(Chapter Three) And Baby Makes Three

After the wedding Suzanne got a job as a Scientist. She was very happy researching and learning more and more.
Things moved quickly for Suzanne and I - more quickly than we had anticipated. But we welcomed the changes all the same. We were ecstatic when we discovered we were going to have a baby!

Nine months passed in what seemed like days. We couldn't believe it was already time for our new bundle of joy to arrive.
Suzanne was in a great deal of pain, I could see - especially as she shouted to me that it was all my fault. I tried to remain calm and help her through this.

And baby made three. Words can't describe the joy I felt when I held my daughter. We joyfully welcomed Stephanie Suzanne Stratton.

Stephanie slept in our room for the first few months. Neither Suzanne or I wanted to be away from her.

Suzanne found a few rare quiet moments for her to study and work on getting a promotion. She thought she was almost ready to go back to work from maternity leave. She had definitely enjoyed it and loved being with our daughter, but she had missed the daily grind.

Steph was "Daddy's Little Girl" for sure. I didn't mind at all changing diapers and all that baby stuff. Suzanne really appreciated it.

We decided with Suzanne going back to work we should hire a nanny. Karen Gast showed up on our door the next day. She was a very kind old lady and we knew right away she would work out great.

Suzanne was anxious to get back into her regular work routine, but still missed Stephanie. She looked forward to when she was able to hold her precious angel!And just as quickly as the pregnancy and birth, it was time for Stephanie's first birthday.Suzanne baked a cake and help Steph up to "blow" the candles out. It was all Stephanie could do not to stick her hands in the pretty flames.Happy Birthday Stephanie!!!Stephanie was growing up to look just like her Mommy. How beautiful she was! She also had a few of her mother's qualities that I was too thrilled with, like being a little sloppy. One of these days I was going to hire a maid. As our lives seem to always do, Stephanie was growing at the speed of light. Suzanne enjoyed teaching her all the wonderful things there were to learn.

Potty training, for some reason, was especially difficult. It took a while, but Stephanie was smart (and stubborn) and we finally did it.Shortly after Suzanne had become a Mad Scientist she came down with the flu. She was violently ill.It was all she could do to stand up. With all the vomiting she had to take time off work. We both were praying that Stephanie wouldn't get sick.Suddenly a thought occured to Suzanne... "Could I be pregnant?" We hadn't really been trying, but then again, we really hadn't not tried.Oh yeah, we were without a doubt pregnant. Baby number two was on the way! Could there be a Mark Jr. coming? I was constantly amazed at what a beautiful little girl Stephanie was. She looked so much like Suzanne I couldn't believe it. If her hair wasn't dark like mine she would have been the spitting image.

Here it was, time again for another birthday. How could time really be going this fast?

For Stephanie's birthday party we invited my frat brothers. Everyone was so excited!!!A young child and another one on the way... could life get any better?