Merry Christmas!

Here's a sampling of our Christmas cookies this year. Soon to be enjoyed with family. Wherever you are, have a very Merry Christmas this year!!!

Post Nap Hair

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Cute!

So Brett's friend Evan decided to leave him a video message. It is super cute and Brett has enjoyed watching it over and over again. This is my first attempt at mobile blogging, so I haven't figured out how to post the link, but click on the "Oh, The Places We'll Go" link on my sidebar and you should see it. Thanks, Evan for the nice hello! :)

Happy Holidays

So, we've been super busy this holiday season. Between construction on our house, which took a big chunk of time in late November (and it looks great, by the way... we enclosed the loft and made it a third bedroom, all with lots of help from dear ole dad... thanks dad!) and general holiday stuff, December has flown by so far.

Brett has enjoyed the holidays thus far. We decorated the house (along with finishing construction) over Thanksgiving weekend. I showed him how ornaments went on the tree, and he enjoyed "helping" place them (although it was setting them in the branches instead of hanging them, but still super cute!). He even decided that he loved a few ornaments that we put near the bottom of the tree so much that he has continuously taken them off and carried them around the house. These, of course, are all of the non breakable ornaments that he can "play with" anyway.

He also got a small amount of eggnog that weekend in a sippy cup as well, and it was so funny because at first he thought it was just milk and didn't do much with it... but when he picked it up and tasted it, he sucked it down all at once.

We also completed our monster cookie baking weekend this past weekend. We tried some new recipes and had a decent amount of success with all of the different varieties of cookies. Chris came up and between the three of us (while Brett watched Wonderpets) we were baking fools all weekend.

So, really, I just have to wrap presents, but otherwise we are all set for the holidays.

Below is a picture of Brett from our Christmas card this year...

Mommy's Little Helper

Recently, Brett has discovered that he can be a great helper, and it's so darn cute!

Over the summer, he started "helping" as soon as he could walk. When he saw us grab the swiffer or the broom, he was all over it. He'd grab it and "sweep" the floor as best as he could. He even knew to sweep toward the dust pan (smart kid!).

Then, last week he about melted my heart. I was doing the mundane, aka laundry, and he was kind of wandering around, but then he saw that after I folded the clothes I put them in the laundry basket, well HE had to do the same. So, as soon as I turned around from folding a piece of laundry I noticed that like he'd randomly thrown like 5 pieces of unfolded laundry in the basket to help me. Yes, it did create extra work, but it was so sweet!

The best yet happened this past weekend. As we never sold our house, we are converting our loft into a 3rd bedroom with my dad's help (thanks, dad) and so we are rearranging the furniture in our house to accommodate it. So, we moved our t.v. and other furniture downstairs on Saturday, and had to set the room up slightly differently, which meant I had to move the coffee table. I started to pull it, and suddenly I felt a push on the other end. Brett was right there helping me push it in to place. Sooo cute and sooo sweet.

I love him more and more every day.

Brett Watches His Favorite Show

I decided to take some video of B watching WonderPets. He didn't dance for me... that's what I had hoped to catch...but you can see that he likes to give Linny, Tuck and Ming-Ming advice on how to save the animals.

Leave It To Me To Be The One In A Million

I debated back and forth about blogging about this, since it is way personal, but I figured that maybe someone can at least gain some useful knowledge from my post.

So, as I blogged about last month, we are trying to have a sibling for Brett. We haven't been trying too long, and I really have kind of resigned myself to the fact that it probably won't happen anytime in the near future and to try to be patient.

Well, a couple of weeks ago I knew I was close to knowing whether we were pregnant or not. I tested on a Thursday and got a negative, but then I decided to test on Friday to see what the result would be. I woke up shortly after Steve left for work and tested (since it is recommended to test first thing in the morning). Now, I don't bother with the tests that give the pink lines because they can be a bit confusing. I buy the tests that SPELL OUT whether you are pregnant or not. They cost a bit more, but I figure they are about as "for sure" as you can get. So, anyway, after about 30 seconds, I get this result...

I was ecstatic and freaking out at the same time. You know, they say a positive home pregnancy test these days is as good as having your doc confirm it. So, I called Steve immediately and texted my BFF. I was so not expecting this. I then dropped B off at my parents so I could go to work, and I told them too. (I mean, how can I NOT share this news with my closest friends and family).

