For years Moore's self-confidence was bound up in her roles -- and her body. Under the tutelage of trainer Rob Parr in the early '90s, she biked or hiked for up to two hours a day, six times a week. "On the day she gave birth (to second daughter Scout), we did a 22-mile bike ride in the morning," says Parr. (During those days she also quit smoking, an unhealthy habit that has returned.) But Moore feels her motivation was misconstrued. "The perception was that I was so in love with my body," she told IN STYLE in 2000, "when in reality I was trying to overcome my insecurity" about stardom.

Moore has found motherhood a far more comfortable role. "She's a really involved mom," Campbell says. "At one soccer game a kid got hurt, and she was the first one to the kid, worried about the child." Often Willis is by her side. At school functions "they've gone from sitting far apart to sitting together," says a fellow parent.

In her downtime from being Mommy, Moore shops for vintage clothing. She also tried her hand last year as a costume designer for a local theater group. Even if she pulls off a Hollywood comeback, says her pal Todd, Moore likely won't leave her own private Idaho. "Maybe it's what other people take for granted," Todd says. "It's a little slice of normal life."

-- SAMANTHA MILLER
-- VICKIE BANE and KWALA MANDEL in Hailey, LORENZO BENET and TODD GOLD in Los Angeles and JEFF TRUESDELL in Orlando

PEOPLE.com Photo Gallery: Demi: Her Stormy Road to 40