Erin Napier Delivers a Beautiful Baby Helen

Well, Ben and Erin Napier certainly know how to kick off a new season.

The Home Town stars welcomed their first child, affectionately known around these parts as Baby Helen, on Wednesday morning.

“She showed up two weeks early, but I think it’s better that way because I got a great night’s sleep before rushing to the hospital,” Erin said. “I know as we got closer to the big day I would’ve been too anxious to sleep.”

The newest Laurel, Miss., resident’s early arrival wasn’t her only surprise, though.

“Her dark blonde hair surprised everyone betting on Ben’s red beard,” Erin said.

Erin announced her pregnancy on her Laurel Mercantile blog back in October, while the Napiers were moving full-speed ahead on renovations and filming for Home Town. Helen’s arrival on Wednesday came just a few days after Erin posted about taking a break from her years-long (and fan favorite) tradition of daily journaling to help her ease into this new season of parenthood.

“I’ve been feeling it for a while now, that it’s time for me to pull back for a moment, to take a beat—to focus on living in this very short window of time with a newborn rather than focusing on how I’ll write about it at the end of the day,” Erin said in her last journal post.

While Ben and Erin will be hunkered down at the Napier Homestead with their newest addition for the next few months, they’ll be far from out of sight. Season two of Home Town kicks off on Monday, Jan. 8, and you may even get a few sneak peeks of Helen’s new digs.

Congrats, Ben and Erin!