Both Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise have managed to handle themselves with a lot of grace regarding their marriage and divorce. Though they did eventually discuss some of their deeper disappointments, neither of them did it in a salacious or defamatory way. They also seem to have been very gracious and congratulatory with each other when they moved on to new phases in their lives: getting remarried, having new children, etc.

Nicole was recently asked by Elle magazine about her relationship with husband Keith Urban. Said that she never dreamed that she’d meet someone that she felt something deeper for with than she felt for Tom, but she did. She also said Tom has that same deeper connection with Katie.

“I didn’t foresee it, that you can meet somebody who you have a deep and more profound love with,” the actress – who divorced Tom Cruise in 2001 – tells November’s Elle.

“I don’t mean to take away anything with Tom, but I would hope that he has the same thing – I know he has the same thing with Katie,” Kidman adds. “You move into a stage where you’re able to be a more fuller [sic] person in your relationship.”

She continues, “I want to be really careful with that because I don’t want to take away from 11 years with that man that were really important. Really, for our kids — they were amidst a lot of love. It wasn’t bad. And now we’re amidst a more evolved love.”

Does she have any regrets about marrying Cruise at the young age of 22?

“Um, no. Would I want my kids to get married at that age? No!” Kidman says. “But that was an extraordinary thing for me. [Tom] taught me an enormous amount — as a girl into a woman. Absolutely, I would do it again.”

[From Us Weekly]

It’s interesting that there clearly isn’t the same level of interest in Nicole and Keith’s relationship as there is in Tom and Katie’s. Almost every article that talked about this headline was titled something like “Nicole Kidman: Tom Has a “More Profound” Love With Katie Holmes.” Which is technically what she said, but completely misses the context. But Tom and Katie probably sell more because their relationship confuses and intrigues people. Though Nicole and Keith seem a little unusual, they don’t seem whacky by any stretch. Tom and Katie’s relationship seems so superficial – at least the part that they show to the rest of the world – that you’re just left sitting there befuddled, trying to figure it all out.

Nicole also talks about giving birth for the first time at 41 and the ways it’s different to be a mother at this age than when she was younger. The way she puts it, it sounds like there’s a lot more anxiety for her now, and like she actually feels more intensely about motherhood.

On becoming a mother later in life:
“At 41, it’s a more painful love. I look at that little girl, and I’m, like, Oh, no, what’s going to happen? It’s almost like my heart is stretching; I’m feeling all these muscles stretch with emotion. It’s a beautiful love but there’s a lot of fear and pain for her life, and for Bella’s and Connor’s life. I like to believe that nothing was stopping Sunday from coming into the world.”

On natural childbirth:
“It was the most beautiful thing to go through with him [husband Keith Urban]. I had a great team of women, too. At one point there were nine women in the room and Keith.”

[From the Huffington Post]

Nicole seems to have to catch herself every so often and include Conner and Isabella in her statements. In the one above, it sort of seems like they’re added in there as an afterthought.

Nicole pays the ultimate compliment to Keith in the article, saying, “‘He’s the greatest man besides my dad I’ve ever met,’ the actress says. ‘He’s loyal and he’s a soul searcher.’” It sounds like they’re clearly a much better fit for each other, and have an entirely different kind of love than Nicole ever had with Tom. If nothing else, it seems like they’re both really happy in their lives and their families.

Here’s Nicole and Keith stopping for coffee in Nashville on Saturday. Images thanks to Fame.

A picture you’ve probably already seen of Kidman and Urban in Nashville on 7/20/08. Credit: Fame
Nicole Kidman has touched down in Australia with her 4-week-old daughter Sunday Rose, and the paparazzi are waiting for the first pictures, reportedly worth as much as $5 million. Pictures have surfaced on news sites, but they’re far away and the baby’s face is covered up so they surely can’t be worth that much. She could be carrying a baked ham in that shawl for all we know.

