On a recent episode of the HGTV home renovation show, “Home Town,” the show’s hosts announced a major addition coming soon to their own home. Erin and Ben Napier are expecting their second child — and the baby is due soon!
The Napiers’ pregnancy announcement came during the April 11 episode in which the duo renovated the home of Ben’s brother, Jesse, and his wife, Lauren (who are also expecting a child soon). Ben and Erin decided the time was right to share the news of their own growing family.
Following the episode, Erin posted a video on Instagram, which included some adorable scenes of soon-to-be-big-sister Helen, age 3, kissing her mommy’s tummy in anticipation of her little sister’s arrival.
And Helen won’t just be getting a new sibling soon — she’ll also have a new cousin. Erin and Lauren’s babies are due to arrive within three weeks of each other.
While Ben and Erin love their work on “Home Town,” the couple wants to keep their family life more private. At first, the pair hoped to keep the pregnancy a secret until after the baby was born, but that became a challenge.
“We considered not even mentioning it until after she was born, but as I begin to look a bit more pregnant it became harder to hide around town running errands,” Erin told HGTV after the special episode. “It’s no secret we guard Helen’s privacy and try to give her as much security as we can, so it just feels like such a tender secret to us, another baby. But in our line of work, being on TV as part of our real life, we also know we don’t have the luxury of keeping it secret forever.”
The do-it-yourself duo has not only been taking care of Helen and preparing for a new child, but also filming two series simultaneously. Both HGTV’s “Home Town Takeover” and “Ben’s Workshop” have been filming in recent months.
“It’s been the absolute hardest thing we’ve ever done,” the couple said of juggling a pandemic pregnancy, a young child and multiple television shows. “But we survived!”
And what about the big sister, Helen? Her mom and dad said she is busy coming up with things to teach her baby sister, like how to walk, eat pancakes and play with mermaid toys.
For his part, Ben is thrilled that Helen will be able to share her life with a sibling. He took to Instagram to share his excitement at seeing his family go from a trio to a foursome.
“I grew up with built-in best friends,” he wrote on Instagram. “My 3 brothers and I speak our own language and know the dance when it’s time to move a piano into a house together. Helen will have that with her little sister.”
“There was a time when @erinapier and I didn’t know if we would have kids,” Ben’s post continues. “I would’ve been happy with just the 2 of us, or just the 3 of us, but I can’t wait to see the 4 of us.”
This story originally appeared on Simplemost. Checkout Simplemost for additional stories.
