Four little feet...

When Doug and I were first married and living in a beachfront condo in Marina del Rey, California, my sister's boys who live in Phoenix came to spend a night with us. The next morning, I awoke to the sound of little feet tapping against the slate floor as they ran from the guest bedroom to the balcony so they could see the ocean.

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The following morning I awoke and began crying..."What's wrong, baby?", Doug asked. I miss Wesley & York, I told him... (Oh, how I longed for the sound of little feet the first thing in the morning...):

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Nine years ago today, my dream came true, when our beautiful twins, Sam & Larissa were born. It was a wild ride for sure...making our way down the snowy mountain from Sky Ranch to the hospital only to find myself in an ambulance moments later on my way to the airport for a Medi-flight to Great Falls and then another ambulance to Benefis Healthcare. Learning upon arrival that our daughter was in fetal distress and being told the twins would need to be born NOW. Born 6 weeks early by C-Section, Larissa weighed in at 4.3 lbs and Sam at 4.7 lbs....tiny, tiny, tiny...

We spent the next 2 weeks, including Christmas, in Great Falls, making trips from our hotel room back & forth to the NICU 3-4 times a day for feedings, diaper changes and snuggle time. Oh, what a happy day it was when we were finally able to take our babies home, breathing monitors and all, on New Years Eve 1999...(remember Y2K???).

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Of course it would take another year or two to hear the sound of little feet tapping against the floor in the morning...and now they are NINE! The last of the single-digit birthdays!

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SAM & LARISSA!!!...my favorite boy and my favorite girl in the whole wide world...I love you beyond words. And no matter what size shoe you wear, I will always cherish your little feet...

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Love, Mom