Single Mom-of-Three Denise Richards: ‘I Feel Guilty Taking a Day to Myself’

With three children, a litter of dogs, a busy acting career, photo shoots, and charity work, Denise Richards hardly has time to catch her breath, let alone enjoy a moment to herself. So she takes time when she can, like her 5:30 a.m. coffee break before she wakes up her two oldest daughters Sam, 8, and Lola, 6. The next hour is spent picking out clothes, brushing hair, making school lunches — all with 9-month-old adopted daughter Eloise on her hip and a bottle in her hand. By 7:30 a.m. everyone's out the door and that's when the day really starts for the former Bond Girl. "[My schedule] varies every day," Richards, who next stars in Tyler Perry's "Madea's Witness Protection," tells omg!. "I'm off doing meetings or filming or photo shoots. If I do have a day off, I just hang with Eloise all day … I've been working so much lately, and with the baby, I feel guilty taking a day to myself. So if I have a day off, I'm with Eloise."

Ever since Richards, 41, brought the little girl into her home last June, there has been zero sibling rivalry between Eloise and her big sisters. In fact, Sam and Lola — whose dad is Charlie Sheen — love to help their mom take care of Eloise whenever possible. "They love to feed her," says Richards. "Of course, they love picking out her clothes. In the evenings, after the girls do their homework and they're winding down, after their baths, I'll lay all three on my bed and they'll talk or watch a little TV, or they love to draw before they go to bed. And Eloise just loves to be around her sisters. Any time she can be with them, she really loves it."

One activity that Eloise — who was named by her big sisters after the book character — is a little too young to join her mom and siblings on just yet is their charity work with homeless dogs. An avid animal lover, Richards has passed on her soft spot for needy pups to Sam and Lola. The three are very involved with Best Friends Animal Society's program, Pup My Ride, which goes to local animal shelters in Los Angeles and rescues 30-50 dogs weekly from "death row" and gets them into foster homes or no-kill shelters until they can find their forever family. "I've taken [Sam and Lola] to the shelter to help," says Richards — who converted her garage into a bedroom for her foster dogs — "and we always end up taking one home."

Family bonding is so important to Richards that she has partnered with Totino's to develop fun ways to bring families together. One of her ideas is pizza and movies on Friday nights. Picking the right title that all four will enjoy can be tricky, so the actress developed a plan where they all have to agree on one, as opposed to a different person getting the choice each week. "Friday night seems like the good night to have pizza because it's easy after a week of work and school," Richards tells omg!. "It's a nice family night of making it easy for everyone whether it's watching a movie or doing crafts together, it's quality time with my girls."

With her hands quite full at the moment, Richards admits, "I think three [kids] is a charm." But, she adds, "I've always pictured myself with a very big family," and notes that she is open to the idea of welcoming more children into her household — both biological and adopted. Although she's a single mom, there are men in her life who lend a hand when it comes to parenting. Of course there's Sheen, Sam and Lola's dad, but also Richards' on-again boyfriend Richie Sambora. The actress and her brood reportedly joined the Bon Jovi guitarist and his daughter with Heather Locklear, Ava, on vacation in Hawaii last weekend. Days before the trip, Richards was mum on her relationship status. Although she was excited to proclaim she was dating, when pressed for the lucky guy's identity, she clammed up. "I'll leave that one alone," she tells omg!. "I always put my foot in my mouth with that kind of stuff … [But] we're just really happy." As for her friendly relationship with the former "Two and a Half Men" star, Richards says they are finally at a good place after years of fighting. And even though Eloise is technically not his daughter, Sheen does make it a point to include her. "When we do family stuff, she's right there with us," explains Richards. "We're all there, which is nice."

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