OK YA'LL - We made the top five.. Actually, we're NUMBER 4. I have to get over 1,000 votes to win.... You know what that means... GO VOTE. GET YOUR CO-WORKER TO VOTE, YOUR FRIEND, YOUR NEIGHBOR, THE LADY DOWN THE ROAD...I NEED EVERYONE'S VOTE!

IT'S SUPER EASY - ONLY ONE CLICK....

GO TO http://triple-take.blogspot.com/ and click on the NUMBER 4 radial button. It will then take you to a site to create your own blogpoll. Just 'X' out of that.

This is over TODAY - So please go vote now!

I've stumbled upon a stroller contest that I would LOVE to win. If I make it to the top three, I'll need your help to win it. Having triplets, the only way I can get around is with strollers. I have both kinds of triple strollers (in-line and side-by-side), but they each have their own disadvantages. For example, the in-line (tandem style) stroller isn't comfortable for the boys during the summer as no wind can get to them and the two in the back can't see anything. The side-by-side stroller is awesome - I love it! The one disadvantage, it won't fit through a door no matter how you turn it. So it's only good if I'm outside with no intention of trying to fit through any narrow spaces, like a standard size door!

A double and a singe stroller would be the perfect solution to our stroller conundrum. Even if it's just me and the boys going out, Taylor is old enough to push the single stroller with a pretty good degree of control. Ohhhhh how I need this stroller!!!


Click here to visit the giveaway website. Here's the picture I'm submitting:

Wish me luck!

We should buy stock in Lysol. Or give up the germ battle. Perhaps we're approaching this germ thing all wrong. Maybe, when one of us gets sick we should just cough on the others immediately so we can all be sick and then well again at the same time. Or maybe not. There's no way we would have managed with sick babies when I was sick last week. So, I guess we'll keep fighting the germ battle and perhaps we'll even declare victory a time or two. I'm feeling better now after a week or so of a miserable cold that still lingers in the form of cough and congestion. Yuck! Ok, so I'm dealing with my ailment when I about have a heart attack due to the new neighbors ailment. Let me explain. The neighbor two doors down has a 4 year old, an 8 year old, and an 8 month old. The older two girls and Taylor have been playing non stop. They come here to our house and play and then they go over to their house and play and so on all day long. A couple days ago the mom and I were outside at the same time. That's when she dropped the bomb on me. Let me preface this by saying I'm generally not a paranoid type mom that never wants my child to be around anyone with a sniffle, but this, this was no sniffle. She informs me she has shingles and her baby has chicken pox!! I try to hide my panic and disgust. All I can think of is Taylor and the older girls running back and forth from house to house, possibly spreading the virus with each play date. ARGH! So, then I have to be mean mom and ugly neighbor and forbid the kids to play together for a while. Although the 5 day fever the baby suffered prior to coming down with the "chicken pox" is subsided and the rash is spreading at this point. So my precautions are probably in vain. This story doesn't end there - fortunately - the baby does not have chicken pox. It's a virus in the same family that affects infants only called Roseola. Click here to find out more about Roseola. It's also a good website for other kid health questions you may have. Dr. Ellison said the boys should still have enough antibodies from me so as not to contract it. Whew! Right?


Now, for those of you reading this that are extremely sharp, you caught the fact that I said "Dr. Ellsion said.." Again, I'm not that paranoid that I would run them up to the dr. at the thought of possible exposure, I mean I'm rash-inal (hee hee), I'm waiting and checking the boys for symptoms like bumps and fever daily (again, paranoid, but rational) So I'm not running them to the dr. No, my doctor visit came when Brayden did in fact come down with a fever. And can I say ARGH! again. Brayden is taking the Lloyd record for ear infections. I didn't think, or at least I hoped, that Taylor's record of 3 1/2 months would never be broken. At the ripe old age of 11 weeks and 3 days Brayden has a minor ear infection and is starting Amoxicillin today.

