I wonder if Howard will be there to take pictures of her crowning....

Life is imitating art for Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell.


The Parenthood actor and the House of Lies actress are expecting their first child in late spring, a close friend of the longtime couple tells PEOPLE.


“They’re so excited — they’re both ecstatic. They can’t wait to become parents,” the friend tells PEOPLE.


“Kristen had a little bit of morning sickness early on but she just started shooting the second season of House of Lies and is feeling great now.”


Bell, 32, and Shepard, 37, started dating in 2007 and have been engaged for nearly three years.


While promoting their film Hit and Run this summer, the couple said children were definitely in their future and would likely come before a wedding, since they don’t plan to marry until same-sex marriage is legal in their home state of California.


“We wouldn’t want to invite all of our friends who don’t have that right to celebrate us, who have that right. We just don’t feel right about that,” Shepard said on The View in July. Added Bell: “Can you think about how rude that would feel?”


Having kids before marriage, Bell told Larry King in August, “doesn’t really bother us.”