Pregnant Hilary Duff jokes she loves husband Matthew Koma more now

Hilary Duff‘s love for her husband Matthew Koma only grows during her pregnancy.

“A few nights away from the kids does the body good,” Duff, 36, wrote via Instagram Story on Sunday, December 31, alongside a mirror selfie with Koma, 36. “I love you so much more than I did in my first trimester[er].”

The How I met your father alum and Koma announced earlier this month that they were expecting their third child together, Duff’s fourth. (She and Koma share daughters Banks, 5, and Mae, 2. Duff is also mom to son Luca, 11, whom she shares with ex-husband Mike Comrie.)

“Surprise Surprise!” Duff wrote via Instagram alongside the family’s Christmas card where her stomach was visible as she posed with her family. The back of the card featured solo photos of each of the three kids and read, “Hold on Buttercups, we’re adding one more to this crazy bunch!”

The couple, who tied the knot in December 2019, seems stronger than ever. A source said this exclusively We weekly earlier this month that the lack of work during the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes led to the two growing closer.

“Neither of them had that many work commitments and were able to reconnect,” the insider noted. “They really got to know each other again and spent a lot of time together as a family.”

Following the pair’s engagement in May 2019, Duff spoke exclusively Us that having a baby had “definitely” brought her and Koma even closer together. She added that the couple “feels happier and more in love than ever,” noting that the engagement “felt good.”

“We look forward to our long future together. He kind of surprised me and I was like, ‘Yes! Naturally! You’re my favorite person in the whole world besides my kids,” Duff said in June 2019, adding with a laugh, “He knows he comes in third.”

Duff, who welcomed her first child at the age of 24, has been candid about her ups and downs of motherhood over the years.

“It was a little isolating at first because I didn’t have any friends who had babies yet,” she said on the “Motherly” podcast in June 2019. “But I had been working for so long that it felt like a natural step for me and I always knew I wanted to be a mother. I always knew this would be my first priority in life. So I felt ready on some fronts and a little scared on others, but really it wasn’t until I was pregnant that I got scared and thought, ‘Oh, this is really, really happening. What if this? What if that?’”