She's been wearing the ring since July, but its continual appearance on Eva Mendes' Instagram site has celebrity watchers thinking that the beautiful green emerald is particularly significant. The colour is surely a nod to the Latin beauty's daughter with Ryan Gosling, who is called Esmeralda, the Spanish word for emerald. It may well be a 'push' present for giving the actor his first child or even an engagement ring.
The couple tend to keep their relationship out of the spotlight. Eva managed never to be photographed looking pregnant, keeping her happy news secret until she was seven months along.
The Hollywood star even denied rumours that she was expecting on Ellen DeGeneres' talk show. Later, she apologised to the chat show hostess, explaining that at that point she hadn't even told her mother.
Their little girl is named after one of the couple's favourite characters in literature, Eva told Ellen.
"We both love the Esmeralda character from the Victor Hugo novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and just think it is a beautiful name," she explained. "Her middle is Amada, which was my grandmother's name. It means 'beloved' in Spanish. We were really excited about naming her."
Eva is currently juggling taking care of their baby, who will be one on 12 September, with her clothes and make up lines.
She says motherhood and all those sleepless nights has made her appreciate her own mother more. "Now I understand so much," she revealed during an interview on Extra. "My mother's never gotten more 'I love you so much mummy' texts, I mean randomly… yeah, I get it now."
