I LOVE Halloween!!

miniature craft pumpkins: $6.00
acrylic paint: free from Paul's garage
paintbrush: free from Paul's garage
proud mommy-to-be excited for Ginger to arrive: priceless

First day on the (new) job

I really, really enjoyed my first day at the County offices today. I was strangely nervous, more so than any other job I've ever started, as I'm now obviously 6 months pregnant, and you just never know how you will be recieved. I'm proud to say that I was warmly welcomed by genuine, sincere new coworkers who solidified for me that I'd made the right choice, despite the timing.

I was thrown a "welcome to the team!" lunch, attended by about 10 people, and was ushered around and met at least 50 people today (whew!) I have a great corner office, with huge windows that overlook downtown Riverside, which is a nice upgrade for me. I felt like I walked miles today, as the County offices have several buildings within blocks of each other, and we were going here, then there, then over to the other, than back again. Lots of walking, which I suppose is part of working in a downtown environment. I love it- and I'm sure I'll love it more once I'm back from maternity leave and need to work in exercise whenever I can!

This lady must think I'm a nutball....

I mentioned that I am having Ginger's crib bedding made with fabrics that I like, as I just can't find anything that I really like out in the stores. Well, I finally have received the vintage fabric in the mail, and today I went out and got the coordinating fabric that will be used for the custom bedding.

While I've been waiting for the vintage fabric to arrive, I've been looking at pictures on websites, and have picked out a few other cool pieces I would love to have made. Yes, I'm the "gotta have it" mom already- I'm asking her about a diaper stacker, a changing pad cover, and a hamper that all goes with the bedding.

When I first contacted this woman, she quoted me a reasonable turnaround time and price (in case you are wondering, it really is about the same price to have the bedding made, instead of buying it at a retail store). But she must be laughing when she gets the email I sent to her tonight, asking about all of these other things, costs, estimated turn around time, etc. I can just picture her reading the email and thinking she has one crazed client on her hand. LOL

ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Without getting too personal, I swear I am SOOOO over having PPO coverage for my medical insurance. I've had HMOs in the past, which are limiting at times, and lack freedom of choice for doctors, so when I joined Starbucks I selected a PPO. Even though my premiums are higher, I have out of pocket deductibles, and I now am responsible for coinsurance (portions of bills), I thought it would be worth it.

WRONG! I have 6 bills I am currently disputing. Providers point the finger at the physicans offices. Physicans tell me to call their business center. The business center tells me that my Aetna insurance has instructed me wrong. My insurance tells me their hands are legally tied and I need to call the providers.

It is just out of control. When I go to County, I'm pretty sure I'm going with Kaiser. I've spoken with Shanna, who is a nurse for County, who says the local Kaiser facility is a good one. My friend Cassie delivered at 7 months (very early!) and has told me that the NICU onsite facility at Kasier was a dream for her- they treated her and the baby very, very well. My mom, having just gone through her treatment of breast cancer, can completely relate with the hours and hours of bill review and follow up just to deal with incorrecting claims and billing. I still can't believe that I was going to be paying thousands (yes, thousands) of dollars over this whole pregnancy by having a PPO. Just so that I could pick my doctor? PUH-LEASE...

Guess what. Kaiser is 100% coverage, and a $100 hospital copay when I'm admitted. For this 6 month pregnant woman, that is music to my ears. All of their billing is done by them, internally, which means they have to deal with all of their own inadecquacies, God willing.

I was never a true supporter of socialized health care, until I've experienced the inadequacy of the current system. I just might be a supporter in the future...

Baby bumps!

My good friend Jaime had her baby shower last weekend, so Shanna and I drove out to attend and we had a blast! It was a great exercise for me to go through- she got a ton of gifts (note to self-stop shopping!), had a lot of people attend (note #2: be ready for an exhausting day!) and I must say, Jaime looks fantastic!! I am so, so, so excited that our baby girls are going to be of similar age, we'll have lots of stories to share, and her girl Ryen Lotus will be a great friend for Ginger to play with! Here are a few pics from the event- I can't wait to meet Ryen!!

Below is Kendall, Jaime, me, and Shanna:


Our girls are introducing themselves through our bellies!


My BFF Shanna, don't know what I'd do without her!


Shanna's blanket she crocheted for Jaime's baby girl Ryen (she has mad crochet skills, blew me away that this was her first blanket she'd completed!)

Steph and Brian's wedding, 23 weeks

1 week shy of 6 months, and I feel absolutely ginormous. I really can't even imagine 3 more months of expansion. I am running 5k's in my dreams and seriously can't wait to get to the gym. But Ginger will be so worth it, so it's allllllllll good.

Resolved- Baby name has been chosen!

We are pleased to present our selection for our baby girl!!

Friends with good taste!

Today, Paul brought in the mail when he got home and said that there was a package for Baby G. Yes, actually addressed to Baby G!! This was a first, I believe, as most everything I've gotten so far has technically been addressed to me, so it was fun to see that Baby G's first piece of mail had arrived! My good friend Jovita sent it over, and I have the greatest story to share.

Earlier in my blog, I posted about the first purchase for our baby girl, a little white and blue butterfly dress. Well, Jovita also purchased this dress for her little girl (Dixie), sort of remembering that she saw it somewhere, but couldn't remember where until she read my blog again and realized that I had bought it too! Here is Dixie in her dress (hope you don't mind, Jovita!!)


