She’s long been one of Hollywood’s hottest stars, but these days Jennifer Lopez has a private life that’s just as rich and rewarding as her career. In June, she and hubby singer Marc Anthony, will celebrate their sixth-wedding anniversary.

Their twins, Max and Emme, just turned 2 on Feb. 22. But Jennifer remains a working mom: She has a romantic comedy, The Back-Up Plan due out in April and a new album, Love, expected this summer. She sat down with OK! exclusively to explain how she keeps it all in balance.

Your private life seems to be your priority now.
I do have more of a private life now. That part of my life has changed. I just didn’t want to be that person anymore.

You seem to be much more relaxed than earlier in your career.
I guess I am. You start out young and confident, thinking you want to be an actress and singer. Then you actually do it and it’s great for a while, but then you have all this success and other things start becoming more important.

Is it hard to juggle work and family life?
I think you have to know what is most important to you. And I think you have to realize that as much as you put into your relationship and your children — but more so. That’s how you balance it. For me, my family is the most important thing and everything else comes after that.

You seem so happy and content with your life, despite how busy you are.
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized that the harder things are, the better things are. Where you’re test, that’s where you get to the next level in your life. You do things because your gut tells you to do them; then they can never be wrong because they’re right for you, no matter how [things are] perceived. The important thing is that you did it and you did it in the best way you could.

FOR MORE OF OK!’S EXCLUSIVE JENNIFER LOPEZ INTERVIEW, CHECK OUT THE NEW ISSUE OF OK! — ON SALE EVERYWHERE NOW!

J-LO’s cover story in the January issue of Allure will be on newsstands December 22, but Allure.com has plenty of photos on the website to keep you occupied until then!

Click “read more” to look at more photos!

For more behind-the-scenes images, visit Allure.com.

Looking breathtaking as always, Jennifer Lopez graces the July issue of Harper’s Bazaar Japan.The gorgeous snaps are part of a promotional compaign for the upcoming Samantha Thavasa ad campaign. J.Lo did a total of 6 photo-shoots over the course of two days for various Japanese magazines during her most recent trip to Tokyo.

Jennifer has made the 100 Most Beautiful list by People Magazine! The longest list is “Celebrity Smiles,” and that’s where readers will find many of the perennial faces on People’s list. Among them are Angelina Jolie, George Clooney, Hugh Jackman, Matthew McConaughey, Sandra Bullock, Drew Barrymore, Beyonce Knowles, Jennifer Lopez, Zac Efron, Halle Berry, Carrie Underwood, Heidi Klum, Brooke Shields and Eva Longoria. Congratulations to Jennifer!

Jennifer is featured in articles of 2 weekly magazines. They both talk about her Triathlon triumph.

Jennifer Lopez says she was “selfish” for the first time in her life while she was pregnant with twins Max and Emme, who are now 6 months old. Midway through her pregnancy, Lopez had just finished her concert tour with husband Marc Anthony last fall when she told him he needed him to take the reins, she tells Elle magazine in its October issue cover story. “I said, ‘I did the superwoman thing, I finished the tour – now I need you to take care of me,’” said Lopez, 39. “‘I love doing things for you; if I’m not cooking, then I’m picking out a shirt. But this is the first time in my life where I’m just going to be a little bit selfish,’” she told Anthony, who turns 40 on Sept. 16. “‘I don’t know if I’m going to have kids again, so I want it to be a beautiful experience. I don’t want to have any drama. I want to just be smiling every day.’”

The actress, who is currently training for her first triathalon, says she and her husband of four years didn’t worry when she didn’t get pregnant right away. “We knew nothing was wrong with either one of us – I had been checked, and he had kids already,” she told Elle. “I knew [that] something’s not ready here, in my head or in my life, and when it is, I know it’s going to happen.” As for the moment she realized she was pregnant, she reveals, “I was sitting down doing hair and makeup and I felt a flutter. The weirdest little … flourish. My makeup artist said ‘What’s the matter?’ I didn’t say anything, but in my head, I was like, I have life inside me!” Two weeks before giving birth, Lopez commissioned a special gift for her husband – a book of photos of herself. Says Lopez: “I was like, ‘How am I going to rock this moment of my life? … I felt very womanly. Marc was in a dream. He loved it.”
People

