Jaci Velasquez has a new "Diamond" on her hands

By: Lauren Moraski
Topics: Music

Jaci Velasquez, 2012

(Credit: Daley Hake)

(CBS) Jaci Velasquez has spent the last few years settling into married life and chasing around two little boys. She wakes up every day to do a radio show in Nashville and recently acted in two films.

In between all of that, the Latin pop and Christian singer has managed to write and record a new album, which was released this week.

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"Diamond," Valesquez's first new album since 2008, finds the 32-year-old Texas native singing about everything from motherhood and love to faith and growing up.

"The record is very picturesque of life in this moment -- beauty from ashes," Velaquez told CBSNews.com. "Something that maybe at one point was not so pretty, it turned in something beautiful and I'm living it out."

Marriage and kids have a little something to do with Valesquez's state of mind, leading her to write the majority of songs on the new album.

"I'm married to a handsome man, who's prettier than I am," she said. "I have two little boys, who are just the light of my life."

And with just a couple of days until this year's Grammy Awards, Velasquez, a multiple Grammy-nominated artist, chimed in on what it was like to attend the ceremony when her 2001 release, "Mi Corazon," received the Grammy Award nod for best Latin pop album.

"I got to give a Grammy award to Carlos Santana," said Velasquez. "Being on stage with so many of them -- sitting next to Britney Spears -- it was a pretty incredible experience."

Velasquez, who's had 16 No. 1 radio hits, is ready to have a few more of those experiences in the years to come, telling CBSNews.com she's committed to both music and family.

"It's tough," she said. "Balancing it all is probably the hardest part because you're trying to be everything to everyone."

Watch the CBSNews.com interview below:

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