'If I Could Spit Out a Litter of Kids, I Would': Blake Lively's Most Memorable Motherhood Quotes
The actress, who turns 33 today, shares daughters James, Inez and Betty with husband Ryan Reynolds
1 of 15
ON HER DESIRE TO START A FAMILY
"I've always wanted a big family. Oh, I'd love 30 [children] if I could."
— to Allure in 2012
1 of 15
2 of 15
ON PUTTING FAMILY FIRST
"All my eggs are in one basket, and that's my family. That's where my heart is. That's where my everything is. That's the thing that I feel most protective of and the thing that I feel is the most exposed when I feel exploited."
— to Marie Claire in 2016
2 of 15
3 of 15
ON HER ADVICE TO NEW MOMS WHO FEEL PRESSURED TO GET THEIR PRE-BABY BODIES BACK
"You don't need to be Victoria's Secret-ready right away because you just did the most incredible miracle that life has to offer. I mean you gave birth to a human being! So I would really like to see that celebrated."
— on Sunrise in 2016
3 of 15
4 of 15
ON HER 'MUCH, MUCH EASIER' SECOND PREGNANCY
"It's a lot faster. You get bigger faster, too, which has been nice to try to fit into clothing strategically."
— on Live with Kelly in 2016
4 of 15
5 of 15
ON FOLLOWING A PERFECT MOM ON INSTAGRAM
"Her toddler is giving her reflexology massages. What?! My kid is like playing with explosive devices. I don't know where she found them. She already knows how to drywall because she puts holes in the wall."
— on Late Night with Seth Meyers in 2016
5 of 15
6 of 15
ON HER DAUGHTERS' DIFFERENT SLEEP SCHEDULES
"[Inez] was not sleeping through the night because she was a baby. And then she finally started sleeping through the night, because she was old enough, then my older daughter, James, decided that she doesn't sleep through the night anymore."
— to PEOPLE in 2017
6 of 15
7 of 15
ON HER PARENTING STYLE
"I think it's hard to slap labels on any parents because it's just so tricky. It's like every moment you're figuring out what the heck you're doing. You think, 'Ooh, should I be more strict, or should I be more I don't know, emotional?' Or whatever it is. If anybody knows how to be a parent, I feel like grandparents really know how to be parents. But parents, you just figure it out as you go. So, I wouldn't put a label on it."
— to PEOPLE in 2017
7 of 15
8 of 15
ON RAISING HER KIDS OUT OF THE SPOTLIGHT
"Ryan [Reynolds] had a nice, normal upbringing, and we want our kids to have the same normal life that we had. We don't ever want to rob them of what we had because then we'd feel really selfish."
— to Marie Claire in 2016
8 of 15
9 of 15
ON HER DAUGHTER JAMES' CHANGING LOOKS
"[She] looked like [Ryan's] doppelgänger for the first six months … She has my clammy hands! And my heavy eyelids, my meaty eyelids."
— to Marie Claire in 2016
9 of 15
10 of 15
ON WANTING KIDS
"If I could spit out a litter of kids, I would."
— to Marie Claire in 2014
10 of 15
11 of 15
ON COMING FROM A BIG FAMILY
"I'm one of five kids. My husband is one of four, so we're officially breeders. You can go on our website and we will give you some of our children."
— on Today in 2016
11 of 15
12 of 15
ON DAUGHTER JAMES' BABYSITTING QUALIFICATIONS
"I feel like at a year and a half, she's equipped to be a babysitter. Like, we can go out and go on date night."
— on Late Night with Seth Meyers in 2016
12 of 15
13 of 15
ON HER 'REASON FOR EVERYTHING'
"My parents, my siblings, my daughter, my husband, my nieces and nephews — that's where I get very mama bear. There are two ways to look at it. You could look at it as, 'That's what I'm vulnerable about.' But also, 'That's the thing that excites me in the world.' So I don't really think about them as my vulnerability as much as I think about them as my reason for everything."
— to Marie Claire in 2016
13 of 15
14 of 15
ON HER DAUGHTERS' DIFFERENT PERSONALITIES
"What's crazy is my 2½-year-old [James], she wakes up at night — she's the baby, basically. My little one [Inez], she's just so divine. She came out of the womb a little foodie."
— on Live with Kelly and Ryan in 2017
14 of 15
15 of 15
ON WHY SHE CALLS DAUGHTER INEZ A 'BABY VIKING'
"I made a Cookie Monster cake … and she just looked at it and reached for a steak … She was hand-fisting two steaks. Her sleeves were dripping in blood from steak."
— on The Tonight Show in 2017