That more laid-back life is conducive to growing her family, and she’s totally ready for that.
“I still want more children,” Heigl says in this week’s PEOPLE cover story. “I’d get pregnant again, and I still am very inspired by adoption. I also have been thinking a lot about fostering.”
Any future family member would be a part of a pretty big crew: Joshua Jr. joins big sisters Adalaide, 4½, and Naleigh, 8, and Heigl’s niece Madison, 15, currently lives on the ranch full time.
“Nancy Leigh is my very, very smart, very compassionate, very big-hearted little gal,” Heigl says. “She’s totally Mommy’s little helper and loves being the big sister.”
“Adalaide has so much just inherent self-esteem, which I am so proud of and so grateful for,” she adds. “When you’re raising girls, you want them to be confident and you want them to love who they are. With Adalaide, I’m not gonna have any problems with that.”
Madison (Heigl’s older sister Meg’s daughter) lives with Heigl and Kelley to focus on equestrian activities.
“This kid is a horsewoman, and that’s what she wants to do,” says Heigl of her niece, who FaceTimes with her mom back home in L.A. and goes to visit as often as she can. “We’re just part of the village that’s helping raise her.”
An added bonus of having Madison around? “She’s such a good example for my girls,” says Heigl. “She’s passionate and committed to what she loves.”
Heigl seems to have found a serene balance in her life now.
“I know I’m always going to want to act and be a storyteller,” she says. “I can do that and then do what I have to to promote that, like making sure [I] look great, having a cute outfit, losing that baby weight.”
“But when that is done, [I can] go home and completely turn that part of my life off. And that, to me, is very necessary.”
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