Winter 2012 - D'Sim

Shawn (47), Jane (32), Shane and Imogene (4)

Jane was very happy with her family and her life, especially now that the twins were growing out of the toddler stage and would be starting school soon.

She had a big celebration planned for them with some of her dearest friends in attendance

and also her mother-in-law (mostly at Shawn's invitation).

Jane was mortified when Em made a pass at one of her married friends.  His wife seemed pretty put off by that move as well.  Luckily Sophie wasn't angry, just confused and annoyed.  It helped that Christopher politely turned down her advances by explaining that he was happily married.

Jane insisted that Shawn have a talk with his mother and suggest that it might be time for her to go home.  He tried to broach the subject, but Em seemed settled on staying near by for awhile.

Of course, she wasn't going to live with them.  She would stay at her own place and give them their space and privacy when they needed it.  After all she was a busy sim herself, she had her own work to do.  But she knew they could still use help with the twins, someone to babysit when they had to work weekends or after school hours.

And she was more than happy to help out and build a good relationship with her grandchildren.

Jane was kind of glad to have another adult around so she could get some work down from home while Shawn was at work.  She missed her days as a gossip reporter for STAR magazine and wanted to get back into entertainment reporting.  She'd recently becomed very intrigued by Mr. Winston Crabtree and wanted to see what dirt she could come up with about him and his clients.  She had grilled Em about it, but she knew very little.  He'd seemed to have moved his focus to the music industry while she had turned more to writing than producing.

When Winston didn't respond to her many e-mails, she tried calling him on the phone.  First his office number, then his home number.

That didn't go over well.

She decided to take a break and focus on her family for awhile, especially since the holidays were coming up.  Shane must have known Santa was coming, because he was being extra good and cleaning up after himself without being asked.

Jane was eager for the gift giving season, so she could shower her loved ones with special presents

and special moments together.

ROS: Jane D'Sim becomes obsessed with/ stalks Winston Crabtree. (I didn't do a whole lot with this one, since Jane is so busy with her family and everytime she and Winston seemed to interact, it didn't go well.  I think his role as an agent and hers as a former gossip magazine reporter worked well for this interaction.  Since she's happily married, I knew it wouldn't be a romantic interest.)

Fall 2011 - D'Sim

Fall 2011 - Shawn (46), Jane (31), Shane and Imogene (3)

This fall the D'Sim's welcomed a guest to their home.  Shawn's mother, Em, had been excited when she heard the news of the birth of the twins.  She was anxious to arrange a visit so she could meet her grandchildren, but waited until she could schedule a long block of vacation time so she could arrange an extended visit.

Em arrived in New Eden, just in time for the Summer Festival.  She and Jane seemed to hit it off right away.

The house was too small for a guestroom, so instead of sleeping on the couch, Em found a rental house and planned daily visits to her son and daughter-in-law's house.

She was so excited to get to know Imogene and Shane.

She didn't want to be a burden on the kids, so she tried to help out when ever she could, not only with the babies, but also around the house and yard.

There was a lot that needed to be done.  And she was sure that with both parents working and trying to care for twins, they could use all the help they could get.

Jane was still using her vacation days and working from home as much as she could.  Shawn was gone a lot and either exhausted when he came home or busy helping with the twins or trying to get in some extra telescope time.  Em felt like she didn't get to see much of her son at all and despite their warm initial meeting, being in the house all day with Jane felt a little awkward.

Their conversations were not as natural as she hoped. 

Too often, Jane too offense at their topics of conversation and took Em's remarks are personal criticisms.

Jane started hinting that maybe it was time for her to pack up and go home, but it seems that Em was having other ideas.

ROS - Jane D'Sim meets someone new.  I was going to use the second name my ROS program generates to chose the person she meets, but I was already planning for Em to visit, so it happened to work for that too.  Since Shawn is my simself's son, I had to recreate her in New Eden, so she could meet the grandbabies.

Summer 2010 - D'Sim

Shawn (45), Jane (30), Imogene (2), Shane (2)

Life in the D'Sim household had changed dramatically since the birth of the twins, but Shawn and Jane were beginning to get used to the new routine. At times it seemed like there was a lot to juggle at once.  Things didn't get done as quickly or easily as they used to, but somehow they managed to take one task at a time.

With two babies demanding their attention, Shawn and Jane had to take turns, taking care of their own needs and the babies needs.  It was a challenge to even sit down to a meal together.

At other times it took both of them working together to make sure both babies needs were taken care of.

At the end of the day they were left exhausted.  Too exhausted for intimacies or enjoying each other's company.  Usually one, or both, of them would immediately pass out as soon as their head hit the pillow.  Of course there were also many nights when they slept in shifts, taking turns being up with the babies. Sleeping together in the same bed was sometimes the best alone time they could manage.

Of course, there were good times too.  Even when stinky and exhausted, Jane's heart would melt when she would look into the faces of her precious babies.

And Shawn enjoyed the fun times, doting on his children, playing with them, making them giggle.

As the days progressed, things did get better and they were able to coordinate their schedules and the babies' schedules, so that they could sit down to breakfast together and actually enjoy an adult conversation.

And even a little bit of romance, just a little bit, before the cries of a screaming baby forced them to drag themselves away from each other.

Somehow Shawn even managed to make time for other passion, stargazing.  On the nights when he wasn't utterly exhausted and the babies weren't demanding his attention, he would take a few moments to look through the telescope and continue his research on the stars and planets.  He was always working on theories, and his biggest dream was to discover life on another planet some day.  He knew it was unlikely, but he still dreamed.

