Twiniversity Podcast With Natalie Diaz

Nat chats with Natalie Downey, a mom of 6 (including twins), about potty training twins, including what you'll need to get ready for potty training and how to manage potty training more than one kid at a time. Natalie Downey is a busy stay at home mom to six kids including three year old twins. She’s been writing for Twiniversity for over a year. She loves books, yoga, hiking and dance parties with her kids.

Nat and twin mom Daniele Parris discuss the ins and outs of how Hollywood portrays twins in movies and TV. Daniele Parris is a work-from-home mom to an upbeat 12-year-old boy and 6-year-old boy-girl twins. She lives in the suburbs of New York City and has degrees in Fine Arts and Philosophy from New York University. She makes her living in the Healthcare industry and spends most of her time with her boisterous Italian family, trying to get a word in edgewise. Her hobbies include cooking and baking, an unholy knowledge of 80s hair-metal bands and trying, albeit almost always in vain, to guess the monetary value of the items on Antiques Roadshow. Find her on Instagram at @danisayswhatnow

Nat chats with Jenn Bauer, a single woman who decided to move forward with her life and fulfill her dream of having children, albeit without a partner. Jenn got pregnant with twins, who are now 7 months old and thriving. Jenn Bauer is a clinical social worker, working in the field of mental health for the past 13 years. After many years of putting her career on the forefront, she decided to make her family a priority. Well into her 30s, she still had not met “Mr. Right” and so decided that If she wanted a family of her own, she’d have to let go of her ‘Plan A’ and take matters into her own hands. At the age of 35, she underwent her first IUI and was surprised with a pregnancy with twins! Her boy/girl twins (Dominick and Lydia) are now 7 months old and thriving. When Jenn decided to take this path she knew raising a child on her own would be challenging - emotionally, physically, financially. But adding a second baby into the mix meant that she had to adjust her plan. This is not an easy feat for an admitted T

Nat chats over lunch with Mallory Kerley about the challenges of being a full-time working mom of twins, who went back to work when her twins were 3-months-old. Mallory Kerley is a first-time mom to four-year-old identical twin boys. No, twins do not run in her family, yes she’s sure they are identical, yes her hands are full. She lives on Long Island with her husband, works full-time as a marketing & communications professional for a national non-profit organization and still has no idea what she’s doing with this whole parenting thing. She fancies herself a photographer in her spare time and just decided to do it as a side hustle (but of course doesn’t have any great photographs of herself). You can see her photos on Facebook at Twin Fox Photos and you can find her on Instagram.

Nat chats with Karissa Hannigan, a twin mom from Sydney, Australia, about her really ordinary twin pregnancy, the care she received in her home country, and her twins club. Karissa Hannigan lives with her husband and three kids, Noah 5, Stella and Liam 2.5yr in Sydney Australia. When she isn’t multitasking with multiples she is working part-time as a lawyer. She loves to go on “adventures” with her family which includes the beach. You can follow her on Instagram @karissahannigan.

Nat chats with her longtime friend Jen who, at this point, is truly an expert at moving house with young children. As a military wife of 4 kids (including twins), Jen has moved her entire family -- out of state -- more than 5 times in less than 10 years. She shares some awesome tips on moving to a new house with kids in tow. Jennifer Shashaty was born and raised in Brooklyn, married a Naval Officer, and moved across the country to a Naval Air Station in Washington State. After Baby #1, they moved to California where they welcomed their second son. After a nine-month deployment, a return to Washington State, and another 9-month deployment, they then transitioned to family life in Newport, Rhode Island. Just as they settled in a new home, they found out they were pregnant with twins! Post-deployment babies! They then moved to Colorado Springs at 24 weeks pregnant, and they know just a thing or two about moving house with kids.