Nicole called a breakfast radio show this morning to speak about their visit. Try and imagine her positively flirting with the hosts, and you can listen to the full audio here.

“She looks like Keith. I think she does,” Kidman told the Kyle and Jackie O breakfast radio show on 2Day FM.

“She’s got a little bit of hair, it’s a bit of a reddish tint.”

Urban said being a new dad was an “awesome” feeling that only other dads could understand.

“Anybody out there who’s got kids (knows) it’s just a certain kind of feeling that you can only experience when you do it,” he said.

“She’s just awesome … cute little thing.

“I’m not looking forward to having to go on tour and having to leave.”

Nicole says her mother Janelle, who is a nurse and midwife, helped deliver the baby – all that speculation that her father, a psychologist, was going to deliver the baby when her mother is actually a midwife! She also says the birth was surprisingly easy, and strongly implies that it was a natural birth and not a c-section.

Nicole made the comments about her baby during an interview with breakfast radio, and she and husband Keith Urban asked that paprazzi please not scare their baby when taking photos.

“Keith and I are both appealing to the press and stuff just to give us a little space so we can walk around Sydney and show the baby our town,” Kidman said.

“She’s tiny. She’s like a doll, she’s like a little, little thing.

“Just (don’t photograph) right in her face or in our faces because it’s scary for her.”

Urban said he understood the media interest, but that people had to think about the effect it could have on their little girl.

“I get it. I get the interest there is,” he said.

“But at the same time it’s our little girl.

“Sometimes when people come right up in your face and you think: ‘Good God, would you do that to anybody else’s child?’ That’s all.”

Sydney Morning Herald

In the audio Nicole doesn’t say ‘She’s like a doll’, as is quoted above but actually says ‘She’s not a doll’.

The couple used decoy cars to get to their Darling Point home –I’m not sure why Nicole just doesn’t let them get the money shot, since I think they would back off significantly after that happened. Perhaps because it was dark and she was worried about camera flashes? I have a theory that the baby is just not that cute yet. Sometimes those ginger babies look a bit odd at first, but they grow up so pretty after a few weeks. I guess even celebrities are nervous about displaying their offspring for the world to judge.

Keith Urban confirms they will not be selling the baby pictures. He also told the radio show that ‘We’re stoked, she’s awesome.’ Nicole adds that Sunday Rose is feeding every three hours, which probably means that Nicole is breastfeeding as formula fed babies tend to eat less often.

Nicole and Keith are in Australia to visit her father and Keith’s parents who haven’t met Sunday Rose, although Keith was born in New Zealand, I think most of his family live in Australia now. Nicole will be finishing off her film Australia at a Sydney Studio location.

Nicole Kidman gave birth three weeks ago, and now it’s time to go back to work. For a few days, anyway.

Kidman will head back to the set in a couple of weeks to re-shoot scenes for the epic film Australia, directed by Baz Luhrmann, her co-star Hugh Jackman told Access Hollywood at Comic-Con 2008 in San Diego.

Jackman said he was happy for Kidman and award-winning country singer husband Keith Urban on their baby news, but filming was tough for the actor during her pregnancy.

“I am beyond happy for her. I mean she is an amazing woman. She’s been a great friend of ours for a long time,” Jackman said. “To have this moment is just thrilling. It wasn’t always thrilling for her while we were shooting in Australia, let me tell you!”

Sydney Morning Herald

I think it is a shame that she’ll be heading back to work so quickly, but it is only to wrap up her last project. Australia is going to be a huge film, set in the North of the continent during the Darwin bombings by the Japanese during World War II, which are called ‘Australia’s Pearl Harbour’ because both attacks were unexpected. A lot of the facts from this attack were censored until recently so Baz is going to address those issues, focusing on the indigenous Aboriginal population who were not counted as citizens during the war.

————potential spoilers for Australia film————

Here’s a synopsis of the film from the official website. I think it gives too much away, so skip it if you don’t like spoilers.

