Blending families can be tough for some, but it’s come easy for Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez.
In an interview with Hoda Kotb that will air Friday on TODAY, the “Hustlers” star, who is engaged to the retired baseball slugger, opened up about a note she received from his 14-year-old daughter, Natasha.
“I got the most beautiful card from Alex’s daughter, Tashi. And she told me it’s an honor to be your stepdaughter. Again, I start crying,” Lopez, 50, said. “I just feel so blessed to have all of the dynamics that are going on in my life right now. You know, and first starting with, you know, creating a family that I’ve always wanted.”
Lopez is mother to twins Max and Emme, 11, whom she shares with ex-husband Marc Anthony, while Natasha and her sister, Ella, 11 are Rodriguez's children with ex-wife Cynthia Scurtis.
While Lopez is a global superstar (she's reportedly in the running to perform at the Super Bowl halftime show next year!), she’s not immune to the pitfalls of parenting and feels awful when she can’t be with her kids.
“The mom guilt is real. It’s real,” she told Hoda. “And, honestly, I just hate being away from them, even for a moment.”
The former "American Idol" judge knows she’s fortunate that she’s in a position where she can call the shots about the projects that come her way.
“I’m lucky to be at a point in my career where, yes, I can work a lot, but I also can go, ‘I can’t do that right now,’ like I did last year,” she said.
That experience meant a lot not just to her, but to her kids, especially Max.
“Alex goes, ‘Everybody say what they were grateful for' ‘cause the summer was coming to an end," she recalled him saying. "And Max goes, ‘I’m grateful that Mommy took the summer off to be with us.’ I was like, ‘Oh my god.’ I wanted to die.” I didn’t think he was even thinking about it, you know what I mean? You realize how precious the time that you get to have with them because they grow up so fast.”
Even with four kids already under one roof, Lopez would like to add more to their brood. During a recent interview with Hoda for SiriusXM, she was asked about having more kids and responded with a definitive, “Yeah!”
During his appearance Wednesday on TODAY, Rodriguez was asked by Hoda about her comment.
“Interesting. That’s a lot to unpack,” he joked.
“Hoda, honestly, I think you’ve inspired her and I see how happy you are, and I think she may want to follow in your footsteps,” he said alluding to the fact she adopted her second daughter, Haley, earlier this year and the bliss that has come with having two kids.