‘Today Show’ Anchor Hoda Kotb Celebrates 2-Year-Old Daughter Haley Joy’s Birthday in New Photos

TODAY Show anchor Hoda Kotb shared another look at her adorable daughter Haley Joy on Valentine’s Day, which coincided with Haley’s second birthday.

The photo showed Kotb, 54, with her longtime partner, Joel Schiffman, alongside her mother, Sameha Kotb. Everyone in the photo wore special Sesame Street-themed shirts. The cake featured Cookie Monster, Oscar The Grouch and Elmo, plus a sign reading “Haley Street.”

“So much love today,” Kotb wrote in the caption, adding two heart emojis and “Valentine’s Day X2.”

This was not Kotb’s only Valentine’s Day post. She also shared an inspirational message.

“There are three things that will come to you like an unforeseen revelation in the course of your journey,” the message reads. “The magnitude of the final straw, the unexpected person who teaches you the true meaning of compassion, and your astonishing capacity to love in this one and only life. Gratitude, grace and God.”

Sesame Street is clearly Haley’s favorite show. Back in November, Kotb and her TODAY co-stars Savannah Guthrie and Dylan Dreyer brought their children to the Sesame Street set to visit Elmo, Big Bird and Grover.

Kotb adopted Haley Joy after she was born on Valentine’s Day in February 2017. At one point, Kotb almost gave up on becoming a mother, since her battle with breast cancer made it impossible for her to conceive and her two-year marriage to Burzis Kanga ended in divorce.

“We were just brought up to believe in God,” Kotb told Arianna Huffington’s Thrive Global Podcast in November 2018. “We were all about that, and I feel like when you have a relationship with God, and I feel like I’ve had endless, countless, abundant conversations about it. Sometimes you think, can He hear me? Does He hear me? Am I just talking to myself? Is it for real?”

After Haley arrived, she stopped doubting if her prayers were heard.

“But, I think when Haley arrived, I didn’t have any doubt in that belief, but when Haley arrived, it was personified. Literally when I watch her now, I just feel like she’s proof of everything,” she continued. “Like, everything. Yeah. She’s the best.”

After she met Schiffman, Kotb remembered she still had the desire to become a mother and she could no longer hide those feelings. He agreed to look into adopting with her.

“I met Joel, and there was like a voice inside me that I couldn’t quiet. It just kept coming up. I tried to push it away, it kept coming,” she told Huffington. “I sat with him, and I said, ‘For a long time I’ve had these feelings, and I’ve wanted to have children, but I’ve pushed them away. I just can’t push them away anymore. I’m going to ask you, I would like to explore adoption with you.’”

Photo credit: NBCU / Getty Images