Erika Christensen has done a lot in her life. From movies to television, she started from the bottom and made her way to the top all on her own. She is truly an inspiration. For those who don’t know, Erika Jane Christensen is an actress who was born on August 19, 1982 in Seattle, Washington.

Erika was raised out in Los Angeles, California with her parents, her half-brother and her two younger twin brothers. She was homeschooled for most of her life and began a career in show business at a young age. Her first appearance was for a McDonald’s television commercial in the early '90s. It was in 1997 that she made her first actual television appearance in a tv series called Nothing Sacred. She would then go on to make her film debut in the remake of Leave It to Beaver.

It wasn’t until the year 2000 that she would get real recognition when she played the role of Caroline Wakefield, a troubled teen, in the Oscar-award-winning movie Traffic. She received an MTV Movie Award for Female Breakthrough Performance, along with the Young Hollywood Award for Female Standout Performance with her performance. From there, she would go on to do many other projects on both television and in the box office, while at the same time finding true love and having two adorable children.

Keep scrolling to learn more about the actress!

20 She Announced Her First Child In 2016

In April 2016 Erika announced to her the world and her fans that she was expecting her first child with her husband Cole Maness.

According to dailymail.co.uk, the Parenthood actress made her joyous announcement via twitter. She posted a photo of herself cuddling up with her adorable puppy and captioned the photo, “This boy is getting a little sister. A human sister…She’ll make her first appearance tomorrow at #Confirmation.”

She made good on her promise too and while attending the premier of Confirmation in Hollywood she showed off her growing bump in a plunging mocha dress that hugged all her curves.

19 Welcoming Her First Child

On June 21, 2016, Erika Christensen became a first-time mom to a 6lb, 3 oz baby girl.

According to momtastic.com, Erika and her husband Cole named the precious baby girl Shane and she was born in their California home.

Earlier in the month before her glorious delivery, Erika spoke out to Momtastic about her wish of having a home birth. “I’m definitely shooting for a natural birth at home, without drugs,” She revealed. “I’m sure you’ve heard of silent births, but that term is inaccurate because I’m not really sure silent is possible. It’s not even necessary. It’s quiet. Just keeping everything as calm as possible and using as few words s possible during the delivery.”

18 Announcing Her Second Child

When Erika Christensen announced her first child to the world and her fans, she did it via twitter and then premiered her growing baby bump to the world during her movie premier, but when she announced her second pregnancy, she did things a little differently.

According to etonline.com, Erika announced her second pregnancy with her husband Cole by posting the most adorable picture on Instagram.

The first two photos were of her in a low-cut red jumpsuit, in which she captioned them, “All About the Angle.” The first photo was of her standing front ways, making it hard to see the belly, but the second photo was a side shot of her and her growing baby bump was on full display in this one.

She would then go on to post another picture with the same similar stance as her second photo, but this time with the caption, “And I didn’t eat a burrito.”

17 Her Husband Delivered Their Second Baby Alone

When it comes to a baby entering the world, they have their own agendas and decide when they want to enter the world, not when their parents want them to.

According to usatoday.com, Erika Christensen found that out real fast with her second child. The bouncing bundle of joy made her grand entrance into the world at a whopping 7 pounds, 8 ounces, or so they think, and according to Erika, she was delivered at home by her husband Cole Maness.

Her daughter Polly was born on August 10, 2018 at 9:21 a.m. and her delivery was so fast that the doctor wasn’t even able to grab his scale because they called him so late. He made it to the birth a minute after she had arrived into the world, delivered by her father all by himself.

16 “The Only Time I Actually Cried”

When Erika Christensen first tried to nurse her daughter Shane, it wasn’t as easy as she had hoped. According to people.com, the new mother had this to say about her experience:

“The only time I actually cried was after I had already hired the lactation consultant, and she made it seem so easy. Then she left, and I tried on my own and I still couldn’t figure it out. It took a good while to get nursing to click.

Out of frustration the new mother wept, but soon would gather herself and try again and with practice and determination, she was able to finally get the hang of it.

15 Her Engagement To Cole Maness

Erika Christensen kept pretty quiet when it came to her relationship with her Cole Maness, so much so that when the couple finally got engaged, she never officially announced it.

According to popsugar.com, it was around the end of the year 2014 that reports started surfacing of the couple’s happy engagement.

Though she kept a tight lip on the whole relationship, she was open to share one little activity that the couple loves to do together. “My bike is my main form of transportation, so I’ve got a red clip-on taillight. Sometimes, my boyfriend and I do evening rides to the movies or grocery store,” she told Us Weekly.

