A Life Update & A New Direction for R&R

Hi there, friends! It’s been a minute since I’ve popped on here and I apologize for that. My life has been rocked since becoming a parent which has been both joyful and exhausting, so I want to take a few minutes to get you up to speed and talk about what’s ahead for Rise & Renovate.

Mom Life

If you read about my birth story and postpartum experience, you’ll remember that the first few months of motherhood were pretty hard on me. I’m happy to report that at 7 months postpartum, we are doing worlds better. Though he has his fussy times, Griffin is an incredibly happy baby who is just so darn excited about life. He loves getting into things, eating solid foods, and smiling at as many strangers as possible. He is my little social butterfly and I love getting to see his smile first thing every morning.

That being said, we’re still hitting a couple of bumps in the road. I’m still breastfeeding and honestly, I’m shocked we’ve made it this long. It’s mostly a convenience thing (as I’m a believer that formula is just as good as breastmilk), because I’m not fond of washing all the bottles, lol. Many women talk about the joys of breastfeeding, but it’s just the opposite for me. Thanks to these breastfeeding hormones, I can get some pretty intense mood swings and I feel like I’m living in a 20% fog pretty much all the time. This, coupled with recovering PPD and some added anxiety, it’s like there has been a big weight on me for almost a year now. I’m finally getting enough sleep, but I still don’t feel totally “there.” I also get random pains in my breasts and still get sore nipples off and on. Just lovely. 😂

I’ve finally replaced one feeding/day with a bottle of formula which has given me so much more freedom. It’s also given me the confidence that it’s okay to start introducing more formula. The world will not crumble if Griffin has a bottle. That’s basically my new mantra.

The Stay-at-Home Mom Life

This stay-at-home mom life has been nothing like I imagined it. While I’m blessed to be able to spend so much time with Griffin, the amount of time I’ve had to exercise my creative side has vastly diminished. Being a SAHM just hasn’t fulfilled me the same way that working has, which was both a surprise to me and something I’ve had to learn to accept. It’s OK to not want to be 100% mom, 100% of the time!

At the beginning of June, my mom started watching Griffin a couple days each week and it was a huge turning point for me. I “officially” launched my marketing biz and started spending more time thinking about me. I am so. much. more. than just a mom. It’s a wonderful new title for me, but it’s just a piece of the pie that makes up who I am and I had seriously lost sight of that.

So, what about Rise & Renovate?

I’ve had some long, hard, thoughts about this. I love this blog, but I’ve lost my spark for it. I started R&R two years ago so I could share the before & after pictures of our renovated house. After the blog was up and running, I started looking at other home blogs and they were all about home decor, so I felt like I needed to do that, too. And, can I be honest for a sec? I never intended for R&R to be a home decor blog. I enjoy decorating my home, but I can’t decorate as well as some other bloggers I follow. While I enjoy doing it, I’m not super passionate about it, and above all, I don’t want to fill my house with more stuff.

Because of this “evolution,” writing posts became really hard for me. It became impossible for me to spend time on things that weren’t mission-critical and didn’t fulfill me, so here we are at my 5th post this year. I’m sorry, friends!

Where we’re going…

Since my life has done this big turn, I believe it’s time for my blog to take a turn, too. I still want to write about our home and show you the exciting before & after photos of our projects. If I happen to really love my decor, I might share a post about it, too. But I’m going to scale back on writing posts that I’m not as passionate about.

Along with our home projects, I want to start writing about another topic: organization + decluttering. A couple months ago I did a closet overhaul and I felt liberated afterward. Guys, it was like this huge weight was lifted off my shoulders and I could breathe. Now, I’m legit addicted. I want to throw away everything in my house, but I’m trying to reign myself in. LOL. I’m not going all-out minimalist, but I want to fully embrace this concept of lighter living and really clean sh*t up around here. I want to live with less and simplify my life. I did a couple polls on my Instagram and you guys liked this decluttering thing, too. So here’s what I’m envisioning for this blog:

60% organization/decluttering + 15% home renovations +
15% motherhood/life + 10% other home

With this new direction, I’ve felt limited with the name Rise & Renovate. I need something more encompassing. So, I’ve decided to steal the name I was originally planning to use for my marketing agency. Over the next couple of weeks, Rise and Renovate will become…

…and I. am. STOKED about it!!! With Hello Hayley, I feel like I finally have “permission” to write about a broader range of topics. In the next couple of weeks, you’ll be able to find this blog at www.hello-hayley.com – both new posts and all the oldies!

SO, stay tuned, friends! I’ll send out another email once we’re up and running over at the new URL (and hang out with me on Instagram to get more regular updates). Thanks for hanging with me over the past year and supporting me through this big life transition. You guys rock!