What's in a Name

Frequently Asked Question #1:

Q: Where did you get their names?

A: Yes, there is a rhyme and reason to their names. Brickley and Oswell are both maternal family names: Brickley is Jared's grandmother's maiden name, and Oswell is my mother's maiden name - both of these names had no male heirs to carry them on, so the boys each got one in honor of those ancestors.

Magnus is Jared's paternal great great grandfather's first name, and a name that has been used in his Swedish heritage quite a bit. We figured it would be nice for one of them to have a Swedish given name to match our last name. Trajan is a name that Jared just really really likes a lot. And has the potential for really cool nicknames down the road.

Brickley Trajan
Born on the first day of Spring, March 21st, at 7:34pm, weighing 4 lbs 4 oz.

Oswell Magnus
Born the first day of Spring, March 21st at 7:35pm, weighing 4 lbs 2 oz.

Speaking of their size, we were all thrilled that they topped 4 pounds at birth (ultrasounds and doctor estimates were under 3.5 lbs). Still, it's hard to fathom what a 4 pound baby is like until you see one. Everyone who has visited says they are so much smaller in person than you imagine from pictures. Tiffany (Jared's sister) suggested we take pictures of them next to something so you get a sense of how big they really are. I get her point - these pictures look even to me as if I'm holding my hand closer to the camera than the baby is to makes him look small. But no - my hand is resting on the pillow right next to his head. They're really just that little. And, by the way, since babies lose weight at first, they are both in the 3's now. But they'll climb back up over 4 soon enough.