Nicole Kidman got a lot of bad press last week for her somewhat off-kilter appearance at the Country Music Awards. While I think Nicole looks a million times better with her bright red hair, many, many sources remarked that Nicole’s lips were too inflated, her face was too frozen, her attitude too bizarre, and her boobs were too jacked up. Everyone sort of piled on, and I felt bad for her. Anyway, Nicole Kidman is the cover girl for the December issue of Ladies’ Home Journal, and she‘s answering at least one of the criticisms leveled at her. The boob criticism – Nicole claims that her boobs got “normal sized” during and after her pregnancy with Sunday, and that she’s been enjoying her new rack. Here’s more from the Ladies’ Home Journal (complete article here):

Nicole on living in Nashville with Keith and baby Sunday: “I love living here. It’s a long way from New York and Los Angeles, but that’s part of the attraction. I feel protected here, especially now that I have the baby. There are certain limitations to my career because I’m based here. And that’s cool. Keith has enormous ambitions, which I support. His tours and albums are much bigger than what I’m doing right now. If I was unhappy I wouldn’t be able to live on a farm. I’d feel too lonely. But when you’re happy I think you can live anywhere.”

On her fulfilling life with her family: “Sunday’s third word was ‘wow,’ and I say that word a lot. I hope when I’m 80 I’ll still be saying it. I’ve been given extraordinary opportunities, with huge dreams fulfilled. I’m 42, and my eyes are still wide open.”

Nicole says she worked enough before Sunday was born: “I was running from my life, in a way. My imaginary life was better than my flesh-and-blood life. That’s a sad thing to say, but it was. Now I love my real life so much it requires an enormous belief in a film to want to take it on.” She pauses, then says, “I think that we’re in the world to connect. Because that’s what you’re left with. You’re not left with your houses or awards or money, you’re left with the people that you built relationships with.”

On her marriage to Keith: “Keith and I have a very honest, profound marriage, which we both contribute to every day. We have a phrase, ‘Does this contribute to the good of our union?’ Because that’s what’s most important. I love being in love. I believe in the power of love, the way it can heal. The more you keep choosing it — because there are times when you can choose to be angry at the person or to love him — the more it nourishes a family.”

Nicole on her bigger boobs after being pregnant with Sunday: “They’re not very big, my boobs, so they just became normal size. I loved it. I felt very Woman. When you’ve had a slightly androgynous body your whole life, having breasts is a nice feeling.”

[From Ladies’ Home Journal]

She’s promoting her role in Nine, which comes out next month (and looks amazing). Nicole plays the actress, the muse of Daniel Day-Lewis’s director. Nicole is featured prominently in the official trailer, so I think she’s probably gearing up for an awards season campaign if the critics like her performance. Personally, I’m much more excited by Penelope Cruz, Judi Dench and Kate Hudson, just judging from the trailer. Of the Nine film set in Italy, where Nicole brought a then six-week-old Sunday, Nicole told LHJ that while she was working, the other actresses took turns looking after Sunday: “Kate had her son there and Penelope and Fergie were like, ‘I can’t wait to have a baby.’ We’re all women’s women.” Here’s a great trailer with promotional behind-the-scenes footage:

Nicole Kidman is pictured on November 11, 2009 at the CMAs. Credit: AdMedia/PicApp. Ladies Home Journal cover courtesy of I’m Not Obsessed.