Ok, so it's 11:42pm. The boys are all asleep; all 5 of them, asleep. And I, well, I am awake. I should be sleeping. Yes, sleep is a very important human function. Yet, I, I am awake. Why? Why, you may ask. Well, I wish I knew. I haven't been sleeping well lately. And it's not because of the boys, I mean, they don't exactly help the situation, but they're not the cause of my insomnia.
I've been planning and researching for Taylor's birthday party (a carnival here at home this year, I'm very excited!). I've been working on new quick, easy, healthy, kid and budget friendly recipes. I've been contemplating and reading about making my own baby food versus buying it. We've been weening Taylor off sugar (well, at least high fructose corn syrup (HFCS)) for a month or so now, so I've been reading up on the HFCS debate a lot. I'm also a new again and paranoid mom, so I'm staying up reading lots of baby guru books/articles. I'm trying to become greener and more eco-conscious, so I'm reading and thinking about that. I'm planning a summer 'stay-cation'. I'm trying to organize the 400+ pictures on my camera as well as the 400+ on the computer that I just transferred over in a hurry - what a mess! And most disturbing, I think I'm also suffering from a little OCD. I think I'm turning into an OCD SAHM (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Stay At Home Mom)! For example, I tried going to bed earlier. But my desk was a mess from quick coupon clipping, newspaper reading, mail sorting, note-making frenzies during the course of the week. So, I HAD to get up and clear my desk; which of course led to re-organizing my coupon folder and discarding expired ones, which led to cleaning out my planner, which led to looking through some pictures, contemplating organizing those on my hard-drive, but deciding to go through my 'favorites' on my Internet explorer and organize them instead. I then tried to lay back down, but I'm thinking about the day and then I'm suddenly thinking about how I need to organize/clean out under the sink in the boys bathroom. Argh! Counting sheep doesn't work either!
At work, I considered myself fairly organized. Well, I'll just say compared to some, I was a very organized person. At times I would feel it slipping into OCD territory and I'd stop. At home, I've always been more laid back. Everything has a place, and it's nice when it's there, but if it's not, no sweat. But now, watch out! Because, well, everything has a place, and I like it there, and if it's not there I'm going to sit and think about it and it will bother me until it's where its supposed to be, and then I'll have to stay up until midnight ranting about it!
With 4 kids, uh hum, 4 BOYS, I can see this disorder sending me over the edge even sooner than the boys would cause me to jump.
Ok, enough. I'm being dramatic. But you see, I'm not well. ok, more drama... I guess I'll try this sleeping thing again, now that the boys should wake to eat in an hour or so.
Oh - I've also been thinking of some blog ideas. I'm doing all this research, I'm going to start posting some of my findings out here to help ya'll. I'm sure some of you would be interested in fun recipes. I may even be real ambitious and pick a day of the week to posy my findings, like Menu Monday, or Tasty Tuesday, What's for Dinner Wednesday...you get the idea. And posts like: High Fructose Corn Syrup: Friend or Foe? You be the Judge, How to plan your own Stay-Cation, ..your home Carnival, etc. So, lots of those types of ideas too. I get such great feedback from friends and family that read this blog, I feel like I should use it to share info too.
So, stay tuned.

Also, the feedblitz subscription tool on the right side actually emails you the entire post the next day, along with previous post titles that are hyperlinked for easy access. I subscribed, just to see how it works.. = )

Pictures and baby updates coming soon! From all of us here at the Lloyd house, Good Morning and Good Night!

I've stumbled upon this neat little tool. It's on the right side of this post, and it will allow you to enter your email address and receive email updates each time I add a new post. I'm guilty of sporadical posts, so this will alert you as to when I've found time to get one out here. I'd love to fit this into my schedule and have time set aside at least twice a week. I mean, laundry, feeding babies, baths, dishes, dinner, cleaning bathrooms, etc. all have a place, why can't I set aside time for blogging? Well, while I ponder this idea, here's a quick fix until I figure out how to do that.

It's really quick, easy, and of course, free. Just enter your email address, the next step asks how you want it sent (default is email), then go to your inbox and click on the feedblitz email and verify that you received the email by clicking a link in the message. That's it! If for any reason you ever get tired of getting the emails, you can "unsubscribe" with one click of your mouse.

As for new news with us... I'm sick and feel horrible. I'm pretty sure the boys are getting sick too. Figures! Just as we start trying to get them to sleep through the night they get sick! I mean, bless their hearts, my poor babies. As far as the boys sleeping through night - still a pipe dream. The first night they slept for close to 6 hours, since then, we've been lucky to get 2-3 hours at a time. It's been really hard and frustrating. At least before they were on a schedule, but hopefully before too much longer, we'll have an even better schedule... One that doesn't involve midnight and 4am feedings!

Alright, I'm off to try to rest for a little while. The babies are napping and Taylor, well, I may lock him outside for a while...Just kidding. I'll lock him in his room. = )

We had an uneventful 4th of July. Taylor got a few fireworks. Mostly tankers, trucks, and airplane type things that race on the ground. He loved it and can't wait until "firework night" again. He said it was "the best night of his life."
We found a swing set on clearance at Toys R Us and we ended up getting over 50% off the original price. We had been looking for one, and you know I love a good deal, so we had to jump on it. As it turns out, we got the last one in the store... it was meant to be. Then we got it home and we started thinking, that huge swing set is all packed into those three little boxes??? At that moment, we knew we were in trouble!

Day 1

At least 8-10 full hours of work with help from George

Day 2

Day 2 was only about half a day of work, with help from Uncle Cliff.

Day 3

Just a few hours after work with more help from George got the climbing wall, slide, and other swings attached.

We still have to finish the roof, finish anchoring the slide, assemble and attach the picnic table and tic-tac-toe game and anchor the swing legs. Hopefully I can post a finished picture after this weekend.

Thanks George and Uncle Cliff for your help!!!

"Take me out to the ball game..."