Australia is the story of Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman), an English, aristocratic woman who leaves England to follow her husband to Australia. He is in Australia with the intention of selling his cattle station the size of Belgium. However, Lady Ashley believes he is having an affair and travels out there to confront him. The property is in the north of Australia, and she embarks on an African Queen type journey, accompanied by a rough, hewn cattle drover (Hugh Jackman). Ultimately, Lady Ashley finds herself inheriting the cattle station and, in order to save it, she and the drover must undertake an epic cattle drive to Darwin. In the course of that journey, she falls in love with the drover, and the Australian landscape, and realises that her life is not over, and there’s always a new life to be had. The title Australia is intended to sum up the story of her life – her journey, the landscape, and the people she meets – all of which transform her life forever.

We’ve seen super skinny Nicole out without her baby but we still haven’t seen Sunday Rose yet, although the gossip mags call her ‘beautiful’. I thought she might release a picture of the baby the same way she did of her wedding but none yet. The Australian media have dubbed the baby ‘Sunday Roast’ because of the local tradition of having a hot roast after church. I think that is cute, but I’m not sure that is what Nicole and Keith had in mind when naming their daughter.

Nicole has two films scheduled for next year, including Need where she works with friend Naomi Watts. There are also some reports in the British tabloids she’ll be moving to Los Angeles to be closer to her teenage children.

Picture note by Celebitchy: Nicole Kidman is shown on 7/21/08 going to yoga class. Credit: Fame

We have long proclaimed that the amount of money celebrities are being paid for photos of their new babies is absolutely ridiculous. Many of them are supposedly competitive with one another, and get angry with other celebs get more money. Which is just disgusting. Not surprisingly, those same celebs are the ones that never mention donating the enormous sums – leaving us to believe that they probably pocket several million dollars.

Luckily, Nicole Kidman has more class than that. She and husband Keith Urban have chosen not to sell photos of their first biological child, Sunday Rose Kidman Urban, born last week. The couple hasn’t yet decided if they’ll release photos to the press, but if they do it’ll be free of charge.

Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban have rejected deals worth millions of dollars for first pictures of their newborn daughter Sunday.

The star couple have yet to decide whether to release a photograph officially but, if they do, it will be free, a source close to them said.

“They don’t think it’s appropriate to make deals. They are still deciding how they feel about – if and when they will release a photo at all. But they realise there is enormous interest from the public and they are grateful and appreciative of that,” the source said.

“… Nicole and Keith have been enjoying their first few days at home with the baby – Nicole is thinking about things like breastfeeding right now.”

[From the Sydney Morning Herald]

Good for her. I thought the way Jennifer Lopez and Christina Aguilera bartered over the price of their baby photos was really disgusting. And although Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie will likely end up with the most exorbitant price ever, it’s widely assumed that they will donate the entire amount. I think either donating the fee or doing it for free is the only way for celebs to debut their babies with class.

Many celebs that have gone the free route have simply not gone out of their way to make a big deal out of their new baby’s photos – and let the paparazzi get a few snaps. The idea of profiting off new babies is absolutely abhorrent, so let’s applaud the celebs who still have some class.

Nicole Kidman on 5/19/08. Credit: WENN
Nicole Kidman revealed in an interview last year that she had a miscarriage right around the time that Tom Cruise filed for divorce in 2001. She said that she also suffered an ectopic pregnancy early in their marriage in 1990 and that “It was incredibly traumatic for me.” Kidman and Cruise adopted Isabella, now 15, and Connor, 13, after her first failed pregnancy.

Both Kidman, 41, and Cruise, 46, have found new partners and have biological children with them. Cruise has daughter Suri, 3, with his third wife Katie Holmes, 29, and Kidman just had her first baby with country singer and second husband, Keith Urban, 40.

Sunday Rose Kidman Urban was born Monday morning in Nicole and Keith’s hometown of Nashville, Tennessee. As a congratulatory gesture Cruise sent Kidman enough flowers to fill a whole room:

Tom Cruise sent his ex-wife and new mommy Nicole Kidman a “room full of flowers.”

