Years ago I was a WebMaster, then an AdMaster, when the names were laughed at. They were geekified names, made up names to describe the powers that one had over a Web site. Now, they are common place.

These days, I’m the certified Milk Master of my house. My husband is the Bottle Master. Together we produce and feed our newborn baby girl around the clock, reflux be damned.

I’m in charge of making the milk. Eating healthy, not having too much alcohol (no pump and dumping here) and drinking that special “mothers milk” tea (fenu greek tea) to increase milk production. I am in charge of making sure that our baby eats often enough and that she gets all the milk she needs. I also have to make sure there is milk available if I’m not going to be at home when the baby is hungry. AKA pumping.

I hang out with moms of newborns once a week, we get together and drink the special tea, talk about our babies, mainly ask questions:

• is he pooping enough?
• my boobs are lopsided, what do I do?
• if I feed from only one breast do I need to pump the other breast?

We are all the Milk Masters of our households right now. It’s a daunting task. One that requires dedication and results in a lack of sleep. The benefits are immeasurable though — the bonding, the health benefits and the eating. As a Milk Master Mom I can eat a horse (or is it a house?) and still lose weight.

This title is temporary as we will one day transition into formula and solid food, but for now this is what I do.

Today is one of those days where it’s 2:00 PM and you wonder how you are still in your pajamas. My 3-week-old was up for hours this morning, and all I wanted to do was go back to bed. That didn’t happen until 2:30 this afternoon. Or is it morning? The days and nights tend to blur together. Thank God for the sun and the moon that tell me what time of day it is.The sun is up so it must be day time.

The Sun

The sun tells me that it’s time to get out of bed and get dressed. So far, I’ve managed to get out of my pajamas by 10:00 AM every day since my daughter was born (well, except for when I was at the hospital, dressed in the beautiful open-backed hospital gown). Although, today technically I’m not in my pajamas because I wore a regular shirt to bed last night and didn’t bother to change it — so, I woke up already dressed!

The Setting Sun

Dusk warns me that it might be a long night. That I should make sure my baby is eating every two hours so that she will sleep tonight.

The Moon

The moon hovers overhead, shining just enough light to not depress me when I have to stumble out of bed to feed a hungry baby. The moon is supposed to tell my baby to sleep for two long stretches so that I can get some rest. This hasn’t been the case.

I finally got some rest today, but it’s dusk now and I’m wondering how the evening will go.

Wish I would have known about this trick when I was potty training my son. While watching an episode of “Jon and Kate Plus 8″ where they took the kids on a trip to a theme park, Kate Gosselin explains how the girls were afraid to use the potty because it had the automatic flusher. My son used to freak out with these things too. The first time one flushed on its own he cried for what seemed like hours. Just couldn’t comprehend 1.) how it did that on its own and 2.) why I didn’t let him flush it.

Kate explained that she now puts a piece of toilet paper over the sensor so that it won’t go off until the kids are doing using the toilet.

Genious.

Our local grocery store chain, Publix, sends out a newsletter to parent’s based on their kid’s age. The latest issue contains a section on making family time a priority. It’s a good reminder to schedule this time into our busy lives. Here’s what it says:

This spring, focus your efforts on renewing family bonds. Hold a family meeting and establish priorities for the new season. Start by setting goals involving the people who matter most to you. Designate at least one day a week as Family Day, insisting on spending uninterrupted quality time with the ones you love. Decrease invading activities that take you away from your family throughout the week, and above all else, focus on renewing your family.” (Source: MOPS International.)

– Publix Preschool Pals Newsletter, Spring 2009

Keywords here are:

• Establish priorities
• Set goals
• One day a week is Family Day
• Uninterrupted time
• Decrease activities that take you away from family

I think it’s a great reminder that we often tend to overlook because we are busy trying to figure out what to get on the dinner table. This week, try to take some time away from all the distractions to spend some quality, uninterrupted time as a family.

Photo credit: http://www.sxc.hu

I decided to create a photo frame to wrap around a photo of my new baby and send to our family for St. Patrick’s Day. It’s going to be her first “holiday” so I just thought it would be a creative way to send an updated photo. Since I went ahead and did all the work in PhotoShop I decided to offer it here as a download for anyone who wants to use it. I put together a quick how-to.

Enjoy!

How to:

1. Open stpattywrap.psd in Photoshop.
2. Click (highlight) on the “Insert your photo here” layer.
3. In a new window, Open your photo.
4. Size your photo to 375 x 500 (width x height). (Go to the Image menu, choose Image size, type in your dimensions and click OK.)
5. Drag your photo to the open stpattywrap.psd file. Since the Insert your photo here layer is highlighted it should show up behind the green border.
6. Save the file as a JPG. (File Menu, Save as.)

DOWNLOAD THE FILE NOW.

Now you can post it on your blog or sent to your family and friends via email. Leave a comment below if you enjoy this and I’ll try to make more for other holidays.
Enjoy!

Baby photo courtesy stock.xchng.