Flying by the Seat of Our Plans

We convinced my mom to come up from cozy Florida to Southern Illinois in February of all times to meet baby Lucy.  She was welcomed at STL by snow and temps in the teens.  Needless to say, we didn't venture out much for a few days.  But by Sunday, I was getting cabin fever and the forecast was calling for temps in the 50s, so I planned a driving tour for the four of us. We started out at Kinkaid Spillway.  Mom was very impressed by the volume and force of the water pouring out of the lake and over the falls.  We couldn't cross at the beach because it was under water, but she was daring enough to walk the muddy path in from the dam to get right up next to the falls. I had forced myself to leave my tripod and filters behind, knowing that I would spend too much time taking pictures if I had them, but I still managed to take a few shots without them.     Next, we drove to the top of Fountain Bluff to watch eagles...

My sisters Katie and Christi came to Carbondale to meet Lucy.  The forecast was calling for wintry mix for their drive, but changed to just rain.  Lots of rain and even January thunderstorms.  But they made it to the house safely on Saturday morning.  We spend Saturday running some errands and lounging around the house with Lucy. All that rain and some posts on Facebook groups had me thinking about chasing waterfalls.  After getting Katie some rubber boots, we headed to Devil's Kitchen Lake to see the falls on Rocky Bluff Trail.  We loaded up the jogging stroller, but luckily some hikers told us that the trail wouldn't really allow for it.  So I put Lucy in the Ergo carrier that Christi had handed down to us and put my that on my chest.  I shouldered my backpack full of camera gear, distributed hiking poles, and we started down the trail.  It was a short walk to the first falls, where we jumped a few rocks up the creek to get to the spla...

Meet Lucy Rae O'Connell, born Wednesday, December 11th, 2019 at 5:04pm!  Nearly three years in the making, she is finally here and we couldn't be happier!   John: Last week, we confirmed that "Elrod" (our name for the fetus) was still breech, so scheduled appointments with a chiropractor and the OB for different attempts at turning the baby.  The OB appointment was set for Thursday, and we were told to come prepared for a sudden birth, just in case the procedure caused distress or labor.  They said it was 50-50 if they could turn the fetus; if it didn't work, we would schedule a Cesarean section soon thereafter.  We were a bit on edge that week, making preparations and a bit disappointed that we'd likely miss out on that feeling of surprise that comes with a natural birth. Wednesday morning, we got that surprise!  I had decided to forego duck hunting and go to work that day.  I was just nervous about Thursday and wasn't feeling motivated...