Then after work we told Steve's parents and our siblings. So exciting, we were going to be parents again! I was already picking out names in my head and calculating the due date and all. I called my doctor to schedule an appointment and got my prescription called in for my prenatals. Yay, Yay! I was in pregnancyland bliss.

But then Saturday night I started spotting. Okay, I know this can happen, right? It's not uncommon. I watched it stay about the same until Sunday night when it was much more than spotting. I freaked out. I mean, what? I was scared to death. So, the next morning with a huge knot in my stomach I called the doctor. I knew at this point I couldn't continue to carry a baby with the way things were progressing. I was certain I was having a miscarriage. Suddenly, my hopes and dreams of this baby were dashed and I was mourning the loss of this little one. I went to my doctor in a daze and had them do a blood draw. It was horrible and so sad. I was all by myself, feeling like I was having a miscarriage, NOT a good combination. Thankfully, my friend Cathy caught on that something was awry with me and was so wonderful to meet me with lunch and hugs and friendship. Just what I needed. I didn't need to hear "if it sticks, it sticks, if it doesn't it doesn't", I needed someone with a sympathetic ear, and Cathy was THAT person. For that I am so grateful. My BFF was there for me too with her sympathetic ear too, and I was happy for that as well, but the difference is that she lives 300 miles away!

Anyway, I was told that I would have an answer Tuesday. I had to wait, but I knew that the answer would not be good. I knew I'd lost this baby for sure. So, I had a knot in my stomach all Tuesday morning until I got the call from my doctor. What she said made me take a step back and say "what". Apparently I had gotten a FALSE POSITIVE, as they found no trace of pregnancy hormones in my blood to begin with. Are you kidding me???? Reference the picture above. Seriously??? 1. I didn't think that could happen, and 2. I took the easiest test you could read. My immediate reaction was thankfulness, that I hadn't lost a baby at all. I was so glad that there wasn't anything there to begin with. But then my next reaction was of embarrassment.

Embarrassment because I had told like 10 people and I had to tell them that I was just plain wrong. It was like I was stupid for even thinking I was pregnant when in fact a pregnancy never existed. Embarrassment that my friends had spent time and money helping me through this, and it was all a sham. Back in college, there was a girl who told everyone she had cancer and got everyone's sympathy and then we all found out she lied. For a day or two I kind of felt like her. Not a good feeling, especially since everyone was so angry at her when the truth was uncovered.

So, anyway, it's been a week or so and I finally feel a little better and have new perspective on things, but let this be a lesson to you, take like 3 positive pregnancy tests before you call your doctor and tell your friends because I am living, breathing, walking proof that FALSE POSITIVES do in fact happen to people!

About as Unfestive of a Halloween as You Can Have

I came into Halloween this year with hopes that Brett would appreciate the holiday and have fun dressing up and everything. Um, not so much. He decided pretty much immediately that he wanted nothing to do with his costume and then we knew we were in trouble.

Tina had loaned Brett her son Evan's costume from last year, an adorable lion (and I am pretty sure Tina has pics of it from her blog from last Halloween). It was a 12-24 month costume and for the most part, fit pretty well. Well, from what I could tell. We put it on him for the first time last Sunday (the Sunday BEFORE Halloween) as we were preparing to go to ZooBoo at the IndyZoo. It was a nice day and we thought he'd enjoy it. Umm... not so much. He pretty much decided instantly that he hated it and cried and screamed. I wasn't feeling too great anyway, so we said icksnay on the trip.

Well, the following Thursday, the 29th I had a playdate with my friend Andrea, and we decided to go to ZooBoo together. Her girls had been already and loved it. Perfect. I tried to put the costume back on Brett. The instant he saw it, he started screaming. I couldn't even get it mostly on him and try to console him with his favorite show ever, WonderPets. It was over. So, we went sans costume, but had a pretty fun time.

For whatever reason, I didn't get any good pics of the actual event, or Andrea or her girls or whatever... yeah I was really on it huh? But I did snap a couple of cute shots of B riding the train. And, I learned a cute term for mother's attacking their kiddos with cameras "momeratzi". Cute!