14 Her Wedding

When Erika Christensen and Cole Maness first got engaged, they kept it secret from the world, or at least they tried to. Stories spread in November 2014 that the couple had gotten secretly engaged and the world rejoiced.

Shortly after stories started to spread, the couple finally opened up and announced their happy news with a picture on Instagram of the pair kissing. They captioned the picture, “Thanks for all the well-wishes! Its official. We’re engaged.”

According to dailymail.co.uk, the two tied the knot almost a year later in September 2015 during an outdoor ceremony. It was a small affair, nothing to extravagant with just family and close friends in attendance.

The happy couple were all smiles during the ceremony and later went on to pose for some silly wedding photos together while huddled under Erika’s veil.

13 Who Is Cole Maness?

So, one thing that is on a lot of people’s mind is, who is Cole Maness? There is not much known about him but that he has been with actress Erika Christensen since 2014 and they now have two kids together and are married.

Well, according to bustle.com, Cole Mane is a 40-year-old mustachioed cyclist who was born in Memphis, Tennessee, but now live in LA with his loving wife and two kids.

Cole is very passionate about biking. He loves to take bike rides to and from different places around town, no matter what the weather. He has even gotten his new wife into and, as mentioned previously, they love taking night rides to the movie theaters or to the grocery store.

12 Cole Has An Interesting Outlook On Life

When it comes to life, Cole has a particular view on it.

According to bustle.com, in an interview he did in 2009 with Rapha, Cole talks about how he has a particular brand of positivity when it comes to life:

“I think I bring an essence of positivity to the room, I try to help others realize the pros and throw all of the cons on the ground and stomp [on] them. If your left knee is hurting, I’ll ask how your right knee feels. Chances are you’ll either fall into my guise or drop back a couple of bike lengths to get away from me.” He defiantly sounds like someone to have around when life gets someone down.

11 Her Parents Taught Her Absolutely Necessary Rules

When it comes to parenting, Erika Christensen’s parents approached parenting with a completely different view. According to radaronline.com, during her interview with the podcast Armchair Expert, Erika opened up about her parents and how she grew up.

“My parents raised me with a different viewpoint than other parents. I know that now as an adult. I can see that in the way that they approached me as a kid and really tried to do what I’m doing now as a parent, which is trying to temper absolutely necessary discipline and rules and structure with fostering independent thought and freedom of personality. It must be true for you. Don’t take anybody’s word for anything ever, basically, without being a cynic or without being paranoiac. It’s just: What do you have if you don’t have yourself?”

She ended by explaining how her parents never forced her to do something, they let her find herself on her own.

10 She Feels Connected To Her Character Ali Petrovich

When Erika Christensen was first called to try out the role of Kyra Sedgwick’s sister on Ten Days in the Valley, the creator didn’t know that she would be such a good match. According to sg.style.yahoo.com, Erika opened up about her character to ET:

“The script was written without me in mind and I wasn’t quite right for it the way it was on paper. I had just gotten off another ABC show [the short-lived 2015 drama Wicked City], “and I didn’t know that this was necessarily the right move for me. But then I read the script and I, despite myself, was so taken with it and so wrapped up with the story.”

Tassie later facetimed Erika and told her that she wasn’t right for the part, but that she had an idea and she rewrote the character of Ali Petrovich just for Erika.

9 She Broke Her Arm While Filming An Episode Of Parenthood

While filming for an episode of the Parenthood, Erika Christensen accidently fell off her bike and broke her arm.

According to contactmusic.com, the creators of the show incorporated the young actress’s accident into the episode.

It was on April 5, 2011 that the young actress was seen walking around the streets of LA sporting a cast after her incident. She had a pretty cool device attached to her cast that would help her heal even faster. The device was a type of ultrasound that fitted within her bandages. When asked about it, she told Tmz.com that the device helps to stimulate bone growth.

8 She Went Hiking In Hawaii Eight Months Pregnant

According to dailymail.co.uk, there is a trail called the Koko Head trail out in Oahu, Hawaii that a lot of find to steep to climb, but that didn’t stop Erika Christensen from hiking it while eight-months pregnant.

In April 2016, while pregnant with her first child, Erika was spotted hiking the trail, eight-months pregnant and in flips flops while wearing a one-piece bathing suit that had a cut-out big enough to expose her pregnant belly.

The mother-to-be took a few photos of her incredible trek, one being of her halfway up the trail with her hand on her head as she took a break from her tiring climb. She looked sunburned, but happy.

