Pontoon on Lake Granby

Halloween 08

Sage's first Halloween was pretty fun, at least for us adults.  We went over to Ed's house on October 30th to trick or treat.  Sage was a pea in the pod.  She basically slept the whole time so we were only able to get 3 pieces of candy for her.   Ed had made some delicious Elk chili for dinner which was the best part of the evening.  Sage enjoyed hanging out with Mackenzie(girl on the couch).  

 On Halloween, we went to Traci's house in Fraser to hand out candy.  Sage cried for 1 hour before finally falling asleep, so mom wasn't able to party like she had hoped.  But we still managed to have a good time.  I can't wait when she's able to actually dress up and trick or treat!  It will be so much fun.

The Connelly Grandparents first visit

The Connelly's arrived on 9/20/08 to a beautiful fall here in Colorado.  They got to see the Aspen at their finest.

G Ma C loved holding Sage, feeding her, babysitting-basically doing all the wonderful 'grandma things' one can do.  

We got out and enjoyed the gorgeous weather as much as we could.  This picture is from Monarch Lake hike at the south end of Lake Granby.  We showed up to hear that a bull moose was just seen by the water.  Of course, we ran to that area but no bull moose was to be found. G Ma C carried Sage on the whole hike!  I think she loved it!  I know Sage did.

G Pa C also took to holding Sage.  I think she loved it too, as you can see from this photo!

  

Darcy's been wanting to rent a pontoon boat on Lake Granby for awhile.  So thanks to her loving husband, she got her wish.  The lake was so calm and peaceful.  We were the only ones on the lake!  Sage loved being the captain although she didn't quite reach the steering wheel.  The dogs were able to join us which really made it all worthwhile.

G Pa C didn't get to relax the whole trip.  He had to help John with the log cabin building. So far, they  got about 4 ft of walls!  It may be ready for sleeping in by the next time the Connelly grandparents visit.  Ha!  We had a great time visiting and look forward to so many memories with Sage and the family.

 

The Brzak Grandparents first visit

Grandma and Grandpa Brzak finally arrived on 9/11/08.  Sage was waiting anxiously and was given to Grandma Brzak right away.  This is the first picture of them together.  I don't think Grandma Brzak (nicknamed G Ma B) ever put her down during the whole visit!

They drove all the way from Michigan bringing Sage her toys from the baby shower.  Mommy and Daddy were very happy to finally have some things to do with her when she's bored or fussy.  Of course, G Ma B and G Pa B loved playing with her!  Sage took to staring at herself in the mirror a lot, but why not when you're so GORGEOUS!

Grandma dressed Sage, bathed her, changed her diaper, played with her and carried her almost 100 % of the time.  

 

The fall weather was great, so we took Sage up to Grand Lake for the first time.  G Ma B loved pushing Sage in the stroller especially when she slept the whole time! 

Afterwards, we went elk/moose hunting in Rocky Mountain National Park.  We saw lots of elk, but no moose.  Sorry G Ma B.  G Pa B was of course very happy!

 

Grandma, Grandpa, Darcy and Sage took a 2 day trip through the park and stayed in Estes Park.  We ran into a lot of retirees vacationing and they all commented on Sage being so young and being out in the elements.   She even got to experience her first snow on the top of trail ridge road.  We did a 4 mile hike together with Sage lasting until about 2 miles in before she needed a feeding.  Mom(Darcy) also survived which was the important part.  I even think Linda could have ran circles around me!

The trip was short-only 10 days.  It was sad to see them leave, but Sage enjoyed her time with the Brzak's.  Luckily, she will get to see them again in November.  

  

 

                     

GO OHIO BOBCATS!

       

                  

Sage On the News  

Thanks to Grandma Connelly who submitted Sage's picture to the local Columbus news. Sage and the Family were rooting hard for the Bobcats, but didn't quite have the depth that the Buckeyes did.  However,  the Bobcats did drop the Bucks down to 5th in the polls.  Final Score Buckeyes 26 Bobcats 14.  Unlucky, maybe we'll get them next time when we are a little older.                                                  

Labor Day Hang

We decided to take Sage out for her first picnic on September 1st, labor day.  We headed up toward Lake Granby but decided to go to Willow Creek Reservoir across the street to avoid crowds.  (For those of you who don't know, this area is near the west entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park).

The dogs joined us on this outing.  Now we know that to have a RELAXING picnic, we should bring Sage without the dogs! Ha!  I guess we'll have to decide when to bring the dogs and when to leave them at home. We've had a hard time not bringing our first "children" with us on outings though. 

Those new parents who say you'll completely forget about your pets after having a child were wrong!  They still get the luxury of sleeping with us!

