Every time I see a face on a milk carton, it makes me sad. But I am glad they are there, and we have John Walsh to thank for it. And yesterday, his 27 year nightmare finally ended.

John Walsh, most famous as the host of “America’s Most Wanted,” and his wife were able to finally close the case of their 6-year old son’s murder in 1981. Horrific as it was, his father used this ordeal to advance how the country views, prevents, and solves the cases of missing children.

Not only did he co-found the Center for Missing and Exploited Children, he spearheaded the development of missing person’s divisions in all major cities around the nation. The current president of the Center credits Walsh with making it easier to report and investigate the disappearance of a little one. “In 1981, when a child disappeared, you couldn’t enter information about a child into the FBI database. You could enter information about stolen cars, stolen guns but not stolen children.” But that all changed. Within four days of his son’s funeral, Walsh was changing law enforcement.

In addition to those efforts, Walsh also is responsible for the faces you see on milk cartons, shopping bags and mailbox flyers. He pushed for federal laws that created a toll-free line and database for missing children. He initiated fingerprinting at schools. And of course, he starred in America’s Most Wanted.

After little Adam Walsh was taken from a local shopping mall, his head was found a couple of weeks later. The rest of his body has never been discovered, and until yesterday, his killer remained a mystery. Detectives definitively named Ottis Toole, now deceased, as the culprit. And though countless mistakes were made by police at the time of the crime, Walsh did not place blame in his press conference yesterday, but graciously said it was time to move on.

The Walshes do have critics, saying they have scared a generation of parents and kids, raising paranoia as much as awareness. But whether or not he’s done everything the way you would have, the fact remains that John Walsh has given his life to making sure no other father has to suffer what he has. So, thank you Mr. Walsh, God bless your family, and sweet dreams to little Adam, may he rest in peace.

Hold the personal trainer, crash diet and the plastic surgery: Tori Spelling says she’s losing her baby weight the way that real moms do. And she’s finding it hard work.

Tori and husband Dean McDermott welcomed baby daughter Stella in June, a little sister to 18-month-old Liam, and four months later she’s says she still needs to shift several stubborn pounds.

Tori cites other Hollywood mothers, in particular Jessica Alba, who gave birth within days of Tori, but is already as thin as she was pre-baby. Celebrities like Nicole Kidman, Victoria Beckham and Nicole Ritchie were back at size 0 within weeks of giving birth, amidst rumors of plastic surgery, c-sections combined with tummy tucks, and intense workouts with a personal trainers.

Us real-world moms can get down seeing models and actresses looking so gorgeous right after giving birth. We all know that they have nannies, dietitians, personal trainers, and make-up artists. They don’t have to get up in the middle of the night as much as we do, they don’t need to do the laundry, they have staff working on getting them fit and gorgeous and they’ve got the make-up artists to erase any potential dark circles under their eyes.

But it can still be a drag especially when we are too tired to make anything to eat healthier than frozen pizza, we got three hours sleep and making time to go to the gym is impossible when it seems like there’s not even time to brush our teeth.

I think Tori Spelling looks phenomenal, and I’m very glad she’s focusing on her family, rather than spending hours at the gym to get skinny again. I hope that she can inspire some other celebrities to do the same thing, and I hope she’ll make some other new moms feel a little better about themselves too.

It was the most gorgeous day yesterday, one of those early fall days where everyone wants to be outside in the sunshine as much as possible because winter is only a few weeks away. I took my son to the local playground, and ran into another mom I know, her sister, and their children.

One of the moms had to run to the car, leaving her baby with her sister. The baby started to wail that his mom was leaving, and the first mom jokingly suggested she nursed him to calm him down until his mom got back.

You know when you are joking, but there’s actually a little truth in what you say?

Nursing another woman’s child is unthinkable for many of us. And there’s even legislation against it: In the state of Oklahoma it’s actually illegal to nurse another woman’s baby without a special state issued license.

But before infant formula existed, it was common for a woman to nurse a baby that wasn’t her own. It’s an everyday event in countries where formula is unavailable or too expensive for most families. What else could you do for babies who’s moms died in childbirth, or where their mother was sick, couldn’t or just didn’t want to look after the baby? The easiest solution is to find another nursing mom.

Often upper-class women hired women to look after their babies, including nursing them, as they considered breastfeeding beneath them, or because of social pressure on them to not breastfeed.

But today, in the western world, where infant formula is safe and widely available, nursing another baby has become unthinkable. Health reasons are a large part of this, as we know that diseases like AIDS and Hepatitis can be transmitted through breast milk. And there’s the modern trend of thinking of body functions are private, so therefore breastfeeding should be discrete and between a mom and her baby.

But formula is not perfect, and very early premature babies often can’t digest even the most sophisticated formula. In a situation with a premature baby, and a mom who can’t breastfeed – common in early preemies, born before the mother has started to produce milk – donated breast milk is used to feed the baby. Several hospitals operate breast milk banks for lactating moms to pump and donate breast milk. The milk is screened for pathogens, pasteurized, and used to feed premature babies. It’s saved many premature babies lives.

There have been situations where a breastfeeding mom has been in an accident, in a coma, or needing medication that stopped her breastfeeding, and her baby was fed by other nursing moms until she recovered.

And in the spirit of upper-class ladies who considered it beneath them to nurse their own babies, Hollywood moms can hire wet nurses to feed their babies. Celebrity staffing agencies offer lactating nannies to nurse celebrity babies. Perhaps because silicone-enhanced breasts often can’t produce milk, or breastfeeding is so time consuming if you have to jet-set around the world, make movies and party?

But what about when a breastfeeding mom feeds another mom’s baby in a non-lifesaving situation? Is that unacceptable, or are we all just too squeemish about breastfeeding in 2008?

It’s been long-rumored in the tabloids that many celebrities have had an elective cesarean birth, and a tummy tuck along with it. Other claims include anorexic diets, and 8-month cesareans to avoid gaining too much weight. (Could any mom really do that?)

No celebrity mom has ever confirmed that they’ve had either procedure, but with Hollywood stars appearing on the red carpet 3 weeks after giving birth looking amazingly thin, you have to wonder.

Beginning in California (where else?) many plastic surgeons are now marketing the “mommy makeover”, a plastic surgery package of a breast lift, optional breast implants, a tummy tuck and liposuction, advertised directly to mothers.

Last year, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons performed an incredible 325,000 mommy makeovers.

Is this a good thing to market, or are the surgeons taking advantage of new mothers? Seeing models and actresses looking fabulous right after delivery doesn’t do your self confidence any good. Are they exploiting women who should really be proud of all the amazing things their body has just accomplished?

Pregnancy didn’t do my body any favors – I’d have a boob job, and lipo, and anything and everything they can throw at my stretch marks. But I don’t think I’d ever go through with it, unless someone else was paying!

Would you have a mommy job? Or do you see the changes as a wonderful testament to your motherhood? (And good for you, Mama!) Or have you, or are planning to, have plastic surgery after pregnancy?