SERIOUS rain

Growing up in the valley of Oregon, you see a lot of rain.  But the rain we got here last night was phenomenal, in my opinion.  It was truly raining so much, and so hard.  The wind was also blowing and the rain was going sideways in sheets.  Lighting and thunder accompanied it as well.  Let's just say we stood at the windows in awe and excitement.

The downside of that much rain in the desert is that it is dangerous and destructive.  Muscat has done a lot to aide in water movement and collection when it rains hard with new ditches and other waterways, but there are still many places where the water has no where to go and collects in rivers in the low areas, like our wadi by the school, or in major intersections or low areas of towns.  Flash floods happen here very easily.  30 people had to be rescued in flooded areas in Ibri (interior city) and 2 people were killed by lightening.  The pictures from around Oman that have been posted online look pretty crazy.   Here are a few I've found.

 

(northern highway)

 

(airport flooding!)

 

(this is a flooded low lying road a few miles from our house)

 

 

(This wadi is seriously flooded in another area of Oman.  That water is probably 20+ feet deep and filling a normally bone-dry wadi)

     

Our unit neighbors got some pretty good water in their houses but we lucked out and had minor leaks in the kitchen from a window and fan vent.  The Hoffman's drain on their upper patio was blocked, so when they opened the patio door, TONS of water came through the door running all over the top floor rooms and down the stairs.  There was probably about a foot of standing water there.  Kelly and Luther had flooding through their living room windows (they were on the side of the building taking the brunt of the sideways rain) and from the bathroom window in the living room.  The chute that houses the windows actually filled up with water so fast that it came pouring in.  That didn't happen in our chute (thankfully!).   One of our friends who lives in the building we used to live in had water coming out their sockets!  We count ourselves super lucky!

 

(Aberly loved helping us squeegie the water away)

Colin said there were huge rocks and rubble on the road that runs under the highway today on his way to work.  I know that road was flooded out last night and running like a river, according to some of our friends who live down there near the wadi (low lying area).  Here is a pic.  It's hard to tell without knowing that area, but the water is probably 3 feet deep.

The school itself suffered minor flooding and the winds ripped off some of the shade coverings over the pool and play areas.  Our janitors and maintenance people have been awesome and worked late last night to take care of the damage and flooding.

 

(using PE equipment as hats)

 

Suddenly, rain in Oregon isn't so terribly bad...  

Emalyn update- Life for us

It's almost been two weeks and things are going really well.  Emalyn is such a low-key baby that sometimes it doesn't feel much like our life has changed that much.  It also might be that I'm not a stressed basket case this time around now knowing what to do with a baby, AND she is a fantastic nurser, something that Aberly struggled with.  Emalyn is the typical "eat, sleep, poop" newborn that they talk about so we feel very blessed. 

 

At almost two weeks now, she has been having a bit more awake time and looks up at us and around the room with some deep baby blues that we hope will stay that way.  Our nights are still filled with many awake times between feedings and at least one diaper change, but we are feeling really good.  I can't wait for her first check up in a few days to see how she's doing and how much weight she has gained.  With all her eating, we are sure she's gone up in weight already.  And she definitely looks a bit more plump! 

My parents were here from the 10th till last night and they cherished the time with both their granddaughters.  I think Emalyn pretty much lived in one of their arms most days and they both took turns playing with Aberly.  Since the weather is pretty darn warm (90-100 daily), we spent a lot of time inside but that was okay.  We tried to get out for at least one little adventure each day (beach, park, souk) and had a few birthday parties to attend as well.  Emalyn was in tow for each one starting at day 3 (the beach) and did great.  She mostly just slept through everything, only waking briefly to eat.  We were very blessed by my parents visit (they are now in Istanbul for 4 days before returning home) and we look forward to seeing them again this summer.  Aberly is very excited to play at their house and I know they will be thrilled to see how much Emalyn changes in a few months.  Nancy, Colin's mom, will be visiting us and her new grandbaby in just a few weeks, so Aberly is jazzed for that, of course!

 

 

Aberly is doing very well as a big sister and besides adjusting to sharing mom and dad time with Emalyn, she really seems "unfazed" by having a new baby around.  She lets us know when she wants a turn holding Emalyn and wants to know what she's up to.  She is a very good helper when I ask her to throw away a dirty diaper, or get me something, when I need it.  I know she will be excited to help feed and play with Emalyn when the time comes.  Overall, Aberly is a very proud big sister and loves to show off Emalyn to anyone. 

As for me, I'm doing well and have recovered from the delivery.  I have no doubt the doctor would say I'm over-doing it, but it's hard when you are a busy-body like me AND have a 3 1/2 year old.  Nonetheless, I'm trying to make myself relax a bit.  I am on maternity leave till the end of May and this is my first "normal" day home now that my parents are gone.  Eunice, our nanny, is around and continues to do all the cleaning, as well as help care for Aberly.  They are currently outside riding bikes.  It's been a bit of a struggle today getting Aberly to balance time with me and Eunice (she wants me way more), but she will adjust soon.  Right now they are outside riding bikes while Mommy has her "quiet work time". 

