My heart belongs to a sweet (and salty) 7-year-old daughter I call Ladybug. I’m a former reporter for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, (Northwest Edition) but have been a freelance writer for quite a few years now.

Gwen Rockwood and I launched nwaMotherlode.com in May 2008. In doing so, we combined three of our passions: motherhood, writing and the Internet. We wanted to create a website just for Northwest Arkansas moms that we would want to visit every day.

As a newspaper reporter, I covered a broad range of topics at papers across Arkansas including crime, courts, business and education.

While I’m not working or having adventures with my daughter and/or my husband, I love to read novels and psychology books, sing old church songs and 80s music and take walks with my black standard poodle and ice blue iPod. I live far enough away from family that I rely on neighbors, friends and virtual community to help me navigate motherhood and life.

You can read more about Shannon’s family adventures on her Motherlode blog “Life With Ladybug.” E-mail Shannon by clicking here.

I’m the mama of 3 little ones – 7-year-old Adam, 4-year-old Jack and 2-year-old Kate. But long before the babies came along, I took a job as a receptionist in the newsroom of the Northwest Arkansas Times in Fayetteville, Arkansas. I was fresh out of college and, after several months of paying my dues typing wedding announcements and school lunch menus, my boss promoted me to reporter and editor of the business section and gave me my own personal column, now known as The Rockwood Files.

After nearly four years at the newspaper, I left for a job with an ad agency, got married and spent a year working in St. Louis. My husband and I moved back to Arkansas in 2000, and I worked as director of marketing for The Bank of Fayetteville – a position I held until our son Adam was born in late 2001.

Well, one baby led to another baby who led to another baby. You know how it goes. Between all the diapering, baby burping and errand running, I’ve kept my newspaper column alive by working part-time from home. I’ve squeezed out a few freelance marketing projects here and there and published a handful of stories in the Chicken Soup for the Soul book series. Boy, am I tired.

Then one day Shannon called me with this great idea and, well, another kind of “baby� was born – nwamotherlode.com. Like the other babies, it took a while to get it here. It requires constant feeding, and we’re always trying to help it grow. But just like life with my real kids, it’s an adventure, and it sure is fun.

When I’m not writing, diapering, dropping off, picking up or folding clothes, I love to have dinner out, leave the dirty dishes on the table and go see a movie with my husband and a big box of Raisinets.

Check out Gwen’s blog, The Rockwood Files, or e-mail her by clicking here.

Our new make-up queen is Andrea Douglas. Feel free to e-mail Andi your beauty-related questions via mamas@nwaMotherlode.com.

We asked Andi to write a little bit about how she ended up in Northwest Arkansas and how her love affair with make-up began. From Andi:

When I married my husband, a native Arkansan, we relocated from fast-paced Dallas to NWA for a new career. About 5 minutes later, I was pregnant and alone in a town that only had one mall (who can imagine?) and no family within 5 hours.

At the time, I thought that having a baby when I felt so overwhelmed by change was going to be impossible to manage, but my son, Brandon, turned out to be my saving grace. Through him, I was able to meet a generous, welcoming, and diverse group of moms that were happy to give me tips on the local hot spots for kids and shopping and shopping for kids! Five years later, I just welcomed baby girl Lexi into my family and have rediscovered the joy of shopping (boys just aren’t as much fun to shop for) and the need for great make-up to hide the fact that I have not slept more that 2 hours at a time in the last 2 months!

Growing up as the youngest of 3 girls I watched my older sisters go through all of the latest beauty crazes, from mood lipstick to body glitter, and learned from their mistakes to develop my own sense of style. Somewhere along the line, I became the “beauty guru� of my family and the designated shopping partner on any trips to the make-up counter.

Now that I am a SAHM of two, I am always in search of a fast and flawless make-up routine on a budget and can’t wait to share my discoveries with other local moms.  What I don’t already know, I look forward to finding out as I research the latest trends and beauty hot spots around town.

Find out how I’m managing my new role as a mom of 2 by visiting my blog Baby on the Hip www.babyonthehip.wordpress.com

Okay, mamas. Meet Rhonda. She’s my friend and also my hair stylist. I met her years ago through another friend whose hair consistently looked so healthy and fabulous that it was starting to secretly tick me off. So instead of envying my friend’s good hair fortune, I finally asked her who was cutting her hair. One month later, I was sitting in Rhonda’s magic chair.

What I really like about Rhonda is that she isn’t one of those fakey-fake, syrupy sweet hair stylists who will tell you exactly what you want to hear, take your Mastercard and send you on your delusional way. If you ask for her professional opinion, she’ll give it to you. She’s never brutal, but she is honest.

I asked her to host this hair forum because she really knows hair but also because she’s funny, she tells a good story and she’s got two teenage daughters so she completely understands the complexities of hair drama. When your hair looks like crap, your mood often goes right along with it.

So, if you need hair wisdom or a product recommendation or a good laugh, you’ve clicked on the right spot.

E-mail Rhonda by clicking here.