Mommy's gone to Heaven...

Today is a sad day. Mommy has left us for Heaven after fighting lymphoma for a year and 2 days. Words cannot express the sorrow Daddy and everyone close to Mommy feels. She leaves behind her 2 precious angels, the loves of her life. Daddy may never understand God's reason for taking Mommy away from her 2 Lil' Angels at such a young age. But i know that Mommy wouldn't want this blog to be filled with sadness, her struggle with the disease or the many disappointments she faced over the year. Mommy was always a cheerful, positive and spirited person. She always kept up a smile no matter the adversity.

Daddy had only knew Mommy for 8 short but beautiful years. I know that she wouldn't want us to be sad but rather celebrate her life. Mommy had also reminded daddy to retrieve all the old photos that were saved on an old computer just days before she passed on. She must have wanted all the memories preserved so that the 2 Lil' Angels will always remember the good times. Going thru the photos did bring back a smile and a tear... here are some from the 8 years i've known her...

Dec 2002

Daddy first met Mommy on holiday in the US. We were in Breckenridge Colorado when we first got together. This was when Daddy first held Mommy's hand down the icy path leading to the city square. This was our first picture taken together.

2003

Daddy and Mommy loved to travel. We were in the Gold Coast Australia in July and Korea in December. We also had a pair of rabbits named Mashi (brown male) and Maro (white female) which we kept in an enclosure in the garden. Both of us were working in close proximity at NUS and we had lunch together almost everyday! It was always Dover, Ghim Moh or Holland village market. We loved to eat and enjoyed each others company.

2004

We traveled to Japan in June and Melbourne in December. Then we realized that having a male and female rabbit together wasn't a good idea, as we now had 11 rabbits! But we loved each one of them and the garden had turned into a mini farm! On Christmas day, Daddy surprised Mommy by proposing to her with 99 roses and a ring at the Beaufort Hotel in Sentosa. That was one of the happiest days in Mommy's life, she couldn't contain her excitement and was jumping up and down. She immediately phoned her good friends to tell them of the news.

2005

Besides going on holidays, Mommy also liked staying in hotels. We stayed several times in Conrad Hotel which we liked the service and comfortable bed. In June, we went to Perth and stayed at Uncle Siang's vacation house. Mommy loved the place and its proximity to Perth City and Freemantle, the food in Chinatown and the Australian lifestyle. Here are also several pictures with Nicole Jiejie when we brought her to the Jurong Bird Park. The rest of the year was spent planning for our wedding next April.

2006

Daddy and Mommy got married at our favorite Conrad Hotel on 26 April. During the wedding, Daddy serenaded Mommy with one of her favorite songs The Search is Over by Survivor. Then we went on our Honeymoon to New Zealand! We toured entire south island in 2 weeks. Mommy loved that place, the majestic scenery and especially Queenstown where we went white water rafting and took the shotover jet. It was heaven on earth! We were back in Perth in December again!

2007

Mommy was pregnant and the joy of her life, Caitlyn was born in April. This blog was created soon after to document and share her joy with the rest of the world. Mommy's life now revolved around Caitlyn and she couldn't wait to bring her out to meet her friends. I recall Caitlyn was out of the house in only a week after birth! The rest of the year is well documented in this blog.

2008

One of the happiest years in Mommy's life! We were all off to Boston to accompany Daddy for his studies. We arrived and it was already snowing the next morning and Caitlyn got to experience snow at just 10 months old. Mommy's friendly and easy going personality made her many friends at the apartment block we stayed at. Almost every week, the Mummies brought out the lil' ones out to play or shopping. We also traveled around a lot. We went to Orlando, New York, Niagara Falls and not forgetting our weekend excursions to New Hampshire and Maine for the lobsters and sightseeing. Mommy never wanted to leave and she was ecstatic when Daddy told her he had to stay behind for an additional 2 months because he was slow in his work!

2009

We were back in Singapore and Mommy wasted no time taking the now grown Caitlyn out for activities and classes. There was also Gymboree, Julia Gabriel and Teacher Lavina's class which she had posted so many entries. It was also so hard to find pictures of Mommy because almost every picture taken was of Caitlyn and she did capture and document well the development of her Lil' Angel here. We were on the Royal Caribbean cruise for Christmas and the New year.