Jennifer Lopez was so determined to make sure she was pregnant when she first thought she was with child, she took 20 tests - and even asked her husband Marc Anthony to pee on a stick. The actress/singer admits to feeling “a flutter” during a hair and make-up session - and it sent her to the nearest pharmacy. She tells the upcoming issue of Elle magazine she dashed home with her pregnancy tests in an effort to be sure - and she even insisted Anthony took one. She explains, “I needed to see what a negative looked like.” Lopez gave birth to twins Emme and Max on 22 February.
WENN

It’s no wonder Jennifer Lopez is known as one of the hardest working women in show business: the triple-threat diva kept on strutting her stuff on tour, rocking out in high fashion designs, months into her unannounced pregnancy, when most women would’ve called it quits.

But the road to pregnancy wasn’t easy, Jennifer reveals in the fashion-packed September issue of Elle magazine.

“We knew nothing was wrong with either one of us—I had been checked, and he had kids already,” Jennifer tells Elle of her and husband Marc Anthony’s struggle to conceive. “I knew Something’s not ready here, in my head or in my life, and when it is, I know it’s going to happen.”

When it did happen, she says she says her babies let her know.

“I was sitting down doing hair and makeup and I felt a flutter,” Jennifer says. “The weirdest little… flourish. My makeup artist said ‘What’s the matter?’ I didn’t say anything, but in my head, I was like, I have life inside me!”

The life inside her was fraternal twins Emme and Max, born in February. A scant two weeks later, the new family appeared in a photo shoot together.

“I was like, How am I going to rock this moment of my life?…” she says of the book of photos. “I felt very womanly. Marc was in a dream. He loved it.”

Check out the rest of Jennifer’s interview, as well as photos of the stunnging songstress with her favorite designers, in the new issue of Elle.

Marchesa

“She can transform into this stylish, aristrocratic beauty reminiscent of Sophia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette but at the same time is very down-to-earth and very relatable.”—Georgina Chapman

Pleated fan gown with embroidered belt, Marchesa, price upon request, visit marchesa.com. Platinum, diamond and pearl tiara, Verdura, price upon request. Diamond bracelets, Bulgari, prices upon request. Plexiglas bracelets wtih crystals, Chanel, prices upon request. White gold tiara with diamonds and gemstones (on designer), Cartier, price upon request.

Versace

“I wanted to glamorize a moment with two women sitting down and having a good, long chat, which is what happens in reality every time I see Jennifer.”—Donatella Versace

One-shoulder rayon evening gown, Versace, price upon request, at select Versace Boutiques nationwide.

Michael Kors

“Jennifer epitomizes my love of the modern jet-set woman–today’s answer to Elizabeth Taylor glamour, circa Butterfield 8, all dipped in tones of honey, caramel, and camel.”

Mink fur coat, price upon request, wool cap-sleeve sheath, “1,795, glasses, $225, embossed leather belt, $350, leather bag, $1,195, faux crocodile pumps, $435, all, Michael Kors, Coat and sheath at Neiman Marcus. His suitcase, T. Anthony.

A relaxed Jennifer Lopez talks about ex-boyfriends, pressure, sheer will, and her idiot manager as she graces the cover of U.K. magazine Easy Living’s September issue. The 39-year-old Lopez, who has had high-profile relationships with Sean Combs and Ben Affleck before her marriage to singer Marc Anthony, says she doesn’t want to talk about her ex-boyfriends “only because I think it’s disrespectful to my husband.” She adds that she also doesn’t want him to talk about his ex-girlfriends. The “Love Don’t Cost A Thing” hitmaker also opened up about firing her former manager years ago for telling her to diet so she could look like Heather Locklear, simply saying, “He was an idiot.” J. Lo, who gave birth to twins Emme and Max in February, has something to say about pressure, saying she knows how uncomfortable and destructive life is. She says, “It’s a tricky thing - the tabloids know that a lot of people read them, and they gauge who’s hot and who’s not by who is on the cover.” “If that’s what being hot right now is, I don’t want to be that.” Lopez appears on the cover of Easy Living September issue, which hits newsstands this week.

People Magazine talks about Jennifer’s triathlon workout in this week’s issue.