No, no one ever asks that....

Here is a list of commonly asked questions and/or comments we get when we are out. Some are totally understandable, some make you pause, some are very silly and then there are those that, well, make me want to ask where they went to school... so my kids don't go to school there. You know those people... yeah, the ones that are depriving a village somewhere of an idiot:)

In no particular order

Are they twins? I thought counting was a right, not a privilege:)

Where did they get the red hair from?

Daddy's got his hands full today. My response "I have them full everyday:)"

Bless you

You are triply blessed.

What cute children. Do people ever say "Whoa! Them sum ugly youngins!"?

Two boys and a girl? This was funnier when the boys were in blue seats and Addison in the pink seat.

Addison being good, as always, William is the decoy going for his lamb as Jackson tries a quick lunch-time escape. Not so fast!

Lots of sneezing going on these days. The snot-bubbles (yes, one out of each nostril) burst before I got the camera out.

Time for a "Your Mama Joke"

Your mama so hairy, Bigfoot takes pictures of her

Working for the Mob

You know how in every Gangster movie the Mafia always get their piece of the pie? There is always a "donation" that must be made to the bosses to keep them happy or there might be an "accident." Well, such is our life with Triplets!

Addison "The Collector" came for her take of Daddy's dinner last night.

Take note that the kids had just finished their dinner. Take, take, take:)

Then after I have "paid" Addison enough to avoid any "unfortunate incidents" Jackson wants his take. No wonder I have lost weight staying at home with them.

Work hard but play harder,

Al

Field trip!

We went to the Birmingham Zoo today! The forecast was cloudy and a high of 82. Some genius forgot to add rainy and humid as a sauna. It was a play group outing from our church. The mothers and other kids were great helping us out, especially at lunch. You have to go through a line that is single file (no triplet strollers) then you had to wait for your food. A few bug bites on Jackson and William cried a bit while I was waiting in line but we had a great time. The best was when I got them out of the stroller for lunch and Jackson, Addison and William started dancing to the music outside the restaurant.


While I am out with the kids many people tell me "You are a brave man to go out with triplets." I know it is a compliment but it is almost like they are saying "I mean, sure a woman could do it, but a man?" Either way it makes me proud each time. The proudest I have been was when I was headed into the kid's day out program they go to on Tuesdays and Thursdays (funded by their G-Daddy) when a woman looked at me and said "I don't see how you get out of the house in the morning." I didn't have the heart to tell her that before we left home I had made waffles (homemade), we all (including the dog) went on a walk and I got a load of laundry going:) And to think, I had to use an alarm clock my freshman year of college to make it to lunch:)

A picture of the kids "kicking it" at home

Blame it on the rain,

Al

I think I just stepped in Poo....

These were the words from my wife last night about 10 minutes after dinner with the kids. I said oh, come on.... I did a kid check - the quick way (with hands) and sure enough, Jackson had a blowout. Luckily we caught it early enough that the only casualties were his clothes, the floor, my hand, and one sock. Dodged a bullet.


William has already chosen a profession, or at least a hobby. Here he is figuring out a camera at the in-laws.

What memories are you making today?

Al

Back on the job, early

Jackson, our red-head, is not feeling well. He is fighting a cough, runny nose and now a fever. Such is the life with 20 month old triplets. If you have all three totally healthy at the same time you savor it like a Steak from the Silver Fox in Frisco, TX (the best steak I have EVER had). Yes, we have been to Ruth's Chris, Lowery's, Bob's, The Metropolitan Grill, The Palm, etc....


So Jackson woke up with a poopie diaper screaming at 5:45am and did not go back to sleep. But we did bring him to bed with us for a little while. We like playing make-believe sometimes to see what parents with only one child are like, But that being said I would not give up even one of our kids for the world. Not even after they bite, poke my eye, smear poopie on me, pee on me, and give me a crotch shot with shoes on. What sadistic people make kids shoes with soles so hard anyway?


The boys roughhousing a bit.

If you are outnumbered take on the strongest one first:)

Al

Back to work tomorrow....

