How Jenna Bush Hager’s Kids Threw Her the Ultimate Birthday Bash

Today’s Jenna Bush Hager revealed her three children Mila, Poppy and Hal, whom she shares with Henry Hager, threw her a 44th birthday celebration that was quite literally a bit cheesy.

By Corinne Heller Dec 02, 2025 7:28 PMTags
Watch: Jenna Bush Hager Says Dad George W. Bush Told Her He Doesn’t Watch Her “Dumb Show”

Jenna Bush Hager had an extra reason to "say cheese" this Thanksgiving holiday.

The Today show cohost shared a glimpse at her 44th birthday celebration with her family, sharing how her and husband Henry Hager's kids Mila, 12, Poppy, 10 and Hal, 6, pitching in to throw the ultimate dinner party for her.

"Sagittarius celebrations," Jenna wrote on her Instagram page on Dec. 2, "with creative direction by my loveliest kids, reunion and more celebrating with my dearest in the most magical place (@thecolonypalmbeach )...stepping into December grateful."

The TV personality's kids created a customized "Mom's Bday tasting menu" that included a "Brie My Queen" cheese snack, Texas Tacos made with beans and cheese, and a dessert titled "The Cat Nap Crunch" that consisted of coffee ice cream with Oreo crumbles.

As they marked her birthday ahead of her Nov. 25 special day, the Today With Jenna and Friends anchor shared insight into how the plans came to fruition.

"Mila was sort of the creative director," Jenna told Andy Cohen on Today on her birthday. "This is her menu."

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Jenna Bush Hager Says Dad George W. Bush Told Her He Doesn’t Watch Her “Dumb Show”

Ultimately, the dinner celebration, while fun, was a little too cheesy—literally—for Jenna.

"I love cheese but I'll just say this," she said, "that at the age of 44, a four-course cheese meal doesn't hit the way it did at 22."

And beyond planning the dinner,. Her kids also came through with live entertainment.

"They had performances," she revealed to Andy. "Poppy actually wrote a song, I think with the help of AI."

Instagram / Jenna Bush Hager

Poppy isn't the only child writer in the family, however. Jenna revealed Mila brought home an assignment from school that the tween "wrote so profoundly," Jenna admitted in her Voices at the Table newsletter in October, that "it made me teary."

"I realized that sometimes I find the most comfort in the beauty and innocence of my children," she continued. "All I have to do is read their assignments, cuddle with them at night, pay attention to the creative and loving things they say — and then I feel like our world is filled with such profound and sparkly hope."

As Jenna marks her latest birthday milestone, keep reading for a look at the whole Today crew and their loved ones… 

(E! and Today are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)

Sheinelle Jones

The cohost of the third hour of Today shares son Kayin as well as twins Uche and Clara with her late husband Uche Ojeh, who passed away in May 2025 after a courageous battle with brain cancer. 

“With all three of my children, I try to show them that they're ALL a team, and they have to take care of each other," Sheinelle wrote in a 2015 essay for Today. “At the same time, I'm learning that they each like to know they're special on their own."

Craig Melvin

Three years after the anchor married fellow broadcaster Lindsay Czarniak in 2011, he earned his most cherished title yet: father. 

And now, he seizes every opportunity to gush about their son Delano and daughter Sybil.

"When I wake up in the morning," Melvin said to his son during a May 2024 episode of Today, "part of the reason I work so hard is for you and your sister."

Jenna Bush Hager

The Today with Jenna & Friends cohost and her husband Henry Hager are proud parents to kids Mila, Poppy and Hal

As she put it during a March 2025 episode of the morning show, “I’m pretty sure I’ve come to terms that three, even though it’s an imperfect number, it’s the perfect number for our household."

Hoda Kotb

"Another Halloween in the books," wrote the former host as she celebrated the day with her daughter Haley Joy

She is also mom to daughter Hope Catherine.

Lester Holt

The former NBC Nightly News anchor shares sons Stefan Holt and Cameron Holt with his wife Carol Hagen

But more recently, he became a proud "granddude" to three grandchildren: Henry, Samuel and James.

“When my daughter-in-law was pregnant with her first baby ... she said, ‘Well, what do you guys want to be called?’" Holt said on The Kelly Clarkson Show in 2021. "I said, ‘I think I want to be ‘Granddude’ because ‘grand,’ it bows to the fact that I’m older. But ‘dude’ says, ‘I still got a little bit. I still got a little,’ you know?"

 

Carson Daly

In 2020, the anchor and his wife Siri Pinter welcomed their fourth child, Goldie. The little one joined the couple's older kids Jackson, Etta and London.

 

Kathie Lee

Hoda's former cohost is a loving mommy to her own two children, Cassidy Gifford and Cody Gifford, with her late husband Frank Gifford.

Savannah Guthrie

The TV personality is a mom to two little ones, Vale Guthrie Feldman and Charles "Charley" Max Feldman, with her husband Mike Feldman

Al Roker

The anchor and his wife Deborah Roberts are parents to Leila Roker and Nicholas Albert Roker.

Willie Geist

The anchor of Sunday Today has been married to his wife Christina Geist since 2003. They're parents to two children, George William Geist and Lucie Joy Geist.

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