Now, about Stephanie!
What is your full name?
Stephanie Elizabeth
Chaparro
Where are you from and where do you live now?
I was born and raised in
Phoenix, AZ. With my husband being active duty Army when we were first married
(now a veteran) I’ve lived all over, but we have found ourselves back in
Arizona as it’s where both of our families live and our hearts are.
How many children do you
have and what are their ages?
I have 4 children. Gabriel
is 15, Ariana is 8 as of November 25, Jacek is 5, and my twinkie tush baby,
Annika Jade (AJ) is 18 months.
How and when did you find
twinkie tush?
I discovered tt when I posted
an ISO on another CD page for girlie fitted diapers. I had a very generous tt
mama offer me a NIP OS serged Electra and I fell in love! When I finally had it
in my hands and on AJ’s bum, I couldn’t believe how great the fit was! I needed
more! It’s like they were made just for her… the rest is history!
What is your favorite
twinkie tush print of all time?
Every time I see this
question answered by previous FOTMs I always wonder how they narrowed it down!
This is such a hard question to answer! I’m going to go with OS serged Arwen! I
was ISO of this print from the moment I discovered how well tt worked for us. I
finally got my hands on one and it is just as amazing as I’d hoped it would be.
Next would be my original print Mermaid Song. Everyone knows that tt has the
most amazing collection of prints ever though, so my “favorites” are always
changing!
 |
| Arwen |
 |
| Mermaid Song |
Do you have an ultimate ISO
print?
My current “Ultimate ISO”
would probably be OS serged Venice or When in Rome.
 |
| Venice |
 |
| When in Rome |
What is your favorite
personal non-parenting related, non-work related hobby?
Well, before life revolved
around parenting related things, I danced ballet and contemporary. When
escaping reality I love going to the ballet and getting lost in the pieces. I
feel so inspired while watching it can literally bring me to tears.
What makes you feel most
inspired or grounded? How do you take care of yourself and your
spirit?
Ha! Spoke too soon… While I
do feel inspired watching ballet I also feel inspired watching my children
grow. Man, I am just overcome with emotion most days watching them learn and
grow and love. They just love and trust so unconditionally and innocently… I’m
absolutely enthralled by them.
What is your favorite
activity to do with your children?
We love to travel (by car)…
ßthe mamas who know me, will understand that
because I’ve shared that I have an insane fear of flying… growing up in my
family we didn’t get to travel much, but my husband comes from a family who
traveled all the time. He’s shared places and experiences with our children and
I that I never could’ve imagined on my own.
What is/was your favorite
place to visit?
My favorite place to visit
is the Grand Canyon. We traveled to the Grand Canyon, the first time for me, a
few years ago and have been several times since. If you’ve never been, I highly
recommend planning a trip. It is breath taking! Walking up to gaze out over
just a small portion of it for the first time, literally made me gasp. It’s
like looking at a painted picture. It’s a beautiful reminder to me of how great
and powerful God is. It’s amazing. I can’t say it enough!
What is your favorite
book? What about your favorite movie?
My all time favorite book
would have to be Deadline by Randy Alcorn… Read it! You’ll be inspired. My all
time favorite movie is Dirty Dancing… first because it’s got lots of dancing
and second because… well, Patrick Swayze!
What is something
surprising about you, that people might not guess upon meeting you?
Hmm… that I’m over 25?! LOL
People often guess I’m much younger than I look, which isn’t terrible I guess!
Other than that, I’m pretty open. I tend to wear my heart on my sleeve. I love
animals! Dogs, specifically… & I’m a big advocate for pit bulls! I’d love
to own a rescue one day!
What twinkie tush attribute
and/or philosophy do you most appreciate?
“We value quality, honesty,
positivity, and community.” This is my favorite sentence on the entire tt
website! The twinkie tush community lives this sentence. I’ve become close
friends with several other tt mamas since becoming a part of the tt community
and am so thankful for them. Their honesty, positivity, and true quality
friendships have seen me through some difficult times recently because some of
us have SOOO much in common through our little ones! My family and I are
currently struggling with an Asperger’s Syndrome diagnosis for my middle son
and without some of the love and support that these mamas have offered, I’m
sure I’d be much more of a basket case than I normally am LOL Thank you from
the bottom of my heart to those mamas (they know who they are) and I truly love
you all so very much! I never would’ve thought that some of my very best friends
could be women that I have only known online. Without the tt community, I never
would have crossed paths with these women, so thank you to Gretchen and the
twinkie tush team for that as well!
What would you tell someone
who has yet to try a twinkie tush diaper?
I would say (which I say
often when I’m trying to convert someone!) that while the price may seem
intimidating, you will end up spending much more trying other diapers that
won’t work. I truly feel that you get what you pay for and with twinkie tush it
is such high quality, that you just can’t be left disappointed. Invest in
something that will last. You’ll be glad that you did!
Tell us your funniest
cloth-diapering or parenting story!
Well, I shared this
recently on the twinkie tush fan page, but I’ll share it again, because it was
hilarious. My husband was talking to the baby telling her to go grab a diaper
so that he could change her. She walked over to where we keep them all and came
back with a diaper still wrapped in plastic. Those who have been around awhile
know I have NIP hoarding problem… Anyway, my husband looked at the diaper,
looked at me, then looked back at AJ and said, “Nope, not that one. That one’s
wrapped in plastic and I don’t know what that means… I don’t know if mommy’s
buying it or renting it or selling it… it might be a collector’s item.” I died
laughing. My husband is not huge on cloth diapering, but he doesn’t complain
either because he knows it makes me happy. It was just a silly moment that has
stuck with me since!
Tell us about one of the
most meaningful parenting experiences you have had.
I’ve had so many of these;
it’s difficult to narrow it down. We are a family that believes in God and
tries to center Jesus Christ in the middle of everything that we do and teach.
I don’t like using the term “religious” because for us, Jesus is greater than
religion. I try to teach my children that just because people believe one way
or the other does not make them or us less important than anyone. I want them
to grow up respecting and valuing others opinions, views, and beliefs. While we
do lots of teaching from the Bible, I’ve tried to never force them to think one
way or the other. They attend public school and listen to “regular” music. They
watch all the cool new movies and get into trouble just like other kids. They
are not sheltered by any means and they know that the world can be a mean place
at times. I try to just give them the information as I understand it myself and
hope that my influence as their mother is enough for them to follow in my footsteps.
I think that one of the most meaningful parenting experiences I’ve had is when my
oldest children came to me, on their own, one morning before school, and asked
how they would go about asking Jesus to live in their hearts. I had such an
enormous amount of pride in them at that moment… wow! Gets me teary eyed just
remembering it! It’s my hope that I can continue to lead them in the right
direction for their lives. I want them to know that they can change the world
just like anyone else can and I want them to touch everyone that they come in
contact with.
Thank you so much twinkie
tush for this opportunity. I’m so grateful to be a part of such a wonderful
online community of mamas who all have at least one like goal in common:
raising our children the best way we know how to and supporting each other
while we all do that.
