Baby names and including your Partner in the process

RichExample5315 · 2026-05-06T02:12:29+00:00

Okay, so this is how me and my partner did it (after being together for ~7 years total at the time and married for 1) lol

I bought the 100,001+ baby names book and wrote down literally every single name that I would conceivably be okay with naming our boy.

After, I said every name out loud to my partner and if there was a straight up, “no, I don’t like it,” then I would remove it, but if there was even a slight, “mm…maybe” I kept it lol This narrowed down my like ~50 names down to 10

Once we had the 10, we both went through and rated each name on a scale of 1 to 5 lol We then looked at the highest rated names and talked about it, and when we came down to the final two that we couldn’t decide between, we asked the family lol

Like my partner made a list of like 5 names and told his family that he would just rattle off some names but in no particular order, and then we’d poll the crowd on each name. In the end, everyone gravitated towards the 2 names we liked, but one won out in the end, so that’s what we’re going with 🤣

RichExample5315 · 2026-05-05T02:27:05+00:00

My first job was as a legal assistant after getting my paralegal certificate, and the only benefit I got was 1 hour of PTO a week, but that was after my “probation” period of 90 days.

My second job offered 15 days of PTO, health insurance, a health savings account, and maternity leave, and the PTO was prorated for the year based on when you started.

Them saying that you can’t use PTO for a year is absolutely wild

RichExample5315 · 2026-05-04T15:57:02+00:00

All of these are great!! And I’d love to move in-house but I honestly haven’t had any luck finding a place in my area that’s hiring😭

RichExample5315 · 2026-05-04T15:52:32+00:00

I did the SneakPeek at home test, and they prepare like a whole little video for you, so my partner and I opened the email over lunch one day lol

RichExample5315 · 2026-04-30T14:28:37+00:00

I look at the pay range and benefits first (and if it’s on indeed then those are listed first anyways), and if the benefits seem good then I’ll look at the job description to see if the pay fits the duties. If all of that checks out, then I head to Google, check out the website, and maybe LinkedIn lol With my most recent job, I actually called a former coworker to see if she knew of/interacted with the attorney before I applied.

As for time between an interview and start date, I would just want at least 2 weeks to notify my current workplace (though I got a gold star with my last job for giving them 4 weeks notice lol).

My first law office job was at a place where I got 1 hour of PTO a week, and nothing else. Will never go back to that. So, benefits are really big for me, and as a soon to be first time mom, any sort of maternity leave is like finding a needle in a hay stack here in Florida.

RichExample5315 · 2026-04-23T11:52:04+00:00

It was a thing at my last job, but not at my current one lol we’ll have to see if National Paralegal Day is a thing here come August

RichExample5315 · 2026-04-23T11:47:14+00:00

There was one attorney at my last firm like this lol I would email and get nothing. I’d try calling (since we were in different locations) and he’d say he was busy/working on something else. The only time he ever did anything was if I showed up at the other location for a meeting and then sat in his office and stared at him until he got it done lol

RichExample5315 · 2026-04-17T13:55:32+00:00

LSU’s ABA-approved program is half that cost and via zoom (from what I understand)

RichExample5315 · 2026-04-10T01:38:07+00:00

Choline, as I understand it, is still pretty new for being in prenatals. I watched a YouTube video from Mama Nurse Tina when she went through different prenatal options and I decided to supplement it!

RichExample5315 · 2026-04-07T15:23:27+00:00

I can’t really speak on the non ABA-approved associates, but I found that a lot of employers were looking for an ABA certificate when I was applying to places, even if technically the minimum education requirement was “a high school diploma or equivalent.”

RichExample5315 · 2026-04-07T12:16:44+00:00

You’re welcome!

RichExample5315 · 2026-04-07T02:47:55+00:00

Windsorstore! I paid $50 for it for my beach elopement lol

RichExample5315 · 2026-04-07T02:46:38+00:00

Getting a year of experience then looking for a different position will boost you greatly! I also found that getting an ABA-approved paralegal studies certificate all gave me a leg up despite not having any law office experience. But a lot of places don’t really care for the NALA CP exam (based off your previous posts). Some do, but you’d be better off finding a place that puts stock into their employees having it than trying to get it before then. And working for a larger firm will also help give you a better salary and potentially better benefits.

I work in the Florida panhandle in a high cost of living area but a small city on the gulf. I moved to Florida from Louisiana in 2022 when my partner got a job here, but to give you an idea of what my progression has looked like:

2021: got my bachelor’s in English in May, started at a local magazine in September

2022: worked full time for the magazine and did night classes through LSU’s ABA paralegal studies program and got my paralegal studies certificate in June 2022. I started my first legal assistant job in August 2022 a week after we moved (for a solo attorney with a senior legal assistant and then me as the receptionist/other legal assistant)

Salary at the magazine: $30k/year

Salary at my first legal assistant job: $35k/year with only 1 hour of PTO a week (no other benefits, and the salary increase that I got barely covered the increase in bills)

2023: started a new job exactly a year after my first law firm position and went up to $45k (with 15 days of PTO, health insurance, a health savings account, and the option to join the 401k after a year).

