Hoda Kotb to return to 'Today' on Sept. 3: 'I'm so excited'

Aug. 20 (UPI) -- Hoda Kotb will return to Today on Sept. 3 following Labor Day weekend.

The 55-year-old television personality announced in an Instagram video Tuesday that she is coming back from maternity leave after adopting her second child, daughter Hope Catherine.

Kotb is parent to Hope and 2-year-old daughter Haley Joy with her boyfriend, Joel Schiffman. Kotb has been on maternity leave since announcing Hope's adoption in April.

"I'm coming back to work!" Kotb said. "You guys, I'm so excited."

"I'm not going to lie, this probably has been the best summer of my entire life with these two kids, I've loved every second of it. But you know what else I'm going to love? Coming back to you guys," she added.

Kotb urged women to take full maternity leave if possible in an interview with People published Tuesday.

"Work is incredibly important, but I do understand what my North Stars are now," the star said. "I know I come from a place of incredible fortune ... and [have taken] a maternity leave that is longer than most people are allowed to take. I'm on-my-knees grateful for that."

"We can't take all the time we want. I get it. But I feel like if you can, and if you're at a point where you feel like you can do it, you should do it," she added. "I'm sure every woman wants to do it and can't. But it more women are taking the allotted time, then other women aren't going to look at them funny."

Kotb said during a call-in to Today this month that spending time with her daughters matters "more than anything" in her life thus far.

"I know it's sort of weird that I'm taking this much time," she said of her lengthy maternity leave. "But I was saying to myself, I'm not going to miss right now."

Kotb and Haley enjoyed a beach day with Today weather anchor Dylan Dreyer and her son, Calvin, over the weekend. Dreyer is pregnant with her second child with husband Brian Fichera.