Matthew's First Trip Around The Sun

Around May of last year, my dad and step-mom announced their pregnancy with my third youngest brother. As of now, I have one older sister and three younger brothers. I was initally so shocked when they delivered the news because this was 7 years after my second younger brother was born and my step mom has had procedures done to where it is not safe to have another baby. Flash forward a year and a half later and my little brother, Matthew, is now one-years-old! We found out about the baby in May while Tara, my step mom, was four months along. She thought it was early menopause and was confused of why her body was doing different things that it hasn't done in 7 years. A pregnancy explained a lot of those implications. He had a due date of late October but he decided to make his presence known on September 9th, 2022.

Matthew has been the sunshine that brightened up our lives ever since his birth. He has brightened up the day of everyone he has encountered and gives a big smile to anyone in sight. I have had a lot of time with Matthew because I am the oldest sibling still living in our house. My sister attends New York University and rarely sees Matthew, which is one of the only implications of having him so late. Because I am always there to care for him, my friends have also created bonds with the baby! This made us all nervous for his one year birthday party.

Last Sunday, we celebrated one year of loving this precious boy who we welcomed into our lives last year. My sister was there and so were my friends! Everyone who loved the baby was there to love and celebrate him! However, preparation was not something to love. My 15-year-old brother and I got to work on cleaning the kitchen and doing all of the groceries for our family while they were out at one of my dad's events. We took time out of our Saturday night to complete all of these tasks. Though they were difficult, we did them with a smile on our face because we knew what the outcome would look like. I am so glad with our work and how it turned out! Baby Matthew deserves so much kisses and love and that party was a great opportunity for everyone to come together to fulfill that!

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