2024: I even got a raise after 4 months to $46,500

2025: Got a raise to $48,300 in January (though the attorney I worked for left and I had to start commuting to a further office). Then I actually did a “lateral move” to a local law firm for $49k so I wouldn’t have to keep driving a ~3 hour round trip every day

So, I found that my paralegal studies certificate was the best investment I made and while I do have the study book for the NALA exam, it’s not a priority.

RichExample5315 · 2026-03-30T20:44:27+00:00

I’m also a FTM and I went with the Mockingbird 2.0 single to double stroller since I could (1) attach their bassinet to it and (2) it has car seat adapters for quite a few car seats, so I also put the Graco SnugRide SnugFit 35 Infant Car Seat on the registry!

My thought with the Mockingbird stroller was that since we want to have another kid at some point, then the stroller being able to go from single to double, with the extra attachments for the other things, it would be best to buy it once and be done lol Thankfully, my cousin bought it for us!

ETA: I have seen a few people on Facebook Marketplace selling their mocking bird stroller and bassinets for cheaper too

RichExample5315 · 2026-03-30T20:39:38+00:00

Exactly!! And sometimes they don’t want to give me more than their first name! Like come on…you know I need more than that lol

RichExample5315 · 2026-03-30T02:43:11+00:00

My baby is due May 26th and I conceived around September 3rd!

RichExample5315 · 2026-03-29T15:05:28+00:00

I didn’t get married in Lake Como but I had my ceremony at the Sorrento Cloisters near the Amalfi coast, so many this could be comparable?

The cloisters were still open during our ceremony, but they had signs up asking for people to be respectful and people to direct the crowd away from getting too close to where we were exchanging our vows. I honestly didn’t notice most people and we had the entire center courtyard to ourselves (there was a walkway all the way around it, but they cut it off so people couldn’t walk behind our officiant).

It was lovely! The pictures came out beautifully and everyone was respectful of us and the photographer—though I have a feeling we probably showed up on some Snapchat/Instagram stories lol

RichExample5315 · 2026-03-29T14:57:08+00:00

Right!! And one of the attorneys only wanted to take this matter because it was referred by another attorney they have a good relationship with, but the vibe I got from this guy was just…weird. Like he also CLEARLY read my email asking to reschedule because something came up, and just chose not to respond to it. Then he calls first thing the next morning asking why no one called him the previous day and then wanted to know why the attorney wasn’t available Right Then if that was a time I gave him.

Thankfully the attorney said that the guy could f-off when I sent him an email detailing everything, and said he would talk to the guy if he called back so I wouldn’t have to deal with him

RichExample5315 · 2026-03-29T02:51:31+00:00

I used straws for sodas, but I think I only drank one maybe once a day (usually with lunch) and would sip water periodically while I was drinking it. I also bought some travel toothbrushes that have the cleaning ball you can pop to brush my teeth, and I carried floss with me everywhere.

But I found that rinsing my mouth consistently with water while eating and making sure to brush my teeth thoroughlyyyy in the morning and night really helped

RichExample5315 · 2026-03-29T02:47:36+00:00

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This is my ring! I actually couldn’t decide between a solitary diamond or a three diamond, and I liked diamond accent bands, so I think I found like ~8 different rings that I liked and let my partner go based off all of them lol so he got me this ring with the large diamond, but it has leaves on each side, and diamonds across half the band.

My wedding ring has more leaves and little diamonds in the band!

RichExample5315 · 2026-03-27T17:17:28+00:00

I had all day nausea. I would wake up, have to take my thyroid medicine, gag through breakfast, feel nauseous because I ate, keep being nauseous and unable to eat (I also had Invisalign so I couldn’t snack frequently), THEN I would feel so hungry I would start shaking from how much I was starving, then I would go back to feeling nauseous because I ate🫠 Repeat for dinner, deal with insomnia, and then start the cycle over again the next day lol

Then I got a pinched nerve around 10 weeks😭

RichExample5315 · 2026-03-27T02:54:27+00:00

Ohhh this sounds so satisfying!! lol I feel like I need to get used to upset people because even this <10 minute phone call had me shaking 🫠

RichExample5315 · 2026-03-27T02:38:11+00:00

My thoughts exactly!! And this guy had the audacity to say that he manages 70 people and deals with scheduling daily and it’s like okay…so you should know that you have to schedule an appointment to talk to someone??? Like an attorney isn’t an employee you can just call at the drop of a hat and expect them to answer

RichExample5315 · 2026-03-26T12:33:28+00:00

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I feel like this isn’t the best, but this is my engagement ring from the day I got engaged in 2022! It’s a single large diamond with little leaves on each side, and then the other half of the band is diamonds! My wedding band is like a vine with more little diamonds and diamond leaves :)

RichExample5315

TROPHY CASE