Anyhoo, what makes this story funny is what came in Baby G's package today. Jovita sent me two little onesies and a little birdie rattle. One of them is an ADORABLE brown polkadot onsie with "peace" on the front, with the birdie. Can you believe that the other day, I stopped by Old Navy after I completed my registry, and bought this very same onesie, in the exact same color and size! This is when you KNOW your friends have good taste- we are buying the same outfits for Baby G and don't even realize it! I was cracking up, and I love it so much that I'm keeping them both. She'll be a really peaceful child (God willing!) Check it out:



Another cool part of this care package for Baby G is the 2nd onesie she sent. An adorable argyle onesie with the same little birdie on it (this is one that I didn't see in my Old Navy). The cool part about this one is that in very small writing under the birdie, it has the date "1964" printed. Interesting fact- everyone knows that Paul is into classic cars and hot rods, but 1964 is his favorite, favorite year for these cars, as we own a 1964 Ford Galaxie, as well as a 1964 Skylark. So he is in love with the year 1964. Which makes this onesie so appropriate as well.




You're the best Jovita. Thank you for brightening my day- I love little surprises like this!

To tell, or not to tell?

So, we have narrowed our baby girl's first name down to 2 or 3, with 1 being the clear winner, if we can just figure out a good middle name to go with it. We're stuck there right now, the first name is unique (no, not "Apple" unique, but let's just say not totally contemporary like Madison, etc) so it's proving difficult to find just the right middle name.

We've told some people a few of the names already, and of course our #1 choice usually gets the most positive feedback. But once we've landed on it, meaning no turning back, should it become public knowledge? I remember a coworker of mine at Starbucks telling everyone that they were not sharing the name until the baby was born, and I thought that was so odd...but now that I'm pregnant, I totally get it. Funny how that works sometimes.

Anyhow, enough people have heard the possibility of the name, that I'm sure we'll end up sharing it. If we could just figure out a middle name, then I'm sure we'll have more confidence in sharing...

A new journey...

Who accepts a new job 5 1/2 months pregnant? Apparently I do! Yes, it's true, I was misty today as I provided my resignation to Starbucks (I've worked in a corporate HR role for 2+ years with the 'Bux), however I am truly looking forward to this new professional opportunity with the County of Riverside. My new title will be Executive Recruiter, classified as a Senior Human Resources Analyst, and I will be responsible for attracting executive-level talent to the County of Riverside, as well as providing project management, consultation and training to the general recruitment staff within the County. This opportunity will provide the career growth I'm looking for, (while providing a sense of security with this soft economic climate).

I have to say that I've been provided a truly red carpet hiring experience with the County, who is fully aware of my pregnancy and in disclosing the news, I was met with genuine congratuations and sincere feedback that they see hiring me as a long term investment. Let's just say that I've been interviewing with a few different organziations, and I can't say that one of the others was as gracious, or even legal with some of their questioning. It gives me all the more reason to have faith that I am making the right decision in becoming a government employee. Plus my new boss is FANTASTIC!

As most of you know, I weathered rounds of layoffs at Starbucks, as we realligned and restructured our field workforce. It was an honor to survive, as I lost almost all of my staffing peers (and a lot of my HR colleagues as well). What I can say, is that I know in my heart that there is a special culture at Starbucks, that I probably won't find elsewhere. I worked with fantastic people, and I leave graciously in a few weeks, hoping to keep in touch with those who are still in position.

I was hired specifically for the expertise I've developed around the attraction and retention of "Generation Y" job seekers (those born 1979-mid 1990's). While there won't be too many Gen Y'ers yet who are executive-level today, part of my role will be to design and develop hiring strategies to prepare for the future of recruitment within the County, and helping to build a culture there, similar to that of Starbucks. Luckily, I am going to get to work with my best friend from Starbucks (Tyler), who has also accepted a role with the County! We get to work together again, and I am so happy you wouldn't believe it!

I start 9/25, so more to come!

Furniture and Fabric- on it's way!

The nursery furniture has been purchased and is on it's way! I ended up picking the espresso finish and can't wait to see how it looks when it arrives. We selected a crib, changer, dresser, and corner bookcase, which should fit just perfectly in the nursery. I'm really happy we were able to find solid, hardwood pieces of furniture, and the crib will convert into a toddler bed, and then a full size bed, as our lovely lady grows! That is, unless we need to use the crib again for baby #2. We'll take a few years on that, though...

I've also decided to have the crib bedding custom made, as I just can't seem to find anything online or in stores that really suits our taste. We're going with a vintage surfer girl theme and I've found the PERFECT fabric! It's a vintage Dean Miller print, you can't even find it anymore, I just happened to come across a website that has 9 yards of it left (Dakine Decor) and I scooped up the whole remenant! I've contacted a company that does great custom bedding, and will be selecting one or two more secondary fabrics (probably fluffy solid chenilles) to compliment the primary hibiscus fabric. I've had a ton of fun putting this design into motion, I can't wait to see how it turns out! I'll make sure to take pictures of the progress (aka Paul the painter) and the final outcome! In the meantime, here is a sneak peek of the furniture, and the vintage hibiscus fabric!

Bigger and Rounder....

We're 21.5 weeks- for as slow as I felt things were going in the beginning, time is sure flying lately! Hallelujuah!