We came home from the in-laws this morning after a great Memorial Day cookout. The kids had a GREAT time with their twin cousins. William was the big surprise, he LOVED the water! As you can see, Addison liked it but was a bit more timid

Jackson, who usually loves water decided that he liked controlling things by pouring it on himself with the bucket.

Note to self... If you forget the plugs to keep the air in your inflatable pool you CANNOT fix that with duct-tape.

Stay dry,

Al

Happy Memorial Day

Have a GREAT Memorial Day. As my Father-in-law's favorite shirt says (he is a Marine) All gave some, some gave ALL.

Addison Blowing you a kiss....

Thank you to everyone who does or has served our Country in the Armed Forces, especially my Dad and my Father-in-law who both served.

Al

Sunday

Did I mention the kids are fighting what seems to be a cold? Jackson has a cough and a runny nose:( We had a quick bite after church then put them down for a nap. Sundays are tough as they usually take a nap at 9:30am. So on Sunday they don't get one till after lunch. So, after about 5 minutes of SCREAMING (while I read them a story) they finally fell asleep. So the wife and I ate some left-over pizza (made from scratch last night: chicken, artichoke, mushroom and feta). Just when we finished both Jackson and William woke up screaming their heads off. So I took Jackson and she took William. The upside, I got a nap:) But now we are late getting everything ready to go to the Grandparents' house for their annual Memorial Day cookout tomorrow. Oh, well, you gotta be flexible with triplets.

Laugh each day,

Al

Sleeping in!

Did I mention how great my wife is? She let me sleep in till 8:30 am this morning:) I still remember when I thought that would be waking up early on a weekend. She also gave them their baths today. Both she and the kids enjoy bath time with Mommy better than with Daddy. I see it as a "get it done" kind of thing... you know, wash the hair, clean all the nooks and crannies (you never know when the CFO will do a surprise inspection) then they get a little play time while I get ready to get them out of the bath.


By the way, how do kids get that crusty stuff behind their ears? I am going to start keeping a closer eye on them at mealtime:)


William at our Goldfish Drive-through

If we have weekends where are the week-beginnings?

Al

Working third shift

Jackson, our Redhead, periodically wakes up in the night screaming like someone is pinching him. The first time this happened I think I took out the dog, a lamp, and the gate at the top of the stairs. Now I know he is just having one of those nights. Being a man, I don't always remember lessons of the past. If you ignore the urge to hold him for a while and comfort him but rather just move him to a pack-n-play in the other room he goes right back to sleep. No, no, I had to sit with him a while to "comfort" him. He went right back to sleep in my arms. I love this kind of thing BUT when you go to lay him in the pack-n-play or back in his crib he comes unhinged (red-head temper), which he did around 1:30 am last night.

So by comforting him I am committed. I lay down on the couch with him. This sounds great except that he wakes up every 30 - 45 min to re-arrange and look around. At 3:30 he decides he wants to talk. So I suck it up and put him in the pack-n-play and he settles down about 30 minutes later and sleeps soundly the rest of the night.

Here is Jackson at the park. You can see a glimpse of the temper.... I think I had asked him to be careful.

Why IS water wet?

Al

Got called into work early...

Like many people I sometimes have to work late or go in early. Well, today, one of my sons decided I needed to start my day a little earlier than usual:) After seeing what was in his diaper I cannot say that I blame him:) Poopies have never bothered me. I always say that they let me know everything is working.

But explosive poopies are not a welcomed sight. The worst was when they were about 5 months old. My daughter blew one out both sides and all the way up her back while in her car seat. So much for selling that seat as "good as new" on ebay:)

Other than waking up early today has been great. I got 4 loads of laundry done, three baths (plus mine), vacuumed (we have 2 Roombas), dusted, cleaned the master bath and the 1/2 bath, and worked out for about 1 1/2 hours at the YMCA. Oh yeah, and the Brisket I put in the slow cooker this morning is almost done, YUM!

Did I mention that the wife has been out of town since Monday morning? Single parents, my hat is off to you.

Just like every day, it was a team effort. The kids did help organize their bookshelf for me....

