TODAY’s own Hoda Kotb celebrated her 55th birthday yesterday in the most adorable way possible.
Hoda shared a series of photos and videos on Instagram Saturday of her special birthday cake that simply read “Mom” and was adorned with five candles for good measure. The TODAY co-anchor simply captioned the carousel of pictures with two heart emojis.
Her 2-year-old daughter, Haley Joy, sat front and center with her birthday hat on to sing along to “Happy Birthday” and help her mom blow out the candles on her special day.
For Hoda’s 54th birthday, Haley Joy helped celebrate the occasion in a similar fashion with a special rendition of “Happy Birthday” just for her mom.
While Hoda wasn’t at the TODAY Plaza to celebrate with cake and champagne with the rest of the TODAY crew, we’re glad she’s enjoying her maternity leave!
Hoda first became a mom two years ago when she adopted Haley Joy and welcomed her second child, Hope Catherine, back in April with longtime boyfriend Joel Schiffman.
"I felt like, before Haley came, I'd had an average life,” Hoda told People in an interview. “She stepped in it, my heart exploded. And then all of a sudden this little girl Hope steps in, and you realize how much room there is in there. You think you're topped out. But your heart's ability to expand blows my mind."
Last week, Hoda took a short break from her maternity leave to return to TODAY for a segment after announcing her second book, “I Really Needed This Today: Words to Live By,” set to release on Oct. 15.
She also shared an update on her maternity leave, stating that she’s just trying to savor every moment with her two daughters.
"I know it's sort of weird that I'm taking this much time, but I just feel like sometimes in life you don't know how much of your kids' lives you're gonna be able to see,” she said. “But I would say to myself, 'I'm not gonna miss right now.'"