Parenting can be one of the most amazing adventures you will ever go on. But, it can also be terrifying at times. Especially when your twins are born conjoined. While Amanda Arciniega and James Finley were overjoyed with their brand-new twin daughters, the daunting road ahead of them was scary.

After four months, the girls were both ready to be separated. They underwent the extremely risky surgery in January of last year. The Texas family were at Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth. It took more than 50 medical professionals more than 11 hours to separate the girls.

JamieLynn, left, and AmieLynn Finley. Photo by Cook Children’s Health Care System

“Every conjoined twin has a unique anatomy. They’re all different,” said Dr. Jose Iglesias, medical director of pediatric surgery. Their faith, said the Finleys, helped them hold onto hope.

I just stayed faithful through everything, the whole time,” James said.

The girls were both able to go home after three months of recovering at the hospital. Both are healthy now, though AmieLynn faced a few challenges and another surgery during the early months.

“(Amie Lynn’s) heart would go over her windpipe, so her heart is actually on the right side instead of the left,” James said. But now, thanks to the doctors, her heart is working great. Now, both girls just turned one, and have recently had their feeding tubes removed, James said.

“They’re just so pretty and I’m just like ‘How am I gonna deal with this when I get older,’” he laughed. Despite being twins, their proud dad said, they are very different from each other. “Aime is the kind, gentle soul, you can just see it in her eyes,” James said. “And Jamie, she’s my little firecracker,” he said, smiling.

AmieLynn and JamieLynn Finley are now walking and talking and living typical toddler lives. Photo by WFAA

“They don’t sit still anymore,” James said, laughing. “They are busy … they wake up at 6 in the morning and they are ready.” “I just think it’s so crazy because they had just got home not too long ago and now they’re just thriving,” the girls’ mom, Amanda said. The twins, she added, still have a bond. “They always like to touch each other and hold each other’s hands and Jamie likes to give Aimee kisses.”

When they kiss each other, they giggle and their beds are right next to each other, so when one wakes up, she wakes up her sister,” James said.

James said he knows that he and his family are beyond lucky. When they attend the girls’ follow-up appointments at Cook Children’s Medical Center, James said, he knows that he and his family are beyond lucky.

“We were at Cook’s today and I saw somebody with a blue band on and that means they’re in the NICU and I was like, “I’m praying for ya’ll to go home,'” James said. “Everybody that’s in there, they all want to go home and we made it home, with both of them.”

Despite the scary beginning, the parents are just excited for the future and seeing where their girls end up in life. But their dad hopes they will always have each other. “I just hope they stick together, stay close, be sisters,” James said. “I always tell them that.” Watch these brave girls below!

Sources: People | Good Morning America