Every budget-savvy mama loves a good garage sale, and there is a HUGE one beginning today in Rogers and continuing through Saturday. There are at least three neighborhoods participating – the Manors, Highland Knolls and Ridgecrest. They’re located on Pleasant Grove Road, just off the Pleasant Grove exit from Interstate 540. A few years ago at this sale, I nabbed a train table (with drawer storage), a bazillion wooden tracks, and the Brio trains themselves for $40. The same set would have cost me more than $300 new at the store. I am so pleased with that find that I’m still bragging about it. Happy treasure hunting, mamas!

Tell us how your baby arrived and win a relaxing reward from Luxe Derma Spa and Beauty Lounge!

Every year on my daughter’s birthday, I pause at 4:34 p.m. and allow myself time to remember the moment she officially made me a mother. I never expected it would be by C-section, but that’s where I ended up. I felt my lower body moving and I held my breath, waiting for the doctor to say the baby was out and fine. When I heard her cry, a single tear ran down my face and I asked, “Is it a boy or a girl?” When the doctor said I had a little girl, I asked another question: “What color is her hair?” He replied: “Wet.” I laughed and cried at the same time, warm tears streaming down my face and into my ears. Then my husband had her in his arms, and then I did. I kissed her tiny cheek and felt euphoric. This was a beginning. I was somebody’s mama.

Don’t most mamas love telling their birth story? When you’re the one who’s pregnant, you can’t seem to shut them up! Now that I’m on the other side, it’s me who’s nattering on about mucus plugs and ruptured membranes and generally scaring the holy heck out of pregnant women with my story. I really try to stay away from the full truth, which involved a 6:30 a.m. Pitocin cocktail on a frigid Friday morning and lounging ever so patiently in a hospital bed for my little bundle of joy to arrive at 4:34 Saturday AFTERNOON (please note the 22-hour time span and wince accordingly). I really try to skip the part where the baby couldn’t descend and I wouldn’t progress and everything was a hot mess of confusing confused-ness. Well, I try to skip it. It’s hard not to tell your down and dirty birth story. But here at MotherLode, we’re ASKING you to tell us. Write down every little detail and send it on over.

The winning essay – which will be chosen based on how unique, entertaining, or moving it is – will be featured on MotherLode and the winning mama will receive a Mother’s Day Getaway Giveaway package from Luxe Derma Spa and Beauty Lounge, which will include a half-hour massage, Bilberry facial, manicure, pedicure, makeup and spa lunch. Runners up will receive their own cool gifts and get their stories published on the MotherLode site, too.

Whether it was in a hospital delivery room, a swimming pool in your living room (Hi, Kassie!), or at an orphanage in China, we want to hear your unique story about how that sweet baby came into your life.

The deadline for entries is Monday, May 5, and winners will be announced the Friday before Mother’s Day weekend. Send your essays to MotherLode at 2818 Green Acres Drive, Rogers, Ark., 72758, or e-mail them to mamas@nwamotherlode.com. We can’t wait to hear your stories!

The final four has been selected: Jason, David Cook, David Archuleta and Syesha. That means sweet, blonde, goofy yet lovable Brooke White is going home to her husband and to pay a visit to the cute twin babies she nannied before achieving American Idol stardom. When Ryan gave her the bad news, we all knew the floodgate of tears would open. Brooke went into what Oprah calls “the ugly cry.” But hey, she’s the kind of girl who doesn’t hold back. What you see is what you get.

I’m betting that what Brooke gets is a recording contract. I think she could take her place in the ranks of other singer/songwriters who have made it big like Alicia Keys. So tell me, mamas. Who are you rooting for to take the title? Comment below!

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