diff --git a/entity/lib/ops/hydrate.js b/entity/lib/ops/hydrate.js
index 9419709..b7c6176 100644
--- a/entity/lib/ops/hydrate.js
+++ b/entity/lib/ops/hydrate.js
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 var async = require('async');
 var _ = require('lodash');
+var debug = require('debug')('graphiti');
 
 /*
  * hydrate_options.types {Array} - List of types to hydrate
@@ -62,8 +63,13 @@ module.exports = function (entity, hydrate_options, callback) {
       content_ids[c.model_type].push(c.model_id);
 
       // prevent infinite recursion & ensure we only add the fn to ops 1 time.
-      if (!ops[c.model_type] && !(entity.attrs.id === c.model_id && entity.model_type === c.model_type)) {
-        ops[c.model_type] = factory_model_list(app, content_ids, c.model_type, depth);
+      if (!ops[c.model_type] && !(entity.attrs.id === c.model_id && entity.type === c.model_type)) {
+
+        debug("c.model_type is:", c.model_type);
+        debug("entity.type is:", entity.type);
+        debug("entity.attrs.id:", entity.attrs.id);
+
+        ops[c.model_type] = factory_model_list(app, content_ids, c.model_type, depth, types);
       }
     }
   });
@@ -78,7 +84,7 @@ module.exports = function (entity, hydrate_options, callback) {
 };
 
 // generates a function for multi-get in hydrate.
-var factory_model_list = function (app, content_ids, model_type, depth) {
+var factory_model_list = function (app, content_ids, model_type, depth, types) {
 
   var app_plugin = app[model_type] ? app[model_type] : app[model_type + 's'];
 
@@ -97,16 +103,21 @@ var factory_model_list = function (app, content_ids, model_type, depth) {
 
         var ops = _.map(results, function (m) {
 
+          //we only want to recurse active records
           return function (cbh) {
-            if (!m) {
+            debug('m.attrs are:', m.attrs);
+
+            if (!m || !m.attrs.active) {
               return cbh(null, null);
             }
 
             app_plugin.hydrate(m, {
-              depth: depth - 1
+              depth: depth - 1,
+              types: types
             }, cbh);
           };
 
+
         });
 
         return async.parallel(ops, cb);
diff --git a/model/index.js b/model/index.js
index 69fd825..39edd96 100644
--- a/model/index.js
+++ b/model/index.js
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ module.exports = BasePlugin.extend({
 
     // generate the list of properties for this model.
     this.properties = {};
-    
+
     _.each(this.schema.properties, function (spec, name) {
       var ptype = 'text';
 
@@ -208,51 +208,35 @@ module.exports = BasePlugin.extend({
     // NOTE: "this" is the plugin itself.  no need to use the getter/setter here.  Only on the interface exposed to users.
     var db_connection = create_couch_connection(couch_options);
     var self = this;
-
-    if(ensure_db){
-      var setup_ops = [
-        function (cb) {
-          // check if db exists..  create if not.
-          db_connection.db.list(function (err, body) {
-
-            if (err) {
-              err.message = 'db.list(): ' + err.message;
-              cb(err);
-              return;
-            }
-            // body is an array
-            var db = _.find(body, function (db) {
-              return db === couch_options.database;
-            });
-            if (db) {
-              self.db = db_connection.use(couch_options.database);
-              cb();
-              return;
+    self.db = db_connection.use(couch_options.database);
+
+    if (ensure_db) {
+      // trying to ensure the design docs - if it fails create db.
+      ensure_design_documents(self, function (err, data) {
+
+        if (err) {
+          db_connection.db.create(couch_options.database, function (err, body) {
+
+            //If the error is that the database exists already then we are okay
+            if (err && err.error != 'file_exists') {
+              // return error if db create fail
+              err.stack = 'db.create(): Database (' + couch_options.database + ') not found and could not be created. \n' + err.stack;
+              done(err);
+            } else {
+              //we've now created the db so ensure dds & done
+              ensure_design_documents(self, done);
             }
-            db_connection.db.create(couch_options.database, function (err, body) {
-              //If the error is that the database exists already then we are okay
-              if (err && err.error != 'file_exists') {
-                // return error if db create fail
-
-                err.stack = 'db.create(): Database (' + couch_options.database + ') not found and could not be created. \n' + err.stack;
-                cb(err);
-              } else {
-                self.db = db_connection.use(couch_options.database);
-                cb();
-              }
-            });
 
           });
-        },
-
-        ensure_design_documents.bind(null, self)
-      ];
+        } else {
+          //good to go, callback
+          done();
+        }
+      });
 
-      async.series(setup_ops, done);
-    }
-    else{
+    } else {
       self.db = db_connection.use(couch_options.database);
       done(null);
     }
   }
-});
\ No newline at end of file
+});
diff --git a/model/lib/model.js b/model/lib/model.js
index f4a6ea0..30011ed 100644
--- a/model/lib/model.js
+++ b/model/lib/model.js
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ var Model = module.exports = BasePlugin.extend({
       _.each(this.history, function (row) {
 
         if (!timestamp || timestamp > row.updated_date) {
-          record = _.extend(record || {}, row);
+          record = _.merge(record || {}, row);
         }
       });
 
diff --git a/model/lib/omit_nulls.js b/model/lib/omit_nulls.js
index 79dc82e..5baa3c2 100644
--- a/model/lib/omit_nulls.js
+++ b/model/lib/omit_nulls.js
@@ -1,7 +1,13 @@
 var _ = require('lodash');
 
-module.exports = function(obj) {
-  return _.omit(obj || {}, function(value) {
-    return value === null;
+var omit_nulls = module.exports = function (obj) {
+  return _.omit(obj || {}, function (value) {
+    //if this is an array - dig deeper
+    if (value instanceof Array) {
+      value = omit_nulls(value);
+    } else {
+      return value === null;
+    }
+
   });
 };
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 2db2763..22d7114 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "graphiti",
-  "version": "1.2.1",
+  "version": "1.2.10",
   "main": "index.js",
   "scripts": {
     "test": "mocha -R spec -u tdd test/model/tests/*.js && mocha -R spec -u tdd test/entity/tests/*.js"
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
   "dependencies": {
     "JSONStream": "^0.10.0",
     "async": "^0.9.0",
+    "debug": "^2.2.0",
     "deep-equal": "^1.0.0",
     "jsonschema": "^1.0.0",
     "lodash": "^3.3.1",