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New mom Kelly Clarkson radiates the latest cover of PEOPLE with her 8-month-old daughter River Rose and opens up about her first non-holiday album since 2011, Piece by Piece, and the joys of motherhood.

“My whole life took a big 180,” Clarkson shares. “I never thought I was going to be a mom, so it’s very much changed my world in the most awesome way.”

Although busy, Clarkson has a happy family life with husband Brandon Blackstock, 38, their daughter and her stepkids Savannah, 13, and Seth, 8.

“I love what I do, but I feel like I relied on my career a lot for my self-worth. And now I’m more than that,” says the Grammy Award-winning singer. “I’m a mother and a wife and have this whole other thing going on.”

Since welcoming her first child — who Clarkson calls “the happiest baby on the planet” — the American Idol alum, 32, has found peace.

“I have a certain level of peace I didn’t know was going to come with it,” she shares.

And it sounds like motherhood has healed some of the wounds from her own parents’ divorce.

“My best friend always says, ‘You just want to create the family you never had.’ I might be doing that,” Clarkson adds. “In defense of my family, it happens. People fall out of love, and people go separate ways. People are human. I’ve accomplished a lot, but I guess the biggest success I want is that whenever I die people will say, ‘She was so successful as a mother, and as a wife.’ That’s kind of my big goal.”