So, flash forward to Saturday. I managed to pick up a pumpkin for B on Friday night (yeah, we didn't even do the pumpkin patch this year). We had hopes that Brett would at least enjoy watching us carve the pumpkin, even if he didn't want to wear his costume. So, Steve started carving the pumpkin Saturday afternoon and Brett started having a meltdown. Not only did he not want to watch, he wanted to play outside. So, B and I went outside and played while Steve carved the pumpkin. Great family fun!!!

But, Brett was at least interested in the finished product..
And decided to give it a little kiss on the mouth..

To wrap up our totally unfestive day, since he wasn't going to go trick or treating (we figured he was still too young to get it) and he wasn't going to wear his costume to save his life, we went out to eat. But, when we came home, Steve lit the pumpkin, and Brett was at least interested in that. I gave him a piece of candy and it was pretty much time for bed. What a great and memorable Halloween :). Next year can only be better (I hope!)

18 Month Checkup

My obligatory post to update y'all with Brett's latest stats:

Height - 34 1/2 inches (94th percentile)

Weight - 24 lbs 14 oz (35th percentile)

Head - don't recall measurement, but it put him in the 39th percentile

The height is no surprise. He's always registered on the upper end, and I think he just went through a growth spurt.

His weight on the other hand is crazy. This is BIG for Brett, however, he was weighed with his jacket and shoes on, he had a wet diaper, and he'd just eaten lunch. Usually he's around 10 - 20% in this category, so I wonder if none of the other variables were present, how different the number would be.

He keeps developing by leaps and bounds every day. He now likes to "sit", and put his "sock" on his "foot". I'd say he's got about 20 solid words in his vocabulary.

Everyday brings something new!

Baby Fever

So I have to admit, baby fever has been sneaking up on me slowly but surely. When I was certain that I wouldn't want to endure another painful 9 month pregnancy and birth, well that "pregnancy amnesia" must have done it's job because I think I want a second one!

This is all crazy in a way. Brett is becoming more and more independent every day. He's learning how to use a fork and a spoon and can pretty much feed himself. He also can walk down stairs pretty well (although I still give him assistance, especially after he took a tumble down the stairs 2 weekends ago), and his vocabulary is expanding by leaps and bounds every day. My friend Amy told me that her little Zoey started saying all kinds of words at 18 months, and lo and behold, tomorrow Brett turns 18 months old.

Heck, (and I don't want to jinx myself by saying this, but here it goes), Brett normally sleeps from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. He sleeps WELL and therefore so do Steve and I. In fact, I feel spoiled that we sleep like we do, knowing the wake times of our other friends kiddos.

So, basically Brett is A WHOLE LOT EASIER than he was a year ago. I love watching him grow and I feel like the more interactive his is, the more fun he is and the more I love him :).

With this in mind, I still want another one???? Yep, it's true. I do.

Here's what makes me nervous though - many of my friends (including some of you blog readers) have been dealing with infertility issues. Some have been trying for months to get pregnant to no avail, others are on fertility drugs because they were tired of trying for months with no success, and some have had to deal with the saddest thing I can imagine - miscarriage. And, all of these "girls" are roughly my age... early 30's. In fact, I read that a woman my age only has a 10%-15% change of conceiving in any one month, with most able to get pregnant within 8-10 months. That's a LONG time. Kind of funny when you think about how everyone seemed to get "knocked up" so easily in their early 20's. Makes me worried that maybe my selfishness to wait to have kiddos until we were ready (aka - settled with well paying jobs, and a house and taken our fun vacations together) may come back to haunt me in the end.

Well, here's to hoping I CAN have another one. It only took us 3 months to get pregnant with Brett (but I was a couple years younger), so I am hopeful, but cautiously nervous.

Brett Loves Cell Phones

Okay, so I haven't uploaded any pics of B in awhile, so here are the latest. We went to Unos on Tuesday for dinner because we had a house showing. I had my new blackberry with me so I decided to try it out. I can't get over how big he has gotten!


Anyway, in true "Brett loves technology" fashion, he stole Steve's cell phone and decided to make a call... (a side note, last week he picked up my cell phone, put it to his ear and said "Hi Dada. Buh bye." I think he always assumes I talk to Steve every time I make a call.)

Hey dad, I have some important calls to make, so I need to borrow your phone for a minute.

Hmmm... who to call first? So many people I need to catch up with....

