Katherine Schwarzenegger is carrying out a family tradition that made her mother “very pleasantly surprised” upon learning her new granddaughter’s name.
Schwarzenegger and husband Chris Pratt named their first child Lyla Maria Schwarzenegger Pratt, with her middle name honoring Schwarzenegger’s mother, NBC special anchor Maria Shriver.
“Well, we didn’t know if it was gonna be a boy or a girl, so I always knew that I wanted to incorporate my mom’s name if it was a little girl because I’m Katherine Eunice, so I’m named after my grandma (Eunice Kennedy Shriver),” Schwarzenegger told co-anchors Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb on TODAY last Tuesday. “So I wanted to definitely continue that tradition on, but I think she was very pleasantly surprised with the name.”
Schwarzenegger, 31, is continuing to transition into life as a new mom after her daughter’s birth last August.
“It’s the best thing in the entire world,” she said. “I love every minute of motherhood so far, and I just feel really blessed and really lucky ’cause she’s such a happy and easy baby. So my mom continues to remind me of that.”
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When she is not enjoying being a grandmother, she is also a beacon of support for her daughter.
“Every morning I wake up with a newfound respect for my mom,” Schwarzenegger said.
“I’ve always respected her tremendously, but I even texted her this morning because I was woken up this morning at 2 and I had my alarm going off at 3 to get ready for this, and I was just like, ‘I can’t believe you did this with four children.'”
“And she does everything so beautifully and gracefully so I always have gained more respect for her, but I call her every single day with something, so it’s just such a fun experience and a great time so far.”
Just last Tuesday, Schwarzenegger also celebrated the release of her fourth book, “The Gift of Forgiveness,” which features in-depth interviews and stories on the subject.
“When I was struggling with forgiveness in my own life, I started talking to different people about their struggles with forgiveness and their experiences with it and realized how beneficial it was for me to hear other people’s experiences with forgiveness and be able to apply that to my own life,” she said.
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