And for Colin, he gets to be the working man (only 5 days of paternity leave here) and dedicated daddy at home.  Since I nurse, his job is diaper duty if she poops at night.  He adores his new angel and will actually get some more turns now holding her with my parents gone!  :-)   He constantly hears how Emalyn has his hair style (he got that when Aberly was a newborn too) and couldn't be prouder.  Besides being a great daddy to Emalyn, he is Aberly's favorite play partner and lets his imagination wheels spin when they play together in her room.  My girls are so luck to have him!

All our love!

Emalyn Hope Price arrives

Born on April 10th, 9:16 PM (Oman time), April 10th 10:16 AM (PST).  So either side of the world, she was born on April 10th!

7 lbs, 7 ounces (not sure on length)

Emalyn came charging into this world in just two hours.  After a slow "build up" for a few days, I found out I was already 4 cm dilated when I went in for a check-in a few days past my due date.  My doctor asked it I wanted her to break my water and I said, "well, let me go home and wait for my husband to get off work!" so she suggested I just come back that evening.

At 6:00, we got checked in to the hospital and I was hooked up to a CTG machine for them to monitor Emalyn's heartbeat to make sure she was stable and unstressed before breaking my water.  I was having some minor contractions at that point, but nothing serious.  At 7:15, they broke my water and by 7:30, the real contractions started and intensified pretty quickly.  They moved me to the delivery room and in there, things got painful fast.

At that point, despite the intense contractions, I was staying at 6cm and hadn't dilated further.  With the pain I was in and expecting that I wouldn't dilate as quickly as hoped, I opted for an epidural.  The anesthesiologist took too long to get there (20 min?) and when she arrived, the contractions had done their job and I was at 8cm, which meant no epidural for me.  I was given the laughing gas mask to use continuously to reduce my pain a bit and ride it out till delivery.  Luckily, that only lasted a few more contractions (5?) and I pushed her into this world with the last two.  Even I couldn't believe when she came out so fast with so little pushing.  

Colin and I couldn't believe how much Emalyn looked like Aberly as a newborn.  It was like dejavu!  Emalyn quickly began to cry and didn't have any problems.  Once back in our room, she took to nursing immediately.  Since birth, she has been a very "easy" baby; sleeping, eating, pooping, and more sleeping.  She loves to cuddle and sleep on us.  Unless hungry or mad about being changed, she rarely cries or puts up a major fuss.  She is such an angel and we feel so lucky.  Aberly is quite the doting big sister and has been enjoying her new sister so far.

Here are a few great snaps of her first few days in the world with us.

Weekend Day change

This would not go over in the States, I'm sure.  It would cause a serious breakdown of well, everything.  I imagine protests and people suing the government.  Or it would take years in court to do.  Here, just a wave of the hand from the Sultan and life goes on as normal! 

Today, there was an official announcement that effective May 1st, the weekend here in Oman will no longer be Thursday/Friday (Friday is the holy day) and it will change to Friday/Saturday.  This is actually the  common form of the weekend in the Middle East.  Oman was one of the very few with Thursday/Friday. 

We are just waiting now, to see how things will change.  I mean, that is a lot to change for businesses and the schools.  We are all quite curious to how this will effect the rest of the school year.  We are assuming we'll change to a Sunday-Thursday school week for the rest of the year but who knows?  All the formatting changes to school documents and such.

It's all just weird!

Almost... but not yet

Well, baby girl is being stubborn and has stayed in place until her due date (today).  Luckily, I am still feeling pretty good overall and despite (for sure) being ready to have her out, I'm not overly uncomfortable or going out of my mind.  I am also mindful that I think her actual due date is closer to the 7th based on when we are pretty sure she was conceived.  So, I'll give her some grace there.

At my appointment today, they did the CTG monitoring for 20 minutes and she is healthy and happy in there.  Her heartbeat is normal and she is still moving regularly.  My OB did a check and I am at 2 cm, so my body is getting ready and she is in position to make her entrance into the world.  My OB also "swiped my membranes" a bit to see if that would help labor get going.  I am hopeful but not expecting anything at this point.

Here I am at 40 weeks. 

 

Happy Easter! -By Aberly

Yesterday was Easter and I had a lot of fun!  I even slept in till 7:45 which Mommy said was her and Daddy's Easter gift.  I'm not sure what she meant by that.

First, the Easter bunny came while I was sleeping and had a special basket of treats all ready for me in the dining room.  He gave me some great things!  I got a new apron for helping mommy make cookies, some matchbox cars, glow in the dark stars AND moon for my ceiling, my own little mug, and a special "Big Sister" shirt!

 Next, I used my empty basket to find the 12 eggs he hid in our living room.  Mom said he hid them in our living room since it's getting warmer now outside and he didn't want any of the candy in the eggs to melt or get slimy.  I found them all with only a little help from Daddy and Mommy.

 After all that, we went outside to have a special Easter brunch with our TAISM unit neighbors.  Izzy and her mom and dad,  Marin and Ian and their mom and dad, and Jason's family (dad and two big brothers).   His half sister was also visiting and she was very nice.  We had all kinds of yummy things!  Real ham that Marin's parents brought back from Dubai, a fruit salad, granola and yogurt, an egg and potato casserole, biscuits and gravy, AND my personal favorite, cinnamon Monkey bread.  I think that was most of our favorites. 

The rest of the day, I played with a few friends and then dyed Easter eggs with mommy.  That was super cool!  I can't wait for Easter next year!