CEDAR FALLS - Bang! Bang! Bang!

Vinnie McLaughlin squeals with glee as he pounds the colorful wooden nails into the small toolbox.

From another room his brother, Gavin, yells for help. Through it all, Connor sits quietly on his father's lap.

For some, the constant chatter of three 2-year-old boys would be unbearable, but the chaos does not faze Matt McLaughlin.

"We've never known any different. We've never had just one child," he said.

Matt and Allyson McLaughlin were together five years before their sons were born. They spent countless hours together, both alone and with friends or family.

When Allyson went grocery shopping Matt went along. And when Matt headed to the hardware store Allyson was with him.

"That's what made us 'us.' We would rather do stuff together than alone. We aren't the kind of couple that needs that alone time," he said.

But after the babies were born all of that changed. A trip to the grocery store with three car seat carriers spells nothing but trouble. In addition to the obvious problem - it's tough to fit three kids and groceries into even two carts - the sight of three small babies usually drew unwanted attention from well-meaning strangers.

Shane Oldenburger of Parkersburg remembers the first time he and his wife, Deb, took their triplet girls out for dinner.

"When the server brought us the food we boxed it up and went home," he said. "It was just too much."

But, they waited only nine months before resuming regular family camping trips.

"We just took every toy you could think of. We had a fence that we made out of lattice that ran the length of the camper to keep them in," Deb said. "They really enjoyed it."

Getting easier

Area parents of triplets agree that the early days were the hardest. But it was those daily struggles that made the milestone moments three times as sweet.

"In the beginning it was the little things, like when they started holding their own bottles," Shane Oldenburger said. Then the babies started sleeping through the night. Then they were walking.

"That was key because I wasn't so dependent on someone always going with me because I couldn't carry three car seats," Deb Oldenburger said.

Leslie Toma's 2-year-old triplets haven't yet made it to the potty-training stage that Deb Oldenburger marked as another crucial milestone, but said she already is seeing her daily workload lessen as the boys age. Christian, Jameson and Cameron are becoming great playmates and do a wonderful job keeping themselves entertained, she said.

But her outlook on a future with triplets wasn't always so optimistic. When the doctor told Toma and her husband, Troy, they were expecting triplets, Leslie said she "mourned for a month."

"I thought I could barely handle the one I had," she said of her oldest son, Jackson, now 4. "But then I just got organized. I plugged into a Moms of Multiples group in Michigan and moved forward. I had no other choice, so I just did it."

Stress times three

Having one child is hard. Having three small children is also tough.

But, some experts says neither compares to the challenges that come with raising multiples.

"At the very least, if you have three young kids versus triplets, the kids are different ages and therefore at different developmental stages, while the triplets will be breast-feeding, wearing diapers, learning to eat by themselves and potty training at the same time," said Lisa Kukral, a licensed mental health counselor with Covenant Clinic Psychiatry. "The family will have had at least a little time to gradually adjust to each child as it joined the family as well, versus all at once."

The day-to-day difficulties of life with multiples has come into the spotlight recently with the rising popularity of reality television shows like "Jon & Kate Plus 8" and "Table for 12" on TLC. The Gosselin family drama, documented in their weekly 30-minute show and the tabloids, also has put a spotlight on the potential for marital problems in these families.

In the season opener Kate Gosselin said "Parents of multiples have triple the divorce rate" of other couples. The comment sent the blogging world into a frenzy. The comment spurred online and real-life conversations among parents of multiples who questioned the truth in her words. Though only a few incomplete studies exist on the topic, many parents say they believe the statement.

Toma isn't worried about her marital relationship, but knows many others whose marriages failed after their babies were born.

"I've heard those statistics, and in my old MOM group we had several women who had been through divorces," she said. "I think whenever there are young kids in the house, the wife pays 90 to 100 percent of her attention to that young child so there is no time left for the husband. With multiples, there is no wiggle room left at all."

The McLaughlins said they make time together a priority, even though they sometimes feel bad asking family to watch their three active sons.

"We end up bickering more when we haven't had that quality time together," she said.

Reality isn't so real

Though "Jon & Kate Plus 8" is billed as a real-life depiction of the Gosselins' everyday life, Kukral warns parents of multiples not to get too wrapped up in the drama.

"Living out your life in front of the cameras and in the media is not normal and creates a great deal of stress on the couple and family. This is being evidenced in recent headlines," she said. "I would not want parents of multiples, present or future, to think that's how it is; their own reality is going to be a lot more normal than what is seen on TV."

Matt McLaughlin is the first to admit that raising triplets is tough, especially while working and going to school. He can't imagine raising twins and sextuplets.

"Our house can go from zero to chaos. It can be crazy," he said. "But it is also great. There are three times the hugs. Three times the kisses."