Rebekah Robinson is a stay at home mom to three (a toddler girl and 8-month-old fraternal twin boys) via IVF and gestational carrier surrogacy. From start to finish it took Rebekah, and her husband Ed, nine years, four IUI cycles, five IVF cycles, endless miscarriages, a gestational surrogate and suffering through a whole lot of hormonal crazy to get to where they are now. Which is, living life as a crazy, chaotic and fun-filled adventure with three littles under the age of three. Rebekah has a blog where she writes about twin momming, momming after infertility and just life in general, you can find her blog at beingrobinson.com. She also co-writes a blog with her two sisters who also suffer from infertility at insanitytimesthree.com. In all that spare time she has Rebekah loves to workout, travel, write, work on her Etsy shop, workout, eat and binge on really excellent TV shows. Instagram | Twitter

Nat sits down with twin mom Leslie Marlatt to hear the story about the time her doctor forgot she was having twins. Leslie Marlatt is a first-time mom to fraternal twin girls, Aubree and Adalyn. Along with being mama bear, she works in career services at the local university and focuses on helping students secure internships. Leslie and her husband, Adam, live in Indiana with their girls and dog, Benny. Find Leslie on Instagram

Nat chats with Kasee Bailey, a mom with a set of 2-year-old fraternal twins with her second set of fraternal twins on the way. Kasee Bailey is an east-coast-bred, Austin transplant and freelance writer. Life after a journalism degree has found her covering everything from the work of enterprising entrepreneurs for business publications, the lives of star-studded celebs for metropolitan magazines, the ins-and-outs of innovation for tech sites, and hole-in-the-wall cuisine for food magazines. Find Kasee on Facebook and Instagram and KaseeBailey.com

Nat and Audrey swap tips for buying in bulk, managing the minutia of large families, and dealing with the insanity of matching socks. Audrey McClelland left the fashion world of Donna Karan International in NYC to raise her brood of boys in her home state of Rhode Island. She’s learned that you can take the girl out of the Fashion District, but you can’t take the Fashion District out of the girl. Audrey brings her fashion expertise and mom experience to Mom Generations. Audrey is a mom of 4 boys and a little girl, married her college sweetheart and resides in Rhode Island! Visit Audrey's blog, Mom Generations, and find her on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Pinterest.

Nat sits down with Will Nunziata, one half of the musical duo Will & Anthony Nunziata, to talk about being an adult twin who has partnered with his twin brother for his career. Acclaimed twin brother singers, songwriters, and entertainers Will & Anthony Nunziata have traveled the country and world from Carnegie Hall to Netflix to Singapore to the release of their brand-new album of original & classic love songs titled “Love Always.” Available on Amazon and iTunes, the album also includes an original song they wrote for their mother as she battled breast cancer titled “The Gift Is You.” Enter to win a copy of their new album "Love Always"! Find Will & Anthony: Website / Instagram / Twitter / Facebook For more twin parenting tips and info, visit Twiniversity.com

Nat interviews Jane Goodrich, a fantastic family photographer, awesome mom, and a twin herself! Jane shares tons of great tips for taking great photos of your children with just a smartphone, and making sure your photos are safely stored and cherished for years to come. Jane Goodrich is a newborn, family and children’s photographer based in New York. She is a twin herself so she absolutely loves photographing twins. Jane’s natural connection with babies and children combined with her genuine aesthetic intuition translates into award-winning photos that are spontaneous, insightful, timeless and charming. Jane's work has been featured in Parent's Magazine, Westchester Family, Westchester Baby and Multiplicity Magazine. Jane has written and photographed several books including 'Capturing Every Day Life' - the no-nonsense guide to photographing your kids, the children's book 'Where is Charlie's Nose?' and 'New York is My Playground'. Jane also teaches photography workshops including teaching parents how to pho

KIM COLLINS, CD, LCCE, CLC, JD Birth/Postpartum Doula, Lamaze Childbirth Educator, Certified Lactation Counselor, Doula Mentor, owner of DoulaMomma & co-founder of MommaArts, has served over 1200 families in NJ and NY as a birth and postpartum doula, childbirth educator, birth photographer and doula mentor since 2001. Kim has completed the midwifery assistant program with famed midwife Ina May Gaskin at The Farm birthing center in TN, as well as studying and certifying in many other techniques and methods to help her clients and students meet whatever challenges and triumphs pregnancy and birth bring. She is thrilled to help families get off to the best possible start by offering continuity of care from pre-conception through toddler years with MommaArts. www.MommaArts.com and on Instagram @MommaArts

