZiO8LsZ.png
https://i.imgur.com/6QMQLrc.png

With the grandparents holding down the fort, Wade and Darla went to the movie theater in San Sequoia for a date night!
https://i.imgur.com/l3yUPKW.png

They saw Untamed Treachery of the Heart. Wade thought the movie was a yawn fest, but Darla seemed to like it. Either way, they both had a great night spending some alone time together!
https://i.imgur.com/qvR8kzg.png

SUNDAY
The next day was Sports Sunday in my game! Sims are encouraged to exercise, invite over guests, BBQ, drink, watch sports TV. Before all of the fun festivities could begin, the morning started off with some baby burps! Side note: the Holdens discovered another of Dallas' quirks that morning— she frequently sneezes. How adorable? And honestly, it's just too hard to get a screenshot of that, so yes, here is her burping!
https://i.imgur.com/sEL6VRb.png

Then Mae and Darla practiced sitting with Dallas..
https://i.imgur.com/Bis05Xz.png

...and she got it! Yay! This was her uhh.. exercise ;)
https://i.imgur.com/bQnMCHV.png

Closer to the evening, Wade fired up the grill and made some Dominican chimis for everyone!
https://i.imgur.com/3tXDSJk.png

Then they sat down and enjoyed the basketball game on TV, go Llamas!
https://i.imgur.com/zCJouyR.png

Keeping this update short and sweet! Thank you for reading and happy simming :)
--
lemonella

MONDAY
The week started off very stressful as everyone had to fall into a new routine. Wade was scheduled to go back to work after taking family leave, so that left Darla at home taking care of Dallas by herself. Darla is a great mom, don't get it twisted, but she was used to another person at home to take over if necessary. The morning started off with the toughest job— waking up Dallas.
https://i.imgur.com/qtu69oK.png

And she immediately started crying..yikes!
https://i.imgur.com/7LYzgOR.png

Darla had to give Dallas a little extra TLC, but once she got her to calm down, she brought her downstairs to try her first baby food for breakfast! Dallas' first food was rice porridge. Darla heard it was best to start babies off real simple with the most bland of foods first. Dallas loved it!
https://i.imgur.com/px97NLK.png

Then it was time to practice crawling!
https://i.imgur.com/FHOjsCD.png

It honestly didn't go over very well as Dallas got really frustrated. She was kicking and kicking, but no movement whatsoever!
https://i.imgur.com/xzHq1Py.png

Dallas was in a mood, so it was time for a nap, but Darla also had to take Captain for a walk. This job called for the baby carrier!
https://i.imgur.com/xWqEkag.png

Luckily for Darla, the evening was extremely calm and Dallas spent most of the evening playing with the toys on her playmat.
https://i.imgur.com/bDgAC3d.png

When Wade got home he took on the responsibility of laying Dallas down for the night. He made a big mistake! This night, they discovered that Dallas was a snuggly sleeper. He literally sat there and held her while she slept for hours!
https://i.imgur.com/yqJvhE8.png

Yep, hours. He was a really good sport about it!
https://i.imgur.com/5ZsfuMU.png

TUESDAY
The next day was a little better for Darla. She didn't have any trouble waking Dallas up that morning and she fed Dallas again in the highchair. This morning she got to try applesauce! It was a little messy to say the least!
https://i.imgur.com/ybnhslq.png

She really loved that applesauce though.. :D
https://i.imgur.com/89J6IV1.png

She also got to try some yogurt puffs! Darla heard many good things about these tiny bites in her mommy support group.
https://i.imgur.com/UrQ6ypQ.png

Other babies might love these little things, but Dallas thought they tasted rather odd. Ick!
https://i.imgur.com/dmUfXda.png

Oh! And y'all, Dallas got to officially meet Captain this day. It was so cute!
https://i.imgur.com/Oqv8cjc.png

They spent the rest of the day playing to wait until Wade got home.
https://i.imgur.com/S1niOCz.png

Once her daddy got home, Dallas was ready for her nap! Since he had so much time to kill, Wade decided to look out at the beautiful view of Strangerville from the outlook, and use these next few hours to do some real thinking. He came home today with a tough decision he has to make for work. Whatever he decides will end up directly affecting not only him, but his family too. What to do, what to do.
https://i.imgur.com/41YK5kJ.png

Before we close this update out, Wade and Darla have an official announcement to make..
https://i.imgur.com/naq1Dh5.png

They're due with Holden Baby #2 in a couple of days!
https://i.imgur.com/tYomRoW.png

Gonna end this update on an uplifting note! Thank y'all for reading and happy simming :)
--
lemonella