Tonight is a nice night for an evening,

Al

How do you do it? - Mornings

I am asked this everytime I go out with the kids, which is daily. This is a "normal" morning schedule for me (us).

6:20 am - wake up, make coffee for me and tea for the CFO (the wife), empty the dishwasher, prepare diaper bag(s) for the day, check email, check the weather
7:00 am - go get the kids, change 3 diapers, talk my daughter into leaving her pacifiers in her crib, changing any wet clothes and/or wet bedding.
7:45 am - come downstairs for breakfast, feed them a waffle, 2-3 bananas, lots of "back in your chair Mr." (my daughter is the little angel and follows directions, the boys, not always), wipe 30 fingers, 6 hands and 3 faces.
8:30 am - go for a 1 - 1.5 mile walk with the kids and the dog (did I mention that our neighborhood is VERY hilly:)
9:00 am - head back upstairs and play
9:15 am - put them in bed for a nap and read to them for 15 - 20 min.
This is where you pray they take a long nap
9:30 am till they wake up - I eat breakfast and watch about 15 - 30 min of TV,usually the Deadliest Catch. After watching that show my life instantly seems VERY easy:) Then I clean, prepare food, fill in the grocery list, do laundry, plan our day, and all the things in running a house.
11:30 am or so - kids wake up. More diaper changing and playing.
12:15 pm - we head downstairs for lunch.

Variations include:
Sick kid(s) - the best thing to do is prepare for the worst and hope for the best. I may be up most of the night with one or more of them. No, I cannot take a personal day and come into work late:(
Blowout diapers - this could involve as little as putting on new clothes or as much as changing all the bedding, wiping down furniture/walls and giving a bath
Bath days - I usually do a shorter walk and give baths 1 on 1 while the other two watch Sesame Street
Kids wake up early - this is why you want to do some prep work the night before
I get sick - suck it up!
Bad weather - get creative. I do a lot of chasing the kids around the house.
Family and friends visiting - We LOVE having people visit but it does change things. I try and stay fluid.

Gotta run, will fill in on the afternoons next time.

Fake it till you make it,

Al

Waffle Day

I have often been told that I can make the simplest of tasks complicated. So, not only am I a stay at home Dad, I also make their waffles for breakfast from scratch. It is much easier than you think. I have also been accused of being a wee bit on the particular side (anal) about things. So when I can, I make things myself. I also make our own chicken nuggets from organic chicken each week. Yes, they do eat some fast food and store bought prepared food but I try to make it the exception rather than the rule. But with Wendy's selling 5 piece chicken nuggets for $.99 it is a tough battle to keep fighting.

Even though I have been making waffles, french toast and pancakes for them since they started eating "real" food I still have my mornings. Notice the lump of waffle in the picture next to the perfect ones:) If you want to make your own waffles I would definitely recommend the Waring Pro Belgian Waffle Maker. It has a timer so even an habitual multi-tasker like myself can make great waffles. Did I mention that I woke up at 6:25 am and since then I have; made waffles, started a load of laundry, made coffee, filled 3 sippy cups of milk, emptied the dishwasher and made this post? No, my kids do not eat one waffle each, they split a waffle between the three of them. I freeze the rest then just pop one in the toaster each morning! Easy and cheap.

Time to go get the kiddos and see what surprises wait in their little diapers:)

If you can't beat them, confuse them,

Al

Why stay at home?

Many of you are probably wondering why I would give up a great career in Corporate HR/Recruiting to stay at home with now 20 month old triplets. The long answer is at http://www.pollardtriplets.blogspot.com/ The shorter answer is that after a lot of conversations with the Pollard CFO (the wife) and a lot of prayer it is the right thing to do. Sure, we took about a 40% paycut, have virtually stopped saving for our retirement, gave up cool vacations, stopped riding our motorcycles, laid off the nanny, housekeeper and the lawn service....... but now 6 weeks into staying at home we are happier than we have ever been.

More to come, sounds like the morning nap is almost over.

Don't fall down,

Al

Picure of me, my Dad and the Triplets!