Gisele Bundchen speaks all about marriage, babies, and how she and new husband Tom Brady make it work in the latest issue of Vanity Fair Magazine.

On marriage just being a formality:

“I already feel that way,” she told me a few days before the wedding. “We’ve been together over two years; we’ve been living together. My idea of that is you have a partner who’s got your back. When I’m weak, you can be strong; when I’m strong, you can be weak. That’s what I believe marriage is. Loving someone, you want to grow with them, share with them, share the same values, the same feelings about things, the same beliefs.”

On what she loves about Tom Brady:

“He’s very close to his family,” she said. “He’s Catholic. His parents have been married 40 years. He’s got a pure heart. That’s all that matters—he’s got the purest heart. I feel grateful because I have a lot of love in my life. I found the person I’m sharing my life with. I have a good man.”

Before she met Tom she had been single for a year and happy with it:

“I’d been single for a year, and I wasn’t looking for a relationship,” she says. “I’d always been in serious relationships, but you learn a lot about yourself when you’re by yourself, and I was enjoying that process. But you don’t choose.”

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But it was love at first site when she met Tom Brady:

“I knew right way—the first time I saw him,” she says. “We met through a friend. The moment I saw him, he smiled and I was like, That is the most beautiful, charismatic smile I’ve ever seen! We sat and talked for three hours. I had to go home for Christmas, but I didn’t want to leave. You know that feeling of, like, you can’t get enough? From the first day we met, we’ve never spent one day without speaking to each other.”

“I believe in feeling connected. Love is something that grows, that comes from nourishment; it builds. But there is a great feeling that happens, that is telling you, I don’t want to leave this room! Whatever that’s called, that’s what happened.”

She talks about how she felt when she learned Bridget Moynahan was pregnant with her baby:

“It was definitely a surprise for both of us,” Gisele acknowledges with a rueful smile. “In the beginning you’re living this romantic fantasy; you’re thinking, This can’t be true, it’s so good! And then, Whoops—wake-up call!” She rolls her eyes. “We were dating two and a half months when he found out, and it was a very challenging situation. Obviously, in the beginning, it’s not the ideal thing.”

Moynahan’s pregnancy made Gisele think she should back away from the relationship with Tom:

“You question at times—‘Should I stay here? Maybe you should work this out,’” she admits. “But when people break up, it’s for a reason.”

That challenge only strengthened her relationship with Tom:

“I think it was a blessing, because otherwise I don’t think I would have known what he was made of, and he wouldn’t have known what I was made of,” she says. “I wouldn’t have seen the integrity in him—the way he was a good person through all the times. I was like, You have the heart in a good place! It made me feel more in love with him; it made me realize who he was. Our relationship has become so much stronger, and I think I wouldn’t be as certain as I am today if it weren’t for that.”

She loves little John Edward like he’s her own:

“When we are in L.A. we have Johnny 50 percent of the time,” Gisele says. “He’s a little angel—the sweetest, most cuddly, loving baby. I feel blessed to have him in my life.”   “I understand that he has a mom, and I respect that, but to me it’s not like because somebody else delivered him, that’s not my child. I feel it is, 100 percent,” Gisele says. “I want him to have a great relationship with his mom, because that’s important, but I love him the same way as if he were mine. I already feel like he’s my son, from the first day.”

On her own hopes for having a family:

“I would like a big family,” she says. “I love children. When you come from a big family, you see that growing up you’re learning how to share. Your sisters have got your back; you’re not alone in this—‘We all support you!’ Your family provides that; it gives you a sense of safety, and it’s a very grounding feeling. That’s why I feel I can fly away, because I have those roots and they’re so deep. This is what I want to have in my life. This is why you get married—you want to create those roots together; you want to give that to your kids. I would also love to adopt a child from Brazil. When you come from São Paulo, you see five-year-olds sniffing glue on the corner. You think, If you make a difference in the life of one of them, that makes your time on this earth worthwhile. I will have a colorful family, like a rainbow. I have dogs from rescue; they are all my dogs. Children are like little angels—there’s no way you can’t love them.”

To read the entire interview, including her thoughts on Leonardo DiCaprio click here