Hello? Yes, I would like to speak with President Obama. Can you get him on the phone stat? I don't have much time to talk, you know time is money and all....

White Boy Dance

We took this video this morning. Brett has two ways he "dances". The first way is shown below... the second way involves him running around in a circle. Lord help my child... I am afraid he may have no rhythm. But at least he's so frickin' cute!

Some Sort of Record

I went the whole month of September without a post. That's gotta be some sort of record right?

Well, Brett's been developing his vocabulary over the course of the month.

Here are a few of his "latest" words...

"Stuck" - pretty much applies to Brett being in a location where he does not want to be (aka - when he is done eating he is "stuck" in his booster seat. He is also "stuck" when he's in a room with the door closed and when he's on your lap and he wants to get free).

"Uh-oh" - We usually hear this when he's dropped something.

"Buh-bye" - Believe it or not, he'd never really said "hi" or "bye" before, but now it's always "buh-bye" when we are saying goodbye to people.

"Back" - When he wants us to help him put something back. Likewise, we can ask him to put something "back" and he will do as we ask (well, usually).

"Book" - We get asked for a book numerous times a day. It's not uncommon for me, on one of my at home days to read through his entire book collection.

"Eee eye eee eye" - When we are singing Old McDonald

He also can pick out the appropriate animal (when he's focused) from his Old McDonald puzzle when you ask him to.

I know he's said more, but I've been a bad blogger and can't recall off the top of my head.

The only other "big" Brett thing is that he now has a favorite t.v. show. I'd never been big on letting him watch t.v., but recently I've been turning on Noggin (aka - Nick Jr.) for short incriments lately and when the Wonder Pets come on, he is all ears. I need to take a video of him watching Wonder Pets. He giggles and laughs at them and tries to "sing along" as best he can to their songs and talks to them. He'll also "dance" (as in running in a circle - I'm afraid this poor white kid will have no rythm) when they sing their songs.

Okay, I PROMISE I'll try to add pics and more updates this month. I'm already ahead of my September postings!

Fun With Words

Remember how I said last month that I was a little worried about Brett's verbal abilities?

Needless to say, I am not worried in the least anymore. His vocabulary has seemingly exploded within the past month (well, exploded for a 16 month old anyway).

He'd had "mama" "dada" and "hot" down, but I hadn't really felt he had a firm grasp of any other words per se. Now I can't keep track of them. Here's the latest...

"Ahh - pen"- this means "open", as in containers holding the item which Brett wants removed. It also applies to doors. And on that note...

"Sigh" - Short for "side" or "outside". When Brett wants to go outside, he walks to a door and holds the handle and says "sigh".

"Ba ba" - This means "ball". Pretty self explanitory, and Steve thinks he said "fa ball" for football (I say wishful thinking on his part :))

"Woo woo" - What Brett says when you ask him what sound a doggie makes.

"Bock" - Not quite sure what this means, but he seems to say it quite often. I thought for a minute it meant "milk", but it seems to apply to much more than that.

"Shash" - or some variation of... this is when he is talking to our dog Sasha.

"Dee dee" when he's talking about our dog, Sydney

"Gock" - this is the word for "dog"

"Yuck" - or kind of an "ick" sound.. means yucky. Usually when talking about trash.

"Dock" - sock

And, the most disturbing/funny thing he has started to say as of late is "uck", with empahsis on the "k". He will put a number of vowels in front of it, and lately his favorite one is "f". He's been dropping f-bombs all over the place within the past couple of days. I think he's just experimenting with different sounds, but I've had to bite my tounge to keep from laughing and encouraging him. It's all too funny. My greatest fear is for him to scream it out when we are in a public place.

But beyond what he can say, Brett has also been responding to questions. If I ask him to get me my phone, a book, a ball or even a doggie (he rooted around for a stuffed animal) he will get that for me. My dad even told him that "they were going outside and were going to ride the golf cart" (a side note: Brett LOVES riding on the golf cart at my parents house)... so Brett walked all the way out to the barn and found the golf cart. And, he's getting easier to understand when he wants something (well, not perfect, but better anyway). We didn't make it too far with the baby sign language thing, but he'll let us know when he wants his milk by standing in front of the refrigerator and holding the handle, and he even let my mom know when he had a wet diaper by rooting around in the diaper bag, pulling a clean one out and handing it to her.