Nat chats with her good friend Kim West, The Sleep Lady, about the top 5 mistakes that parents of twins make regarding infant sleep. KIM WEST is a mother of two wonderful daughters and a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who has been a practicing child and family therapist for 25 years. Known as The Sleep Lady® by her clients, over the past twenty years she has helped tens of thousands of tired parents all over the world get a good night’s sleep without letting their children cry it out alone. Kim has appeared on the Dr. Phil, Today Show, NBC Nightly News, Good Morning America, TLC’s Bringing Home Baby and CNN, and has been written about in a number of publications including The Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, Baby Talk, Parenting, The Baltimore Sun, USA Today, The Telegraph, The Irish Independent and the Washington Post. Kim is the author of three books: “GOOD NIGHT, SLEEP TIGHT: The Sleep Lady’s Gentle Guide to Helping Your Child Go to Sleep, Stay Asleep and Wake Up Happy”, the “Good Night, Sleep T

Nat chats with Stefani Zimmerman Drake, a mom of twins and Twiniversity writer who battled postpartum depression. Nat and Stefani share intimate details of their experiences with postpartum mood disorders, how they realized they needed help, and how they found the help they needed. Stefani Zimmerman Drake is a strategy consultant + speaker with over a decade of experience working in the US government, international NGO space and with nonprofits. Currently on the UNDP's Roster of Communication Experts in Subsaharan Africa + recognized by HoneyBook and Rising Tide Society as 20 On The Rise for her advocacy work, Stefani is an analytical thinker and thoughtful storyteller who works with nonprofits, businesses + humanitarians to define who they are, elevate their influence and broaden their impact through strategic communications, branding + advocacy. Stefani lives in Charleston, South Carolina with her husband, twin girls and rescue dogs. www.drakestrategies.com www.stefanizimmermandrake.com Instagram: https://w

Nat shares all her best bottle feeding tips in a Facebook Live recording, sponsored by Dr. Brown's.

Nat shares her best tips to prepare for cough and cold season with your twinnies. This is a previously recorded Facebook live broadcast from December 2017, sponsored by Vicks.

Nat and Monica Banks of Gugu Guru talk about the all elusive "me time": how to find it, how to get more of it, and how to start saying no when you really need to make more time for you. Monica Banks is the founder & CEO of Gugu Guru, a free site that matches moms with the products they need the most. Gugu Guru’s insider knowledge of buzzworthy brands, emerging products, safety and more fuses perfectly with its innovative discovery platform to create unparalleled services for expectant and new parents. The personal shopping experience provides unbiased product recommendations that are tailored to unique lifestyle needs, budgets and more—all identified by a detailed ‘quiz’.  Prior to launching Gugu Guru, Monica was a branding and marketing consultant in the Mom & Baby industry and has worked to launch successful initiatives with such brands as Pampers, Similac, Belli skincare -- to name just a few. She currently lives with her husband and two children in Long Island, New York.

Twiniversity MoM Squad member Rasheena shares how she came to grips with the fact that her twin boys needed speech therapy, how she started getting them services through early intervention, and why she kept it all a secret from her extended family. She also shares details on our Twiniversity Parent Mentor program. Rasheena Moss was born and raised in Queens, NY. She has traded in the hustle and bustle of the city for a more relaxed and suburban life in Upstate, NY. Where she lives with her husband, Kevin and 2.5 yr old twin boys Charles & Will. Rasheena is a stay at home mom, who is big on learning through play, keeping her boys on a schedule but dropping everything for snuggles with her guys (both big and little)! Rasheena brings excitement to her SAHM role by finding different activities for her boys to take part in from gymnastics to art camp. She also prides herself on getting her family to eat their veggies. She has a talent for sneaking them into everyday meals.

Natalie shares 5 reasons why swaddling will help your twins in this pre-recorded Facebook live, including tips for safe sleep and details on Love to Dream swaddles. TO BUY: https://amzn.to/2DbCJ9N