2010

We were in Phuket Thailand in the early part of the year and here is a picture of Caitlyn's first elephant ride. Mommy was diagnosed in February and spent the whole year in and out of hospital for treatment. Whenever she was better, she would take the time to update the blog. Caitlyn also visited Mommy regularly in hospital. Baby Evan was born premature in June and this was the first picture taken with him with Mommy while he was in the incubator at the NICU. She always made it a point to go see him the 49 days he was there, even if it meant being wheel chaired over. I know Mommy won't be too happy with Daddy for showing pictures of her bald headed as she never wanted to be remembered that way, but there were so few pictures of her during that time. In October, Mommy was proud to attend Caitlyn's first school performance, she was especially happy seeing the cute tiger outfit and the touching finale song for the concert.

2011

This was our final picture together just 2 days before she passed on. Mommy was always ready to put a smile, especially of it was for her Lil' Angel. On the night before her passing, Mommy was quite ill but still managed to summon all her energy to hold herself up to receive a final good night kiss from Caitlyn. Daddy knows that Mommy never wanted to leave her 2 precious Angels and she was determined to fight on and was hopeful to get better. There was so much to love and live for. Mommy will always be here with us in spirit and in our hearts.

This was a picture Daddy found in one of the folders on Mommy's computer that aptly sums up what Mommy was all about. We will always miss dearly the mother of my 2 Lil' Angels.

First Day CNY...

It's CNY and Lil' Angel and Didi are all dressed in their new year outfits to go an collect Ang Baos! Here Didi since i'm the Jiejie let me give you a Ang Bao... *shake shake*... But Jiejie its only an empty packet?

Here is a cute picture of Didi Evan with Grandaunt Jennifer. She is always so good with children and Didi seems to be enjoying himself...

Here are the 2 Lil Angels back from their visitations all day... and Didi is already getting tired. He's all changed into his pajamas and ready for bed!

Wah Jiejie so big still need Mommy to feed her? And she eats soo....slowly that by the time she finishes i'm already asleep...zzzz

Reunion Dinner...

We're having steamboat dinner for reunion dinner and look at the spread we are having! Grandma had prepared a special menu including her famous Yusheng

Mama is busy mixing the ingredients for the Yusheng and Lil' Angel is so helpful to pass her the ingredients. But wait!! I think she is only eyeing the crackers and waiting for the Lou Hei to be over so she can have them.

Here is a nice picture of the family including Mommy and Evan Didi all taking part in the Lou Hei.

Picture Time...

Here is naughty Lil' Caitlyn putting a plate on Didi's head and asking Mommy to take a picture of them. Now Caitlyn why don't you be the cameraman and take a picture of us instead?

Ok here is one with Mommy and Didi and another with Dada

and another one. I wonder when Didi will be able to take pictures of us?

Playtime with Lil' Cherelle...

Here is my friend and neighbor coming to visit me in my beautiful butterfly bedroom. Notice we are wearing our own favorite color pajamas?

Now girls what are both of you doing so quietly in the room? Drawing? Coloring?

iPhones??!! Texting each other instead of talking? Angry Birds instead of drawing? Cut the Rope instead of coloring? Can both of you do something more like children your age?

How's this Mommy? Striking a cute & cheeky pose?

Gou Gou Serene's Wedding...

Today is a special day, it's Gou Gou Serene's Big Day and Caitlyn is ever so honored that she had been chosen to be the flower girl! This being her first opportunity, Mummy had to make sure that everything was in place, like the ribbon on the back, position of the flower clip and the shoes. Also special thanks for Gou Gou Hsiao Yun for choosing such a pretty dress...fit for an Angel.

Lil' Angel being prep by Mummy before she goes off...

Upon arriving at the hotel, Caitlyn was so eager to meet the bride that she kept asking Daddy where she was. Finally we spotted the bride... and Caitlyn she had to take a picture with the pretty Gou Gou. Don't they both look gorgeous?

I must admit that Caitlyn was pretty spontaneous that night, she was able to pose and smile for photo after photo. Here are several shots of her in the solemnization hall, before most of the guests arrived.

Here is the 5 year old Kor kor (Daddy can't recall name) that was the pageboy. Caitlyn was pretty shy at first and was running all over the place when they were first introduced, but after a while she calmed down and warmed up to take some photos.

Next was the rehearsal for the the solemnization march in...