Pretty smart kid if I do say so myself!!! :)

State Fair Day

One other event that happened this month was our trip to the state fair. As we did not go last year (Brett was like 4 months old and we didn't think he'd get too much out of it), this was Brett's first trip. We decided to go on a weekday to avoid most of the crowds, but it was still incredibly hot. Well, Steve may disagree, but I've been feeling not so well lately, and I'm easily overheated.

We enjoyed all of the fair food. I had a ribeye sandwich, a milkshake, and Steve and I split some of the amazing Wisconsin Fried Cheese. Steve also had a turkey leg. I had intended to get my divine deep fried Snickers, but it was so incredibly hot, I couldn't image anything else fried, so that's where the milkshake came in.

The midway wasn't a stop for us this year as Brett was a little small to ride the rides, but we did make a lap around the fair without riding the tractor. Along the way we stopped in the DNR building, the old timey barn, the butterfly garden, and all of the other touristy things.

We also stopped in many of the buildings (including the agriculture building where Brett saw the huge pumpkins) and the animal barns where Brett got to hang with the animals. He really got on pretty well with one of the horses in the horse barn, and it would have presented a good photo op, but leave it to me to forget to take a pic of the moment.

Anyway, here are a few photos of cuteness of the day..

My Buddy and Me

I'm trying to catch up here (like I usually am doing when I write a blog these days!).

So, anyway, Tina and Evan came down a couple of weeks ago. She was still on summer break (lucky teacher!), so they planned to come during my 2 days off one week to check out the Indy Zoo. For the time Tina and I have spent together this summer, our boys really hadn't seen each other since Brett was still toddling/crawling, and that was over the spring. We were excited to see how they'd interact.

Well, they did great. They seemed to have fun at all of the animal exhibits and decided to run all over the place (as boys will do). They checked out all of the big animals (giraffes, lions - which we heard roaring, a pretty cool experience, elephants, etc.) and we even took time to see the dolphin show. Overall, it was a pretty fun day and they were both so exhausted at the end of the trip, they conked right out when they got in the car.

Hanging with the giraffes

Hey, Evan, wait for me!

So, whaddaya think of these rhinos? Pretty cool, huh?

Mom, mom... let's go! There's so much more to see and do!

Passed out on the way home... note the chicken finger between the two boys on the seat. Brett was eating it on the way home and was so tired it fell out of his hand!

What's Up with What's Going Down

The month of August snuck by. I am just now realizing that I haven't posted anything since the beginning of the month. Oh well, I am a slacker I suppose.

Anyway, we've kept pretty busy since we've been back from vacation. Tina and Evan came down and we all went to the zoo (I HOPE to post the pics on here one day). Steve took a day off and we all went to the State Fair (again, more pics on the camera which have NOT been downloaded). But, the biggest thing is that Steve accepted a NEW JOB! We are pretty excited for him. I know I am not going to get this right at all, but I know that he will be an assistant director in the office of academic assessment and institutional research (or the equivalent 0f) at IUPUI. Pretty stoked. He starts mid- September, and we are hoping that this will help make up for the fact that I went from full time to part time. It won't be the same as our two full time incomes together, but we are bridging the gap.

The house is still on the market. We've had less traffic lately, and for that I am grateful. I've kind of resigned myself to not selling. Our listing expires in October and we will then pull it and probably close off the loft to make a third bedroom. While in an ideal world, we'd be able to sell and move this year, I don't think it's going to happen.

But, I guess the real reason I haven't blogged in awhile is that I've been feeling downright CRUMMY. Yep, I've seriously felt like I've been in the throes of first trimester pregnancy (and before you get excited, no I'm NOT pregnant). But I've had that horrible knock you off your feet fatigue and feeling of overheating and exhaustion at a moment's notice. I've even felt concerned driving my car because I've been so incredibly tired, I'm afraid I'll fall asleep at the wheel. Steve and my mom have been trying and trying to convince me to go to the doctor. I resisted because I know they'll not find anything and it will be a waste of time and money.

Well, yesterday I finally went. I had blood drawn, and the doctor (who isn't my usual doc.. I guess they needed to fit me into whoever they had free) gave me the "get outside and exercise" speech. You know what, lady? If I could muster up the energy to get on the treadmill and it would make me feel better, I would have done it in a heartbeat before I came to see you! So, I guess the bloodwork will take a couple of days to process, and I'm pessimistic about the outcome, but yeah. So, that's what's been going on.