Kidman and husband Keith Urban welcomed their first child, Sunday Rose Kidman Urban on July 7.

“She has had hundreds of bouquets of flowers from well-wishers,” ” a source told the UK’s Daily Mirror, noting that “Tom was one of the first people to get in touch and he sent her enough flowers to fill a room.”

[From The NY Daily News]

The originating paper is the Daily Mirror, so this could be completely made up. It does sound like something Cruise would do and it’s a nice gesture. Katie Holmes is also said to have sent Nicole a gift. She supposedly had a high end baby gift basket made up and sent to Nicole from Neiman Marcus ahead of the birth.

You can’t help but think that Nicole would rather Tom and Katie send over her children Isabella and Connor to meet their new baby sister. By most accounts the teens are not allowed to see much of their mother Nicole, who doesn’t follow their Scientology belief system or lifestyle. You hardly ever see the children photographed with Nicole and she has spoken longingly about them in interviews. When Oprah asked Tom Cruise on that massive special about him if Kidman got to see her kids, Cruise looked uncomfortable and didn’t directly answer the question. He just said “We share custody whenever. Whenever. That’s what it is.”

Whenever is just about never for Kidman. But she has a new baby of her own now, and a bunch of flowers that are going to get thrown out in less than a week.

Some of you have expressed skepticism about the name “Sunday” for a girl. Although it’s a bit unconventional, I think it’s a lovely and perfectly acceptable name. There are a couple of stories speculating why Nicole and Keith picked the name Sunday Rose Kidman Urban for their baby daughter, born yesterday. US Weekly spoke with a baby name expert, and MSNBC’s The Scoop has some insider information about their possible inspirations for the name:

The Scoop: Keith had a song named “Sunday,” and it has the dual meaning of church day for Christians, a subtle dig at Nicole’s bad experience with Scientology:

What was the couple thinking? One Kidman source said that before the birth, Urban penned a song titled “Sunday” about his little miracle-to-be. “(Urban and Kidman) knew the sex of the baby beforehand, and once Keith wrote the song, they thought it was the perfect name for their baby,” said the Kidman source. “They really didn’t know she’d almost be born on Sunday.”

Another source said the name is her last jab at Scientology. “Nicole is a Catholic, and Sunday was an important religious day for her until she was involved in Scientology,” said the source. “She’s still bitter about her experience with Scientology and the fact her baby’s name could be perceived as one last jab doesn’t exactly upset her.”

[From MSNBC's The Scoop]

US Weekly: African tribes used to name babies by the day of the week, and Nicole and Keith had a vacation in the “Witsundays” island chain near her hometown

“Sunday is one of the next generation of word names,” explains Satran. “But it also harkens back to the ancient tradition of day-naming as practiced by many African tribes and originally brought to America by the early slaves.”

Other famous day names? Actress Tuesday Weld, the character Wednesday Addams and Robinson Crusoe’s Friday.

“Some modern parents like Sunday because of its spiritual element, which connects to such other starbaby names as Angelina and Brad’s son Pax and pop names like Nevaeh,” Satran adds.

Sunday emulates Suri because both “unusual first names begin with Su and have two syllables,” says Satran.

The name also represents Whitsundays, an island chain off the coast of Queensland, Australia – where Kidman and Urban celebrated her 40th birthday – and it is a day of prayer in Kidman’s Catholic religion.

Satran says Rose is the “starbaby middle name of the decade.”

[From US Weekly]

And commenter “Rio” mentioned one meaning for “Sunday” that both articles missed, the saying “Sunday’s child is full of grace” from the children’s nursery rhyme. Being born on a Monday and with such attractive parents, Sunday should also be “fair of face,” as the song goes.

