Niki Taylor: Life in the fast lane left this supermodel divorced with twins at the age of 21, amid a few other personal struggles.

Now with her NASCAR- driver husband, 1-year-old baby girl, and two teenage boys, Niki’s loving life  at a much slower pace.

What’s it like to have teenagers and a baby?

Everybody gets along wonderfully, and the boys [Jake and Hunter] are great with Ciel [SEE-el]. She just digs ’em. She always says, “Oh, there’s my brudders!” We’ve been talking about having another baby. It would be nice to give her a little brother or sister pretty soon. Plus I’m not a spring chicken anymore.

What were the benefits of having kids when you were so young?

I had them at 19, but I knew when I was 16 that I wanted to have kids early. I had more energy then. I never really thought about having to run after two of ’em and having to change double diapers. I feel bad for people who are my age having twins. It’s a lot of work!

What kind of mother are you?

I’m very patient. I think patience came with me a long time ago, just from being in the fashion world and having to travel and be on planes and waiting for people and wait for things. The patience was always there. I’m also the mom who is going to be down on the floor getting dirty and being rough with the kids. I never wanted to grow up, that’s why I wanted to have kids at such a young age. And I get to start all over and have babies again—it’s pretty cool.

How are you and your boys alike?

Because we’re closer in age, we like a lot of the same things. We like the same music and movies and we think the same things are cool. We just look at things kind of the same way. And we’re not afraid to laugh at ourselves. For some reason I never was embarrassed—I always had to perform in front of people and do silly things at photo shoots, I call it the dancing monkey. So Jake and Hunter were always really good at that, too. They were the first ones to be on the dance floor at dances in middle school. They really didn’t care what other people thought, sort of like myself.

They’re approaching driving age, will the boys actually be taught to drive by a NASCAR driver?

Yes, Bernie will be teaching them, because it won’t be good coming from me. They’ve already told me I’m not a very good teacher. Bernie’s a totally different driver in a car off the track, so he’ll be a better instructor.

What’s it like for you to have a girl?

I get to do girl things and mommy-and-daughter things. I have a lot more pink in my house now. People still ask me if she’s a boy or a girl because I won’t put her in pink. She wears a lot more grays and neutral colors. I guess I get to be kind of like a girly-girl and dress her up and be a tomboy at the same time.

What’s the last special thing you did for your family?

I know I sound really corny, but I think every day is special and it’s a gift. We all have to make the most of it because I know how short life can be.

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