Julia started nursery school recently. She LOVES it so much she'd stay all day if we'd let her! Here are a few pics from the first day of school. Here also is a picture of Marco on his big day at the American Embassy with dad. We had to go register him as a citizen and get his first passport (which he's already used)! He's now legal!

Here are some photos from the past several months! One is from Easter -- pre-Marco; another was taken last April in front of Buckingham Palace; then there is Julia and her baby brother; and finally Julia playing in the toy department at Harrod's! (I'll add more soon! Perhaps I'll learn how to do captions?)

Here are highlights from our first 6 months:

March was cold and rainy! We spent many days indoors but we did go to Oxford with Zia Stephanie and her friend Graeme. Michele and Marcelo came to visit briefly and we toured around London. (The Burrough Market is our favorite!)

April was still cold. Sara Ann came to visit. We spent Easter with the Nelsons who live downstairs. We did a great deal of sight-seeing around London. Sara and Julia also fell off the number 82 bus... literally fell out. Luckily, we were rescued by a few nice men. It was ugly.

May was still cold believe it or not. Nana arrived on May one just in time to help us prepare for another arrival.... Marco Gregory Milani arrived at 16:16 on May 14th, 2006. He was born at St. John and St. Elizabeth's to much fanfare (we could hear the cheering from the Cricket matches at Lord's Cricket as he came into the world). Julia was a bit uncertain about her brother at first but now she loves him to pieces!

June finally saw the arrival of somewhat warmer weather. Greg's aunt Ruth and uncle Norman were here for a brief visit as were Linda Ravano, robbert DeVries and Sebastian.

In July the heat was almost unbearable, believe it or not. It was nice, however, not to have to wear a hat and gloves! We had numerous visitors including Auntie Julie and Uncle Jim (Chenu), the Miyamoto's (Stephanie, Craig, Brittany and Matthew), Nonno & Nonna Milani and Grandma Carter, and Nicole and David. Julia turned 2 on July 13th and Marco turned 2 months on the 14th. Marco has his first train ride when we went to meet auntie Julie and uncle Jim near Oxford for a few days. We stayed at the Burleigh Farm which is a working farm. It was great fun... a little scary driving with auntie Julie but fun nevertheless! Greg and I went to Paris for a quick trip sans kids!

August was a bit slower: We had no visitors (that I can recall)! We spent a great deal of time sightseeing in London, going to the parks and the zoo, going to museums, and getting ready for our September trip!

In September we went to Spain for 10 days. We stayed in two great paradors: aigua blava on the Mediterranean coast and Vic Sau which was a bit more inland. Linda, Robbert and Sebastian visited again as did Zia Stephanie. Julia started school and is LOVING it. (Often we have to bribe her to come home.)

Welcome to our blog. We thought it might be an easy way to keep our friends and family posted on our lives across the pond.

The past six months have been a blur: We've had numerous visitors, taken several trips (large and small) and, lest we forget, welcomed our new bundle of joy, Marco Gregory Milani, to the family on May 14th, 2006. After a few missteps (quite literally as Julia and I fell off the bus in late April) we are acclimating quite well. Eventually we will get used to things like no plugs in the bathroom, the tiny washer and dryer, 5 different detergents, looking the opposite way when crossing the street, navigating the national healthcare system, public transportation, taking my gigantic stroller on public transportation, and heckles by all the locals when they see my "American sized" (i.e. HUGE) jogging stroller.

We know that as time goes on we will get used to all things British. Julia has already adopted terms such as "ready, steady, go," "rubbish bin" for garbage can, "rubbish" for garbage, "swimming costume" for swimsuit, and "plaster" for bandaid. We are sure that she will bring many more terms home from school which she started this year (and loves). Likewise, we are sure that if Marco could talk he too would begin to sound like a little brit!

We will keep you all posted on the fun (ha!) and funny nuances here! Please stay tuned!