San Francisco

What happens when a fun loving city gal in her mid 30’s and her husband of five years finally get pregnant? They realize they know absolutely nothing about raising a child and do everything they can to plan and prepare; which is why I am now talking to you fine folks.

Hi my name is Kelly, and I am expecting my first child this August. Luckily, I’ve been working at Walmart.com for the past year and a half which has afforded me this amazing opportunity to contribute to the baby buzz blog. I’m very excited to share my experiences with the community, but more importantly, I could really use your thoughts and advice as my only experience to date comes from a half dozen baby books and some advice from friends. Not only am I a new mom, but it has been almost 20 years since I attempted to change a diaper and without your help I might possibly diaper the wrong end.

Not only are my husband and I new to the world of child rearing but as city dwellers we have other things we need to consider as well. First living in the city can be expensive and with a kid on the way my husband and I are trying to optimize our budget buy eating out less, comparing prices as well as cutting out “nice to haves”. Secondly city living generally doesn’t provide as much space as the suburbs therefore we need to be smart about the products we purchase in order to maximize our living space. We enjoy living in a busy city because it allows us to be close to work and only blocks from a grocery store. However since both my husband and I were raised in suburban households we are still struggling to envision what it looks like to raise a child in a multi-unit building without a yard not to mention the fact that our child will probably never be able to walk to and from school.

I am doing my best to be a smart shopper not only to save money but to do my part to save the planet by conserving resources. Even though I am sure I won’t be able to resist every adorable baby item for sale in the retail stores I am hopeful that I can secure several good items second hand from the web or friends.

Even though dogs outnumber kids in San Francisco I still have to believe that it will be an amazing place to raise a child (once I know what I am doing). I can’t wait to hear your advice as well as answer your questions as I prepare for this important journey.

Kelly Tirman works at Walmart.com in the Creative Team. In her free time she blogs at kellytirman.com where she shares creative ideas, recipes and reviews that help people make smart decisions on how to spend their time & money. She lives in San Francisco with her husband and is expecting her first child in August. She can be found on Twitter at Twitter.com/KellyTirman.

Note: Originally posted on Walmart’s Baby Buzz Blog on 3/9/2009.

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