It was a gorgeous day out and as you can see the family is doing well. We await the arrival of Sage's grandparents, Linda and Gary Brzak on 9/11/08 and Pat and Judy Connelly on 9/20/2008. Then there will be more outdoors adventures to report!

Introducing Sage to the outdoors

It was Saturday August 30th and it was labor day weekend.  John and I had laid around the house all day with Sage.  Suffice to say, we got bored very quickly.   We knew friends were going camping but no one called us to join them.  Then at 6 PM, friends called to say they were hiking to some cliffs up Hurd Creek Road to rock climb and wanted to know if we would join them. David and Katie Lady had said that it was only about a 10 minute hike to the cliffs.  Well we packed very quickly to be able to meet them.  Wasn't sure what we should bring since it was evening, getting chillier and darker outside, and since we didn't know the type of trail/hike we'd be doing.  So we got Sage packed in the carrier, brought the diaper bag, camp chairs, cooler with beer and some food and were ready to go in 10 minutes!

So the drive took about 1/2 hour since it was a 4 wheel drive road.  Yes, the mitshubishi made it, and Sage, believe it or not, slept the whole way.  The hike was straight up the mountain side, through the forest, across a creek and ended up at some cool cliffs.  It took about 30 minutes and was a great introduction back into exercise for me.   We had to do some bouldering towards the top.  There was a point that we had to take Sage out of the carrier and lift her up to the next person around rocks.  Very exciting!

When we arrived, the group was quite surprised to see us bringing a 2 wk old baby on the hike. Sage did so well in her carrier, not a peep from her the whole hike.  Once we got to the top, she demanded food!  There were about 12 of us hanging out.  Literally!

I would have loved to rock climb, but I think 2 wks after delivery was a bit too soon.  We hung out until after sunset, which by the way was unbelievable!

Then we hiked back in the dark with headlamps of course.  And yes, Sage slept the whole way out and on the drive back home.  I think she likes this outdoors thing!

Where did the looks come from?

Future Ohio University 

Bobcat class of 2030

  pretty  in pink

she is in her adorable outfit

Rugby warming up to Sage but 

he is still cautious

Sage's Homecoming

Parenting at high altitude

Baby's 1st Berthoud Pass Crossing

Sage meets the dogs

Sage gets Rugby's approval

Sage's First Crib sleep shhh don't wake her

Toast from the Connelly Grandparents

and Aunt Erin and Uncle Steve

Thanks for visiting

Robert, Jen, Sage, &Darcy          

Sheila, Sage and Darcy

Trey Angie's son             The MVP's in it all

                                    Nurse Donna, Dr. Robertson

                                         Darcy and the star Sage

Thanks to those who were able to visit those above and the following:

Angie, Dr. Hill, Dr. Sarinopoulos, Dr. Salas-Meyers.  Also thanks for those who visit here on line.  It's hard to have family far away.  Although its nice to know that we have so many friends and family supporting  and praying for us.

Sage's First Bath

Hello world I'm Sage

Welcome Sage Dorothy Connelly

Welcome Sage Dorothy Connelly 6lbs 11oz August 17, 2008 at 11:24 am.  We thought the ride was last night now it has just begun.

Life begins on 8-17-08 We made it !

It all started on August 16, 2008 at 11:30pm Saturday night.  We had only had the necessities packed.  Then Darcy started to feel some discomfort and the orders started to come to make sure we have this and that.  I decided it may be time to pack a change of clothes.  As I was getting things together I heard the pitter patter of the rain coming down in sheets on our metal roof.  I was thinking to my self I hope this baby waits until morning or we'll have to drive in the worst conditions rain, darkness and a snowy pass.  I thought to myself, it's August and we get to drive through a snow storm.  So the one thing we were not able to do was to change out the tires for the winter studs.

I had no idea that I was going to have to check the weather to see if the Berthoud pass was going to be open in August.  Not to say we were a little unprepared being that all first born are supposed to come late.  Oh no, the baby figured his/her parents like to go on extreme adventures so should this be any different.

So we embarked on the dreaded 2.5 hours journey down the hill to the hospital.  Well I sought out a lot of coaching on this from others that made the track.  They all had good advice, however no experience is the same.  The best advice I got was to drive safe, he went 85mph the whole way with his hazards on just to wait for 17 hours once they got there.  Even the express birth class didn't prepare us.  I remembered that the contractions were supposed to come gradually and progress.  Not poor Darcy her contractions were coming every one to two minutes and lasted for at least 40-60 seconds.  I know this as I got a reminder of not to drive so erratic in between her contractions.

We also would like to put out there that there are definitely not enough rest stops along this route for a pregnant lady in labor.  I will gladly not expand much in this category.

Well we made it no wrecks, stops from the cops or shower curtain deliveries on the way.  Darcy did have to remind me to let her out of the hatch back when I brought a nurse to come rescue her from a most memorable drive.

We made it!!