Katherine Heigl Talks Being a Mother of Two Daughters and Living in Utah, Ahead of TV Return

The Grey's Anatomy alum and film actress graces the cover of Good Housekeeping's September 2014 issue

By Corinne Heller Aug 06, 2014 5:33 PMTags
Katherine Heigl, Good Housekeeping Courtesy Good Housekeeping

Katherine Heigl is preparing to make a return to television and is heading back to Los Angeles with her husband and their two little girls after spending years enjoying the quiet country life, when she was able to spend precious quality time with her children.

The 35-year-old actress and former child star had exited the show Grey's Anatomy in 2010 in order to spend more time with her first daughter Naleigh, who she and hubby Josh Kelley adopted just eight months prior. Heigl struggled to balance family time with her movie shooting schedule. Naleigh arrived just as she was filming Life as We Know It, in which she and Josh Dumahel played the caregivers of an orphaned baby.

"I would come home angry and frustrated that I'd missed everything with my kid that day," Heigl told Good Housekeeping in an interview featured in the magazine's September 2014 issue, adding, "I felt like my priorities were messed up."

Since her departure from the show, Heigl has concentrated on her movie career and spending time Kelly, Naleigh and their youngest daughter Adalaide, who is 2 and is also adopted.

The four live on a ranch in Utah with 36 pets and farm animals (including eight dogs!), away from smog-filled, traffic-clogged Los Angeles. Heigl and her family are preparing to return to the city temporarily while Heigl works on and promotes her new show, the spy-themed State of Affairs, which debuts in November.

Moving away from Los Angeles to the Utah ranch gained Heigl more mommy time. Naleigh also helped her with the new baby.

"We brought her home, and right away Naleigh was like a little mommy," Heigl told Good Housekeeping. "She'd say, 'No, no. You're not holding her right.' Or, 'She needs to eat again.'"

"Naleigh would go off to her ballet classes and other stuff and I would sit with the baby at home," she added. "I would read and she would lie on my chest and we'd lie on the couch with, like, four dogs, and watch Friday Night Lights. I found it so peaceful."