7 Filming Her Part In Traffic

Erika Christensen has been acting since she was 12-years-old, but it was her role in Traffic that really got her noticed when she took up the role of a troubled 16-year-old daughter.

According to buzzfeed.com, when Erika filmed for her role it was a very free acting experience. There was no stand here, go there, but instead a lot of natural light and hand-held cameras. The whole course of the movie the director only gave two notes while filming the movie.

Erika compared the whole experience to like how it is on the hit television show Parenthood.

6 Stories She's Had Work Done

Stories that Erika Christensen has had plastic surgery have been going on ever since she starred in the movie Traffic at the age of 16.

The story is that she has had a nose job but have never been actually proven. There has also been a story that she has had a chest augmentation in the past. Some fans argued there was no way her chest was that size naturally, while others argued for her and told them they were natural.

Either way, she's gorgeous! Whatever she does is totally up to her. There's no proof to any of these stories, and even if they are true she's looking great, so she's clearly doing something right.

5 She Was A subject Of A Not-So-Funny Hoax

Stories are that Erika Christensen was the victim of a celebrity hoax recently that claimed she had passed away.

According to en.mediamass.net, news of the actress’s supposed passing spread across social media in November 2018. The fake news shocked the world and fans. It all started when a Facebook page named R.I.P. Erika Christensen was created. The fan page attracted almost one million subscriptions. Those who were fans of the page were able to read a pretty believable about me section on the page.

Thankfully, it was all a hoax though and the actress, who is best known for her role in the hit television series Parenthood, is alive and well.

4 She wore a unique wedding dress

When Erika Christensen married her long-time love Cole Maness on September 5, 2015, she wore a gorgeous, but unique dress.

According to eonline.com, instead of a normal gown with lace and silk or some other fancy material, Erika wore a sleeveless, mermaid-style dress that was in some type of white mesh material. The gown was gorgeous none the less and was decorated with floral embellishments and a long solid train. She completed her look with her hair in a tight bun on top of her head and a bouquet of white and purple roses.

Her husband on the other hand decided to go traditional and wore a dark blue tux, black bow tie and a white rose boutonniere.

3 She Had No Problem Making A Spectacle Of Herself

One thing that Erika Christensen made sure she was doing during her pregnancies was keeping active. The star was constantly seen doing different types of activities from hiking, to yoga, to using her local gym.

According to people.com, in June 2018 the actress posted a photo of herself with her husband on Instagram in a pretty impressive pose at eight-months pregnant.

She captioned the photo: “Ok, first of all, I’m a little further along than I let on. Bumpin for real and secondly, I have never done this in my life.”

She then went on further and explained that her friends practice acro-yoga all the time and that they were the ones who convinced her that she would be completely fine, and they were right.

“Super fun, easier than it looks, and why not make a spectacle at the beach? #pregnant #AF,” she posted.

2 She Accidentally Revealed The Baby's Gender Before She Wanted To

Back when Erika Christensen was still pregnant with her second child, she accidentally let it slip to the world what the gender was.

According to people.com, she was speaking to reporters while attending the Max Mara Celebration for Alexandra Shipp, who was the 2018 Women in Film Max Mara Face of the Future Award Recipient. While doing her interview she kept teasing that she already knew what she was going to have, but that she didn’t want to reveal it to the world just yet.

“It’s fun to have secrets.” She told everyone. Then the slip up happened when she talked about how her daughter Shane was taking it. “She seems to grasp. My mom got her a t-shirt that says, ‘Big sister.’ She seems to grasp that there’s a baby in there. She’s giving the baby some kisses. Hopefully the little one will learn a lot from her sister.” She quickly realized her slip up right then. “Oh, well, there you go. It’s a girl.”

1 She Celebrated Her Daughters 2nd Birthday This June

Erika Christensen is prepping for her second child to come any day now, but that isn’t stopping her from celebrating her first babies second birthday and she posted it to the world in the sweetest way.

Erika posted a photo collage of her and her little girl online and captioned it, “She was born 2 years ago. There’s nothing better than cracking each other up. There’s nothing more gratifying than seeing her learn. There’s kind of nothing more satisfying than getter her to eat, especially if it’s something healthy and there’s nothing more intoxicating than a good hug when she really nestled into my neck.”

Happy Belated Birthday Shane!!!

References: celebritysizes.com, dailymail.co.uk, momtastic.com, etonline.com, usatoday.com, people.com, popsugar.com, bustle.com, radaronline.com, sg.style.yahoo.com, contactmusic.com, buzzfeed.com, en.mediamass.net, eonline.com,