As far as celebrity baby names go, this is a pretty good choice when pitted against Sunday’s small peers and some of their eccentric names. We’ll have to see what Matthew McConaughey and his girlfriend name their newborn son, born on the same day as Sunday. I have a feeling it will have a spiritual meaning, and hopefully Camila will make sure it’s not too stigmatizing a name for the little one.

Update: People Magazine reports that Nicole’s father suggested the name after an artist’s muse he read about named “Sunday Reed”. Nicole and Keith visited an exhibition by Reed’s late partner, one of Australia’s leading modern artists, earlier this year:

The beautiful baby girl, who was born on July 7 in Nashville to parents Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban, is named after early 20th-century artist’s muse Sunday Reed, PEOPLE has confirmed. Her middle name, Rose, is a nod to Urban’s late grandmother Rose.

“I have read a bit about Sunday Reed and her husband John – she was a key mover and shaker in the arts around the beginning of the century,” Kidman’s father Antony told Australian newspaper The Daily Telegraph. “The name Sunday struck me as being a nice name for a woman, so my wife and I mentioned it.”

The paper reports that in January, Kidman and Urban visited an exhibition by artist Sidney Nolan, who had a longtime relationship with Reed who became his muse.

[From People.com]

Some celebrities seem pregnant forever, some try to hide their pregnancy as long as possible and keep their due date is a mystery, and others don’t seem pregnant at all despite all their efforts to let us know. Nicole Kidman, whose mother hinted to the Australian press that she was due in July, gave birth to a baby girl in Nashville this morning. Nicole didn’t seem to show much and I would have guessed she had at least a month or two more to go.

There are no other details from People.com, except an insider quote that Nicole’s “never been happier and healthier.”

Over the weekend Nicole’s husband, Keith Urban, told concertgoers in Nashville that he wanted to dedicate his song “Better Half” to his “very, very, very, very, VERY pregnant wife.”

Congratulations to Nicole and Keith and we hope mother and baby are doing well. These two seem like the type to pose for photos with their newborn and I bet we’ll be seeing that spread in a month or two.

Update: People has provided more details in their story. The baby is called Sunday Rose Kidman Urban and weighed a healthy 6 lbs., 7.5 oz. Nicole’s spokesperson said “Husband Keith was by Nicole’s side, and mother and baby are very well.”

Nicole Kidman is one lucky woman. Not only did she somehow manage to gestate without ever having a belly that indicated anything more severe than a little bloating, but she’ll probably come out of the whole thing with nary a stretch mark. And if her labor is as seemingly low-key as tiny as her pregnancy, she’ll pop the kid out in under half an hour. And for all that, she’ll get quite the “Thanks for having my baby” present from husband Keith Urban: a $73,000 Cartier ring.

With Nicole Kidman due to give birth in early July, Keith Urban has purchased a surprise present to give to his wife in the delivery room — a $73,000 Cartier Trinity ring! “It’s three rings intertwined, so it’s very symbolic,” the insider says of the popular design, which is set with multi-colored pavé diamonds and is meant to represent the three stages of a relationship: yellow gold for friendship, rose gold for love and white gold for fidelity.

“It’s three turned into one and that’s how it will be with Keith, Nicole and the new baby,” notes the insider. Cameron Diaz owns the same ring, as does Katie Holmes, who received hers for Mother’s Day. The Trinity ring was created by Cartier in 1924 and is still one of its most recognized designs today.

[From In Touch]

It’s a slightly odd choice given that Nicole’s ex-husband’s new wife has the same ring – but I’m sure she’s not complaining. It really is a lovely piece of jewelry. I made the mistake of looking at it on Cartier’s website – that can really get distracting. I would definitely be willing to have just about anyone’s child for that. Joking. Mostly.

Nicole is expected to give birth anytime. She hasn’t been specific about a date, other than that it’s in early July. Though if I were her, I’d put a rush on it. Jewelry is totally worth it.

Here are Nicole and Keith at the Academy Of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas on May 18th. These are the only photos I could find of Nicole where she actually looks pregnant. Images thanks to PR Photos.