Before long, the blur of infant days were over and the twins were celebrating their first birthday.

As Jane helped Shane blow out the candles on his birthday cake, Shawn picked up his baby girl for her turn to make the transition into toddlerhood.

He gazed at her lovingly as the realization suddenly hit him that he would be looking at his daughter as a baby for the last time.  For a moment his heart longed for more time at the baby stage.  How did time go by so fast?

But he took her to blow out the candles and was proud to see his little girl become a bright and beautiful toddler before his eyes.  He couldn't be more proud.

The infant days behind them and toddlerhood ahead, the D'Sims realized they were again entering a new phase with new routines and new challenges, but they couldn't wait for the new experiences to come.

Spring 2001 - D'Sim

Spring 2001 - Simdays 107-109 
Shawn  D'Sim (43), Jane D'Sim (28)

Jane D'Sim awoke in the night with a powerful craving for a grilled cheese and pickle sandwich.  When she noticed her husband's side of the bed was empty, she wasn't terribly surprised.  A quick look out the window confirmed her suspicions.  As she expected, Shawn was outside gazing through his telescope, so she went into the kitchen to make that sandwich.

After she had eaten, she went outside to get Shawn

and managed to coax him away from the telescope and into bed for some much needed sleep.  Jane knew that they needed to get sleep now while they could.  Soon they would have their first baby and cuddling up together in bed might become a rare occurance.

Shawn sometimes has a one track mind.  Even though his work falls under the paranormal category, he is a scientist at heart.  UFO investigator is the perfect career for him, combining his interests in astronomy, extraterrestrial studies and the supernatural.

Sometimes Jane gets tired of hearing about it.  "Could you give the alien talk a rest?" Jane snaps.  "Not everyone wants to hear about aliens all the time.  Can we please talk about something else for a change?"

"Sorry.  I just thought you would be interested," Shawn shrugged.  He decided Jane's attitude must be due to pregnancy hormones.  How could she not be interested in his latest theories and strategies for determining whether or not there was intelligent life on neighboring planets?  He decided for the sake of family harmony to let the topic drop for awhile, at least until Jane was back to herself again.

Later, Jane started to feel guilty for snapping at Shawn the way she did.  She really did adore her geeky husband, alien obsession and all.

Jane's pregnancy was going well, but she was looking forward to reaching the end of it.  She was tired of waddling around on sore feet and swollen ankles.  She had to squeeze through their tiny kitchen.  She was starting to feel huge.  She was glad that there were other new mothers in the neighborhood to sympathize with.

"I bet you'll be glad when the baby comes," Robin commented.  "I know towards the end I was feeling like I was carrying a basketball under my shirt all the time."  She didn't comment that she thought Jane looked even larger than she did at nine months.  At least she didn't think she had looked that big.  She decided to ask Greg later when she was back home. 

As Jane had hoped, the wait was almost over.  She'd had a house full of guests when she started to feel very tired and an excruitating pain in her back.  She excused herself and decided to turn in early.  She had barely changed into her pajamas and laid down when she started to feel the beginning pains of labor.  When a sharp pain hit her, she let out a yell that brought everyone rushing to the bedroom to see what was wrong.

She couldn't help be annoyed when Shawn decided to go to bed while she was in the middle of giving birth to his first born child.  She was more than annoyed.  She was furious.  Didn't he care at all?

But her feelings of anger were quickly overtaken by the joy of seeing her baby for the first time and for another unexpected surprise.  She wasn't just meeting one baby for the first time, but two!  She was having twins.

Not only was she a new mommy to an adorable baby boy,

but she was also blessed with a precious baby girl as well.

Congratulations to Jane and Shawn and welcome Shane and Imogene D'Sim to the neighborhood.

Moving In: The D'Sim Family

Shawn and Jane D'Sim are another recently wed couple that have decided to start their lives in New Eden. Shawn is slightly older than Jane. In Eden he lived in the boarding house after graduating from ESC (Eden State College). Though he is reaching the middle of his adult years, he's just moving into his own home and starting his own family for the very first time.

While Shawn is away, working at his job as a UFO investigator, Jane has the day off. However as a STAR journalist, she's always working. Even though she may not be in the office today, she's still keeping busy networking and picking up on any juicy gossip about the local celebs. It's always good to make new friends who can keep you in the informed about the latest gossip and happenings.
In the afternoon, Gregory Harris stops by to boast about his new dance and fitness studio, hoping Jane will drop a few words about it in STAR or at least give it a good review in the local paper. Something about him, just rubs her the wrong way. She's a serious journalist after all. Not at the beck and call of any local business owner. She knows she shouldn't alienate anyone in the hood, especially someone like Gregory who might attract local celebs to his studio, but she just can't help making her feelings known and putting him in his place.Luckily, Gregory is a nice guy and not easily offended. He wanders off to the D'Sim's study and starts thumbing through Shawn's magazine collection.

In the evening Gregory's wife, Robin drops by the D'Sim's house looking for her husband. Robin, who has taken on some of the neighborhood organization duties until an official election can be held, starts up a conversation with Jane about the neighborhood's education system. The neighborhood has already hired a new teacher, but still needs to find a facility for the classrooms and possibly housing for students, if the proposed boarding school becomes a reality. At the end of the day, Jane is relieved when the neighbors have finally gone home and she can spend some quality time with someone she truly enjoys spending time with, her husband, Shawn.