Hoda Kotb Says Nothing ‘Has Mattered More’ to Her Than Motherhood During Brief Return to ‘Today’ Show

OMG! Hoda Kotb put her maternity leave on pause as she made a brief return to the Today show on Friday, August 2. The beloved cohost — who has been devoting her time as a mother of two after adopting her second daughter, Hope Catherine, in April — tuned in through a video appearance to chat about motherhood and her new book.

“I feel like I’ve lived 54 years, and I’ve loved every minute of it, but if there’s a window or a moment in my life that has mattered more than anything, it’s right now,” the 54-year-old beauty gushed when cohost Savannah Guthrie asked her how everything was going.

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Hoda also discussed her maternity leave — which has already been much longer than the period of time she took off after adopting her oldest daughter, Haley Joy, 2, in February 2017. “I know it’s sorta weird that I’m taking this much time, but I just feel like, you know, sometimes you don’t know how much of your kids’ lives you’re going to be able to see,” she explained. “You just don’t know.”

Therefore, Hoda is taking every advantage of being able to spend all the time she wants with her two kids and longtime boyfriend, Joel Schiffman. “I was saying to myself, ‘I’m not going to miss right now.'” The Today with Hoda and Jenna host even gushed about their repetitive schedule that she doesn’t think she’ll ever get bored of.

“So every day, we do the same thing, and it’s so dumb. Like, we have morning bubbles outside, we go to the muffin store and get a muffin, we burp Hope — it’s the same day,” Hoda adorably said with a laugh. “But it’s awesome, it’s the most awesome day ever.”

While there’s a lot of things that Hoda has learned since becoming a mother, she stressed the most important is to “really have a be-here-now moment,” while noting that it can be hard with work and other commitments. “To come home, and really be in that moment because I feel like I’ve spent most of my life not doing that,” she admitted.

Besides gushing about the sweet sibling bond that Haley and Hope share, the Emmy Award-winning journalist also talked her new book. On August 1, Hoda revealed the exciting news that she was writing up another potential bestseller.

“You guys know how I love to post quotes on Instagram, but what I love is reading your responses to those quotes,” she gushed in a video she shared to Instagram. “I feel like those quotes move you, and a couple of the responses said, ‘I really needed this today,’ … and we thought, ‘You know what? What a perfect title for a book!'”

Although Hoda has yet to announce her official return date to the show, a source recently told People that “she’s excited to get back.” We can’t wait, either!