Double The Fun

I'm Brianne and I am a local TV producer and videographer in York Region. My job enables me to share stories and experiences with my viewers. At the age of 32 I am now writing a new chapter of my own...I'm a first time expectant mommy of not only one but two bundles of joy! The journey hasn't been an easy one. It's included a devastating miscarriage, infertility fears, followed by the unexpected yet amazing news that my husband and I will be welcoming twins in the spring. I started writing my blogs as a way to share my experiences, the good and the bad, as well as a way to help other moms and dads out there that might be going through something similar.

When it comes to the common cold our household gets hit hard. With two babies we are two times more likely to pick up germs. If one avoided catching a cold while out shopping or playing the other most likely didn't dodge the bullet. So when one of the girls starts to get a runny nose I know that I've got about 48 hours before the other catches it. I had initially tried keeping specific toys for each child when a cold was going through the...

My last blog was about cottaging with the twins plus the rest of our family with less than ideal weather conditions in the forecast. I knew that it would be a bit rainy but I didn't predict getting stuck smack dab in the middle of a tornado! An Ef-1 touched down about 1 km from our rental cottage and left us with downed trees and no power. After about 12 hours without power, meals cooked on the bbq and flashlights guiding our way we took a...

Cottaging is something I've grown up with. I've been fortunate to have a family cottage my entire life. We would spend weeks, weekends, basically any free time we had between time at our cottage or out on our boat. It was an amazing childhood. Now that I'm a mom and have kids of my own this tradition is something that I want to pass on and share with them. I plan to spend many days up at my family cottage, land locked with nature, swimming...

So now that our girls are at the age where they're starting to understand "yes" and "no" I've been trying to instil some ground rules, i.e. no standing up in their highchairs, that's the big one right now. When we were training our golden retriever we did so using tone. We never yelled, but when he did something right we would speak in an excited tone, when he did something wrong we would speak in a lower, stern tone. It worked wonders for...

I've always been fascinated by all of those couponing and price saving shows that you see on TV. These people are at times getting paid to shop based on the coupons and flyers that they've collected. How is this possible? Well in the U.S. they don't have the stipulations that we do here in Canada. Here we are faced with limitations i.e.: not to be used in conjunction with other coupons. After realizing that couponing here would never be what...

When it comes to buying any product for my little girls I like to do my research;  are there harmful chemicals in this product? Has the product passed all safety inspections, etc? I can honestly say that I might have become a bit obsessed when it came to deciding on which convertible car seats we would buy for our daughters. I had always thought that the Diono's were amazing car seats, especially with the steel frame and reviews that I had...

Ever since we welcomed our twins into the world I have been determined to do everything that other moms can do. I've refused to miss out on park visits and swimming pools just because the twins outnumber me. Needless to say if you see someone who looks like a one woman circus, it's probably me (or any other mom with multiple children who haven't yet learned to walk on their own). From park visits involving swings and rides down the slide...

With the warm weather upon us I figured what better time to sign the girls up for their first swimming lessons? We took them swimming a few times last summer and they seemed to enjoy it as much as any 5 months old would. The next logical step would be to sign them up for baby swim classes…right? Wrong! The first class was spent trying to console our girls as they cried and cried. They were cold after 15 minutes (the class was 30...

My bosses have been extremely supportive and understanding throughout my entire pregnancy as well as once the twins were born. When I told them that I had to leave work early due to bed rest, they had my best interests in mind. When I asked them to file paperwork to HR there were no hassles. So when the end of my maternity leave was nearing I shouldn't have been so nervous. You see, after many discussions my husband and I decided that it...

Before getting pregnant I weighed just under 140 pounds. I was actively involved in Crossfit, I had gained weight in muscle and was pretty happy with my body. I had always planned on being that woman who worked out as long as possible throughout pregnancy. That idea came to an abrupt halt as soon as we found out we were expecting twins. My doctor said only cardio and no heavy lifting which meant bye-bye to Crossfit. Between the four and five...

I've been asked many times by friends who are heading to a twin baby shower, "What are some twin must-have items?" There are some items I'll admit I thought that I HAD to have when I found out we were expecting twins and others that I came across accidentally that I couldn't have survived without. In no particular order here are some of my twin must haves: 1.  A good hospital grade breast pump. If you plan on breastfeeding (especially...

I had heard many times from many new moms that the first year that you have with your baby flies by. I remember reading their quotes: 'I can't believe it's been a year since I gave birth to so-and-so' or 'It feels like just yesterday that we brought home so-and-so.' Now, after just celebrating the twins' first birthday I completely understand what they meant! Rewind to the first few weeks after giving birth to the girls. Time felt like it...