Three cheers for dads who are enthusiastic about women’s sports!
On TODAY With Hoda & Jenna, Jenna Bush Hager said her husband, Henry Chase Hager, took their two daughters, Poppy, 8, and Mila, 11, to see a Washington Spirit soccer match in New Jersey.
On the show, Jenna shared a video of her daughters huddling with the team.
“I love this so much,” she said while watching the video.
“You can’t see, but one of the player’s hands was around Poppy,” she added.
Jenna said that she’s happy that she’s married to Hager because he shares her love of womens sports.
“They’re an incredible team,” she said of the Washington Spirit. “They’re winning.”
On Instagram, Jenna shared a photo and a video of her girls at the game. She captioned it, “I love women’s sports. I love my husband who loves my girls and women’s soccer! I love @washingtonspirit who are showing my girls what determination and team work look like! I can’t wait to get to a game soon! ⚽⚽⚽⚽.”
Jenna and Hager share Mila and Poppy and their 4-year-old son, Hal.
The TODAY co-host met Henry in 2004 when he was working for her dad, former President George W. Bush. The couple tied the knot four years later at Jenna’s parents’ Prairie Chapel Ranch in Crawford, Texas.
The mother of three has said that Mila, Poppy and Hal are her and Henry’s biggest priority. While chatting with People in 2019, Jenna said one of the highlights of maternity leave was getting to take her daughters to school every morning. But Jenna has learned to let go of working mom guilt.
“I try to focus on what I can do and what I do bring because I think if we beat ourselves up for everything we miss, then we’re to a happy of a parent as we can be,” she explained.
Read on to learn more about Jenna’s three children:
Margaret Laura ‘Mila’ Hager
Al Roker predicted Jenna’s first child would be a girl — and he was correct!
“I’m totally crazy about her,” Jenna gushed to her TODAY family, days after Mila was born. “I don’t even really like the color pink, and there’s pink all over my apartment.. I likethings to be really neat, and there’s bottles and things all over, and we’re just as happy as can be.”
Mila arrived on April 13, 2013, three weeks ahead of her due date, and weighed 6 pounds, 15 ounces.
Jenna often shares stories about Mila on TODAY. In July 2023, she reflected on a thoughtful note Mila sent to her sister, Poppy, about going to sleepaway camp.
“She wrote Poppy this letter, which made Henry and I weep. (It) was like, ‘You’re going to feel homesick. But the difference is, I got you. I got you, I’m there for you… and you can come into my cabin.”
Mila is both sweet and outspoken. Earlier this year, Jenna recalled being “shamed” by Mila for throwing out her art project.
According to Jenna, Mila reported the crime to Poppy, who “doesn’t appreciate it” either.
While visiting the set of Hoda & Jenna in 2022, Mila dropped what Jenna referred to as “truth bombs.” It all started when Hoda told Mila that she loves when Jenna is “laughing so hard she can’t catch her breath.”
“Yeah, one time she was laughing in our living room and she peed her pants!” Mila replied. She then turned to Jenna and said, “You changed your pajamas.”
Later, Mila divulged that Jenna “never wears underwear.”
“She is not wearing it right now!” Mila announced. “I saw her change!”
Jenna has described both Mila and Poppy as “drama kids.” In 2022, Mila starred as Seymour in her school production of “Little Shop Of Horrors.”
Mila’s solos were “completely out of her comfort zone,” a proud Jenna declared on TODAY.
“Unlike her mother, she really doesn’t like attention,’” Jenna said. “She never was like, ‘I’m the star.’ If anything, she downplayed it.”
Poppy Louise Hager
The name Poppy is a tribute to Jenna’s grandfather, the late George H.W. Bush.
“Welcome to the WORLD Poppy Louise Hager — named after my darling Gamps who went by Poppy during his childhood. We are in LOVE,” Jenna captioned an Instagram post announcing Poppy’s birth on August 13, 2015.
Jenna often speaks about the love Poppy has for Mila. In 2022, she posted on Instagram a note from Poppy that read, “My superhero is Mila because she is kind and nice. She gives me hugs. She gives me love.”
The little girl also adores her grandfather, former president George W. Bush. In 2022, Jenna recalled how the former commander-in-chief spoke to Poppy’s class in school.
“Poppy was just sitting up by the computer so proud that her grandpa would Zoom in,” Jenna told the New York Post. At the end of the Q&A session, Poppy took it upon herself to invite all of her classmates for a ride on Air Force One.
“That’s when I had to explain to her that that’s not how it works,” Jenna said. “She’ll never get to ride on Air Force One unless she becomes the president."
Henry Harold ‘Hal’ Hager
Hal inherited his name from his father and his middle name from Jenna’s grandfather, Harold Welch — father of former first lady Laura Bush.
“We weren’t exactly sure about the name,” Jenna said when she called into TODAY to share her happy news that her son was born on August 2, 2019. “Then his big sisters called him ‘Hal pal,’ and we thought, ‘This is just perfect.’”
Hal’s birth was a family affair. Jenna said that her twin sister, Barbara Bush Coyne, came to the hospital with a box of donuts.
"I don’t think you’re supposed to eat right after a C-section, but I went for it. And then Mila and Poppy came and picked him out in the nursery, and they’re just crazy about him. ... The girls are so thrilled that they have a little baby brother all of their own.”
Hal, now 4, is a social butterfly just like his mama. In 2022, Jenna raved about how Hal was completely at ease at a big Memorial Day barbecue.
“I went to go sit next to him to feed him, and he looked at me and he goes, ‘You having a good time, Mama?’” Jenna recalled on TODAY. “And I said, ‘Yes, I’m having fun.’ And he goes, ‘Me, too! I just got into the hot tub.’”
Hal recently learned to swim, and while it makes Jenna nervous, she is proud of her little boy for being so brave. He’s even comfortable in the ocean!
“Letting your child do scary things, supervised, is the hardest thing as a grown-up,” Hoda said.
“I actually just closed my eyes and let him handle it because I don’t want to be like a backseat parent,” Jenna replied.
As for another baby?
Jenna revealed on TODAY in August 2023 that she had babies on her brain. But how does her husband feel?
While chatting with her TODAY co-host Sheinelle Jones, Jenna said that she’s pondered expanding her family.
“I’d like to have another … but no,” Jenna said, noting that Henry “put his foot down.” Later in the show, however, Jenna teased that Hal could be promoted to big brother regardless.
“Well, I do feel like women usually have the advantage in that area,” she joked to Sheinelle at the time.