Then it was the real thing... marching in front of the bride and groom and hand in hand with the pageboy! Omg!...Daddy has this strange feeling that his baby is already getting married??

Marching up to the Justice of Peace... Caitlyn took the wrong turn and had to be directed to the correct side. Oooops...Granduncle Huat was probably telling Caitlyn not to mess up his daughter's wedding! Caitlyn was standing at the table side throughout the solemnization ceremony and looking with awe...at the beauty and grace of Gou Gou Serene and the handsome groom Uncle Laurence.

After the ceremony, it was phototaking time! Caitlyn had become a minor celebrity at the wedding and everyone wanted pictures with the flowergirl. At one point, Grandaunt Jennifer had to even touch up her lip gloss!

Outside the reception area before the dinner, Caitlyn was so excited seeing all her Gou Gou and she was running all over the place again. There was her favorite snack too...potato chips! She had a couple and Daddy was nagging for her to stop and drink water. She was nevertheless enjoying herself there!

Here are more photos (after much coaxing) with her Greatgrand Uncle and Aunty from Thailand and some of her Gou Gou. Caityn has 10 Gou Gous all together!!

During the wedding dinner, Gou Gou Serene serenaded her husband in a Japanese kimono... and Caitlyn was so captivated by her sweet voice..

Here are more candid shots taken by Daddy of his Lil' Angel during the dinner...

and this is Daddy's favorite shot!

Gou Gou Serene and Uncle Laurence, i'd like to thank you for choosing me to be your flowergirl. I'm really honored to have this privilege. I like to wish you a lifetime of happiness and health and more cousins i can play with!

GrandAunty Ngoh & Aunty Michelle visit...

Today we have many visitors to our home, from Hong Kong GrandAunty Ngoh, Gou Gou Melinda and Caroline and Uncle Peter are here. The also brought christmas presents for the 2 Lil' Angels...

Here is Didi being carried by GrandAunty Ngoh, who also brought him up to the sky bridge for a walk.

Later Mummy's friend Aunty Michelle came with Joelle and her Didi (Daddy doesn't know name again) who is about the same age as Didi Evan. However, he looks much bigger. At one point, both boys were crying at the same time, like they were talking in their own language...

Here is pretty Joelle playing with the doll and dress set Aunty Melinda brought from specially from Hong Kong. Caitlyn also shared some of her snacks & drinks with Joelle...

Xmas Morning...

It's Christmas morning...!! All finally after weeks of waiting, Caitlyn can finally open all her presents. As we gather around the Xmas tree, Caitlyn unwraps present after present including those meant for Didi... He doesn't know how to play anyway...so i'll play his toys for him!

Then Caitlyn unwraps...a Baby doll...

That's my baby!! Now i finally have a baby to look after and care for...

Didi looks dejected. Then what about me Jiejie??

Don't worry Didi...i'll still be your Big Jiejie and protect you... Let me give a big wet kiss...*muacks*.

Night before Xmas...

It's the night before Christmas, and we were having the cousins and Aunty Adeline's family over for dinner. We were ordering pizza from Boston Pizza because they had a buy 1 get 2 free self pick up offer! In addition, chef Melvin (aka Uncle Melvin) was cooking some special pork dish and there was bee hoon too!

Over past few weeks, our Christmas tree had accumulated so many gifts for the 2 kids and there wasn't anymore space for presents!

Pictures of the yummy pizza, and crisy pork and bee hoon...droolz...

All the kids were so engrossed watching TV and nobody was paying any attention to Didi... that was because he too was watching and not making any noise. All thanks to Uncle Corny...

It was sooooo.... comfortable for Didi that he was....dozing....dozing....dozing off.....zzzzz.......

Aunty Merilyn then decided to change him into his PJs since he was that tired already. It was a special outfit brought in by Gou Gou that made him look like a tiny elf or Santa's helper. It had a special "My 1st Christmas" hat and nice matching shoes. Only noticed now as Mummy had great eye for detail and photographed those shoes. In Daddy's opinion, Didi looked more like a leprechaun..... Where's the pot of gold you are hiding Didi?

Me & my Blankie...

Look i have my own personalized blankie cum teething toy built in one.

I love my blankie, it's really really special, i like it more than a bowl of jello....

When i hold it close, it feels soooo nice, i love my blankie in the day and night....