Alexandra Breckenridge may be known to TV fans for unforgettable roles on This Is Us and Netflix’s Virgin River, but at home, she’s simply “Mom.” The actress and her husband, musician Casey Hooper, have built a quieter life in Georgia with their two children, Jack and Billie, choosing community over Hollywood hustle.

Breckenridge has been open about the transformative love she discovered through motherhood, once telling PEOPLE:

“When Jack was born, I experienced a kind of love I never had before.”

Here’s everything to know about her children.

Jack Breckenridge Hooper, 9

Breckenridge and Hooper welcomed their first child, Jack, in September 2016.

The actress first announced her pregnancy that spring with a sweet Instagram post showing off her baby bump: “Someone doesn’t want to hide in his mom’s tummy anymore… Casey and I are very excited!!”

Jack arrived to plenty of love from family and friends — his baby shower was even a quilting party, with each guest sewing a square for a handmade blanket. Breckenridge described the keepsake as “incredible” and a lasting memory of her village coming together.

By the time he was one, Breckenridge called Jack “a pistol” with boundless energy. Years later, she revealed that Jack had faced a serious health scare as a young child, an experience that deeply informed her performance in Virgin River’s Season 5 miscarriage storyline.

Now nine years old, Jack remains the “apple of her eye.” On National Sons Day, Breckenridge gushed on Instagram: “My first born. Jack. Tried to put together a video of this little child but there was just way too much good stuff.”

Billie Breckenridge Hooper, 7

Just over a year after Jack’s arrival, Breckenridge and Hooper welcomed daughter Billie on December 6, 2017.

The couple shared their second pregnancy news with fans in August 2017, joking: “We made another one!! Baby Breckenridge Hooper coming this winter.” When Breckenridge found out she was having a girl, the timing couldn’t have been sweeter — the doctor broke the news on her birthday. “This is the best birthday present ever,” she recalled.

Pregnant with Billie during filming for This Is Us Season 2, the actress said producers cleverly disguised her bump with costumes, counters, and framing tricks.

When the This Is Us cast won the SAG Award for Best Ensemble in a Drama Series in January 2018, Breckenridge returned home from the ceremony to celebrate with her newborn, posting: “Home to my tiny princess.”

A Life Away from Hollywood

Though Breckenridge’s acting career keeps her busy, she and Hooper made the choice to raise Jack and Billie in rural Georgia rather than Los Angeles.

“The rural areas of Georgia have an amazing sense of community we were lacking in L.A.,” she told Atlanta Magazine. “We wanted our children to grow up in a place where they could play and ride their bikes that didn’t feel like a big city.”

Whether she’s on-screen as Mel Monroe in Virgin River or at home quilting memories with her kids, Alexandra Breckenridge’s most cherished role is motherhood.