Nicole Kidman is allegedly due to give birth in July, I say allegedly because she still doesn’t have a very large baby belly. Although she is quite tall, so maybe that has something to do with it, or perhaps she’s just got abs of steel.

At any rate, details of her birth plan are starting to leak out, and Nic is planning on playing soothing music during her labor.

The 41-year-old actress, who married country singer Keith Urban in 2006, has naturally included some of her husband’s songs. But top of her labour list are the soothing strains of Irish flautist Sir James Galway.

A source said: ‘Nicole has been putting together CDs of music to listen to during labour. She has always loved James Galway, particularly his classical albums.

‘Whenever you go to her house, she has Galway on. There is one Prokofiev sonata that is her favourite.’

Sir James, 68, is considered the finest flautist of his generation. Knighted in 2001, he has recorded more than 60 albums. His most famous hit was the instrumental version of John Denver’s hit Annie’s Song in 1978.

Mail on Sunday

It also seems that the baby will be born in Nashville, despite prior speculation that she would have the baby in Australia. If she is due in July it is getting too late for her to fly, particularly such a long distance, so I guess she’ll be having that baby at her adopted home of Tennessee. The suggestion that she plans to listen to music suggests that Nicole is not too posh to push, and this will be a natural birth.

I’ve always liked Nicole Kidman, and even more now her Ice Queen exterior is defrosting. She even delivered a salad to radio DJ Gerry House who was interviewing Keith Urban this week.

Urban, who was an in-studio guest on the show, was attempting to play down his role in Lamaze classes when Kidman called in and introduced herself as, “This is Keith’s wife!”

She said, “Keith has been doing Lamaze lessons, he is selling himself short. … He has been very good at it.”

Kidman added she was on her way to the radio station to pick her husband up but she was stuck in traffic, prompting cheeky House to serve up his lunch order.

The actress burst into the studio 30 minutes later with the DJ’s salad, prompting the stunned host to insist he’ll never be able to eat it.

He stammered, “I have no intention of eating this. Are you kidding? Lunch delivered by Nicole Kidman? I’m having it bronzed!”

San Francisco Chronicle

Nicole’s new film Australia premieres on November 13, and tourist operators hope this film does for Oz what Lord of the Rings did for New Zealand. The Telegraph newspaper is calling it the ‘Nicole Kidman factor’ but frankly I’d much rather go looking for her co-star Hugh Jackman.

Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban are shown at the Academy of Country Music Awards on 5/18/08, thanks to Splash News.

If you’re the new wife of a guy who unceremoniously dumped his old wife on the eve of their 10th wedding anniversary while she was pregnant with his kid, and that dumping contributed to her miscarriage, what do you do when you find out that the old wife is now pregnant with her new husband’s kid? Well, if you’re Katie Holmes, you send the old wife a pricey baby gift. Because nothing says “Congrats on the baby you’ve always wanted that my husband refused to give you” quite like a high-end present from Neiman Marcus.

Katie Holmes is making nice with mom-to-be Nicole Kidman by giving her baby gifts!

Katie shipped hubby Tom Cruise’s eight-months-pregnant ex-wife a deluxe gift basket filled with onesies, stuffed toys, a baby blanket and more from Neiman Marcus in Beverly Hills, an insider tells Star.

“Katie wanted the best of everything in the basket,” the insider says. “It cost over $2,000.”

As we told you earlier this week, Nicole gave a new interview to Vogue in which she talks about finding love again with hubby Keith Urban, being pregnant with her first biological child and the photo that made her cry.

[From Star]

I don’t know how I’d feel about this if I were Nicole. On one hand, Katie had nothing to do with her split from Tommy Boy. On the other, this is the woman who has pretty much stepped in and become a de facto parent to her adopted children with Cruise–you know, the ones we never see because they’re in some creepy Scientology school. But for all we know, Nicole and Keith Urban and Tom and Katie are all one big happy family who wish each other the best and all see the same plastic surgeon.