Gen 5 Chapter 9: Barnacle Bay

Big things were happening here in the Song family! Today was the twins' birthday, and it was also our last night in Sunset Valley. We would be moving to an old farm house we found to rent in Barnacle Bay the next day. Once we got there, we figured we could take our time finding a house to actually buy that would suit our growing family the best. That's right, I said 'growing' family. 

You may have noticed my stomach has grown a bit since the honeymoon. We found out the reason behind that illness when we came back from Egypt, it was a pregnancy! We were expecting our 3rd child, and we both wanted a boy so I was eating a steady diet of apples to help things along.

Phillip really wanted to invite Slade over before we moved, so we decided to have him over for the girls' birthday. I made one of Phillip's favorite dishes and one of my specialties, Dim Sum. 

Phillip and Slade caught up with each other while I was preparing dinner. 

Then we all sat down to eat and spent our last few hours together laughing, and talking together. I especially enjoyed hearing stories from Slade about his and Phillip's travels together. It became obvious to me while I was listening to Slade tell about their adventures together as teens, that Phillip must have done a lot of growing up before I met him. I loved hearing about the younger, more reckless Phillip!  I could tell Phillip was a little embarrassed, which made it that much more enjoyable!

Then, it was time for the girls to join the world of toddlers! 
Happy Birthday Juniper! (got her Daddy's hair!)

Happy Birthday Ginger! (how fitting for her to get my dad's red hair!)

They were both more precious than any other two girls in the whole world to us! After we said our good-byes to Slade, we put our beautiful girls to bed for the last time in this house. 

As I dozed off beside Phillip I thought about the day I moved into this house. I had loved this house and I had planned on living here forever. But now, I had people in my life that I loved even more and although I was nervous about starting over in a new town, I knew as long as Phillip and my girls were with me I would be happy anywhere.

The farmhouse Phillip had found for us to rent was a bit old-fashioned, but it was very comfortable. I loved the big yard! The girls shared a room, and we were going to set up a crib in our room for the new baby for now. Our plan was to try and buy our permanent house by the time the girls started school. That gave us plenty of time to look and find exactly what we wanted.

I quickly fell in love with Barnacle Bay, even though my pregnancy and the care of our girls kept me at home and I hadn't really got to explore it the way I wanted to. The crisp sea air was refreshing. The girls seemed very happy in our little farm house. 

Our daily schedule was:
Phillip leaving early in the morning for work-

Me getting the girls up and feeding them them-

Then after a quick breakfast for myself, I'd work with the girls on walking, or talking, or potty training. 

There were days that the task of training two toddlers at once was overwhelming. But Phillip was sweet. Even when he came home exhausted from the school, he would make sure to try and spend a little time teaching the girls as well. Somehow, we managed to teach them both to walk before the end of my pregnancy.

Phillip's job was going great, he had quickly trained as a playground monitor and teacher's aide and has been substituting now in preparation for him to be in charge of his own classroom, teaching his own classes soon. We were aware that there was some training involved, and the pay was not all that great, but we had no reason to worry about that, because we still had the money from the sell of our house to help us out until I could go back to work.

This pregnancy seemed to move faster than my one with the girls. It didn't take long for my belly to feel the size of a boat. It did make it difficult to sleep. But it was hard to be upset, because my little one would give me a reassuring kick, and I'd remember why I was going through all of this. To hold this baby in my arms!

Then one morning after fervently potty-training the girls and cooing over our little one still in my stomach, it happened. 

I went into labor! 

Phillip was still at work, and I had no idea who to call to babysit the girls, so I chose to have this baby at home. I made sure the girls were happy and playing, then I eased my way into my bedroom, and there, I gave birth to our little boy!

I named him Sage, a name both Phillip and I loved. I didn't realize how much I missed holding a tiny one in my arms until I snuggled Sage. He smelled so new and terrific.  

 I gave him his first bottle, then laid him in his crib to snooze, and I promptly checked on the girls. 

They were as happy as could be! Then, Ginger shocked me by saying, "Mommy, sit!"
"Ginger! I didn't know you could say that! Good girl! What else can you say? Can you say Daddy?"
"Dada"
"Good girl!"

Phillip had to work late that night, but when he got home, he made a bee line to Sage's crib. He was one proud daddy, let me tell you!

"Now that he's here, I really want to get serious about finding our house."
"Yeah, me too. We need a great place for all the kids to be able to have their space, and run and play."

"Good. I'll start looking then!"

Thank goodness it was the weekend, and Phillip would be here to help me with Sage and the girls. 

I didn't think it could get tougher having two toddlers at once to care for, but add a newborn, and well, we did a pretty good job of giving ourselves a challenge! Phillip was my hero!

We also found a house that we liked, up on the hill. It was the perfect family home! We made sure to put a deposit down on it, and decided we would move in after the girls' birthday. There birthday was fast approaching too. But somehow, we managed to get both girls trained in all of their skills before that day came.

It just so worked out that the girls' birthday fell on the day that Sage would become a toddler too. We decided that even though we didn't know a ton of people we wanted to have a party for the girls anyways. We invited a few of Phillip's co-workers, and an aquantaince of his, who also happened to be the person in charge of hiring at the cafe I was hoping to get hired at when my maternity leave was over, the Scrumptious Nibbles Cafe. 

After everyone arrived we enjoyed some polite chit-chat, then brought the girls to their cakes.

Happy Birthday Ginger!

Happy Birthday Juniper!

The girls' beauty took my breath away. Ginger reminded me of my father so much it gave me a lump in my throat. And Juniper's likeness to Phillip made my heart swell with pride. We created these two kids! I couldn't wait to see what they would become.

After the guests left, we had one more birthday to celebrate. Sage!

Happy Birthday Sage!

Another brown-headed cutie!

After I had quickly cleaned up the remnants of the party, we loaded up the kids, and right around bedtime we arrived at our new home.: 437 Tidal Terrace

Sage was starting to get grumpy from the drive, I know he was ready for a bottle and bed. I put him in his stroller, and calling to the girls to follow, I lead the way into our new home. 

The girls took no time to find their room, get changed and crawl into bed. We had a very big day, and they would need their rest, tomorrow they were starting school!

I gave Sage his nighttime bottle, then made sure he was happy and comfortable in his crib before I headed off to bed with Phillip. 

It felt like we had finally settled in here at Barnacle Bay. We had our house to raise our children in, out girls were starting school, Phillip's job was going well, and my maternity leave was just days from being over. This definitely felt like home, at last!

*buckey's notes*- Well, finally they are settled in their new save file! I mean, town! :) I'm so glad I was able to save the girls by moving them, they are so adorable. Their new house is one from generations, plopped down in BB. I knew it would have plenty of room for them all.  I can't wait for Patience to go back to work, at the new Town Life Scrumptious Nibbles Cafe! It's so cute! I really wish you could adjust how long maternity leave is. It's killing me right now! I need Patience to finish her LTW dangit! Anyways, I think there will only be one or two more chapters before I'll need a heir/heiress vote, so look for that coming soon. Thanks for reading!