Just this morning she posted a video on Instagram to alert everyone of her return date of September 3. Hoda captioned the video: "Hiiiiii!!! So excited to come back! "
"Hi guys, guess what? It's time to get my roots done. I'm coming back to work," Hoda said. "I'm going to be there on September 3, right after Labor Day. Guys I'm so excited."
Hoda also opened up about her time away from the show. "Look I'm not going to lie, this has probably been the best summer of my entire life with these two kids. I've loved every second of it," she said in her Instagram announcement.
In an interview with PEOPLE , she voiced the importance of moms taking their full maternity leave.
"We all need to pay [our] bills and have insurancewe cant take all the time we want. I get it. But I feel like if you can, and if youre at a point where you feel like you can do it, you should do it. Im sure every woman wants to do it and cant. But if more women are taking the allotted time, then other women arent going to look at them funny."
Now heading back to TODAY, Hoda has a different mindset. Work is incredibly important, but I do understand what my North Stars are now," she told PEOPLE . But that doesn't mean she isn't excited to get back to her fans and co-host Jenna Bush Hager.
Still, she said her four-month maternity leave was not a vacation. "Its not a vacation, I worked harder on maternity leave than I did at work. Youre up at the crack of dawn, and youre up all hours. Stay-at-home moms should be called work-at-home moms. You are up all the time. We post stuff on Instagram from the beach, but its work. But its the best work. Its the best work I did in my life. I dont know if my kids will remember it, but I will always remember."
Still, Hoda said she's pumped for that early a.m. alarm clock come fall. "I'm setting my alarm, 3:15 a.m. OK? We'll be back in business. I love you guys. I cannot wait to see you."
Hoda's announcement has sparked an outpouring of love and support from her coworkers and fans:
"Literally BEST. NEWS. EVER!!!!! " commented TODAY's Samantha Guthrie.
"Weve missed you!!!!!!! Cant wait to see you now go enjoy every second you have left!!! " said style expert and TODAY contributor Lilliana Vazquez.
And her fans were even more thrilled. "Woo Hoo!!! So happy you had this time with your kiddos, but cant wait to have ya back!" on fan wrote.
Another wrote, "Thank God. We need you back. Been too long missing you. "