Anyway, I'll try to finally download some Brett cuteness here soon.

Summer Vacation: Part 5 - Going To and From

I was worried about this part of the trip.. the traveling to and fro with a 15 month old. He's really on the move and constantly wants to be outside. Yeah. So, we ended up breaking the trip in half, but stopping in Chicago on the way up and down at Steve's parents for the night. That helped. That, and a whole bunch of toys that I brought to keep Brett busy in the backseat.

Luckily, Cheetah helped. I mentioned Cheetah in an earlier post last month. Cheetah is Brett's new BFF. He LOVES Cheetah. Cheetah sleeps with Brett at night and was a good companion in the car.

Summer Vacation: Part 4 - Going Fishing

So, as I mentioned in an earlier post, I did not participate in the "fishing" part of the trip... I left that to the guys. I don't have a lot of input about the fishing experience in Crivitz this year... but I do know that near the end of the trip, they managed to catch a couple of pretty nice sized fish. Below is a northern pike that Steve and his brother Chris caught. It was almost as tall as Brett!






We didn't take Brett on the fishing boats, just the pontoon this year. But, I have a feeling that in a couple of years we'll see him with his own little fishing pole!

Summer Vacation: Part 3 - Going to Church (kinda)

So, we were sorta religious on vacation.

Not far from where Steve's family vacations, there is a building that has been "in process" of being built for several years. It was built as a church and sat vacant for a long time. We think that the congregation may have run out of money. Well, a couple of years ago, someone bought it and turned it into a restaurant with a full bar. We happened upon taco, pizza, wing bar night (NOT kidding)... featuring chips and cake. Pretty funny, but the best part was that the altar area is now the bar... we think that if church were more like this, everyone would go!



In the entrance... this is where you'd normally see greeters. Instead, we decided to enjoy adult beverages..


Entrance to a worship hall (now the banquet part) to your right is where the guestbook and greeters would stand at church

The altar (eh, bar)

Summer Vacation: Part 2 - Going Swimming

Another fun part of our trip (well, maybe "fun" is pushing it a little bit) was introducing Brett to the swimming pool. I went out and bought this $15.00 little floaty thing that you can put your baby/toddler in. It's kinda like a raft to introduce them to the water. Brett did NOT like this at all... so as with a lot of baby items I've purchased, it will go on to wait for future siblings.

The day before I took these pictures, Steve's mom and I introduced Brett to the pool while Steve was fishing. I didn't have my camera. so these were from day 2 of testing the water. Day 1 didn't go so well... Brett, after seeing what it was all about decided that he'd rather walk around the pool and tell us all about it.

Day 2 was similar, but Steve had a bit more success...





I'm hopeful that next summer he'll be less afraid of the water and will want to splash and play like a normal kid :).

Summer Vacation: Part I - Going Boating

Well, we arrived back home yesterday evening from a week long vacation in Crivitz, Wisconsin.

My inability to sleep should prove to give you some good blog reading (I hope... can't promise it will be "good", but at least it will be something!)


Anyway, Steve's family has vacationed in the above-mentioned small town in WI for most of his life. We joined his parents, brothers and grandparents for a week of fishing, rest and relaxation (note that I didn't really participate in #1, but fully got into #2 & #3). I made the mistake of picking up Twilight to read and have now gotten into New Moon. I bet I'll have all 4 books of the series read before the end of the summer!


We spent the first couple of days unwinding, and then Wednesday we rented a pontoon boat. This was Brett's first experience on a boat.


But before we could get on the boat we had to wait for a brief period. This is how my boys spent their time...On the boat... notice my "Pi Phi" hat... I meant to grab my other floppy sun hat, but ended up with this one instead.




I love this pic... he has his Easter chick with him. This may be his 2nd favorite toy behind Cheetah, and I have to laugh because I think that Easter chick kinda looks like Brett. Notice the tuft of blond hair on top of his head!

I can drive the boat myself, daddy!


These last 2 pictures show Brett's sunglasses. It's a miracle I could get a shot of him wearing these... he actually likes his glasses, but he like the taking them on and off part (well, he's more successful with the "taking off" part), so they don't seem to stay on too long...

More to follow.