1. I use a mixture of milk and water. Put maybe a inch of milk then the rest water. I add the milk mainly for flavor because I like that milk shake type of drink over the watery shake. Lately I have been using coconut milk and that seems to work well. I am going to try some others like soy and rice next and see what I like. If I have access to ice I sometimes put that in also to thicken it up.
2. Since I drink so many of these I try to play around and see what tastes good in them. I use a variety of frozen fruit (mixed fruit, strawberries, bluberries, mangos, pineaplle, etc). I buy them in bulk from Costco and prefer the frozen fruit and blend it all up and it becomes a thick shake. I always use vanila, banana, or pina colada protein flavors to mix the fruit with. Other than fruit I put other things in there to keep it from getting boring. With my Mocha chocolate protein I sometimes add coffee in there (poor it over ice first to cool it down). My office has a bunch a flavored coffe so I experiment what tastes good. I also steal some of my girls flavored coffee creamers now and then to spice it up also. I love that Almond Joy coffee creamer added to chocolate protein.
3. On flavors I relly only know Dymatize Elite Isolate protein since that is the one I have used for years. Favorite flavor is the mocha chocolate. There chocolate fudge is also good. Vanila, smooth banana, berry blast, and Pina Colada are the ones one I like. I've bought the Butter Toffee and use that to mix with the chocolate flavors to change things up. Really Dymatize Elite Isolate has been one of the best tasting protein I have tried and all the flavors I have tried have been good
4. The most important time to drink protein is within half a hour after you stop working out! Always drink a shake right after you get out of the gym because that is when your body needs it most for repairing. This is a good time to add fresh fruit too, because the natural sugars will help with soreness and repairing. I drink a shake for breakfast (with oatmeal), and another one two hours later for a snack. Eat lunch, then two hours later drink another shake. I don't drink one right before I go to the gym since I usually take that or my lunch about 2 hours from when I start lifting. I just use Neurocore before my workout and that works for me.
Wow, congrats man on the new baby