Oh, friends. This is getting so hard.Merlin here is just getting more and more feeble. Is he sick? No. Is he in pain? We don't think so. The problem is, he's so damn weak. He can no longer climb stairs without us spotting him. And he can't go down stairs without us carrying his back legs. And getting up is a struggle. And standing on hardwood floors is a struggle. I mean, it's a real struggle. I can drop food on the floor for the boy, and if he has to get up to get to it, he'll just stay where he is thankyouverymuch. And he is spending hours and hours just sleeping in the same spot on the rug every day.This is not the life Merlin wants. And this is not the life we want for Merlin.There have been a lot of very hard discussions in our house these days. It is so damn hard.No date has been set. Nothing has been decided for sure. But you guys... I think we're just watching day by day at this point.Goddamn I love this dog so much.No internet share for the day. Go snuggle your loved ones. And maybe watch some basketball.
Check out that amazing dress! I was shooting portraits of this lovely lady today, and I was completely mesmerized. Then she told me she MADE IT HERSELF. You guys, that is SO impressive to me.I once made my own duvet cover and it almost killed me. I am not friends with the sewing machine, and as easy as it *sounds* to sew two sheets together and add velcro, I was a frustrated mess by the end. There is something about a sewing machine called "tension" and holy moly could I not get that right.But back to the point! The point is that I love seeing unique and creative fashion, and seeing someone who not only is bold enough to wear a planetary dress, but to put in the effort to make it? I am IN AWE.For your internet share of the day, I'm sending you to 
I stopped by the lake yesterday to see if the geese had returned, and they have! And as I watched them, a fight broke out. Yup, and then they started GOOSING each other! Ha! I had no idea the origins of that word were so accurate!Oooooo, that was so entertaining.Ok! For your internet share of the day, how about this 
This week Ezra is six months old! And his grandma came to visit from Kansas! And he got to go to the zoo! Overall, a pretty great week for the kid. Also, we've been feeding him "real food" lately, and it has been hilarious.Perhaps I will do a few photos of that next week so you can all laugh along with us. The poor kid seems to hate to swallow the food, but he loves the taste of it. We'll get there eventually...But back to this week!
First up at the zoo was the monkey house! I love the monkeys and was highly entertained.
Look at that mustache!
Ezra was more like, "Meh... whatever." We'll try this again in a few months.
No baby gorillas to be seen!
More shots of the polar bear.
This is the giraffe looking at Ezra.
This is Ezra looking at the giraffe!
This is my mom holding Ezra his second week of life on the left, and last week on the right. As you can tell, he's much more wiggly now.
This is grandma telling Ezra all of his mother's secrets.
Yeah kid, I really did have members of Skid Row sign my shorts when I was 13. Don't judge. I thought I was cool.For your internet share of the day, I'm sending you to the most "mom" link ever. Please forgive me, clearly my hormones have not evened out yet as 
Today we took Ezra to the zoo for the first time! Frankly, he was FAR more impressed by the shear number of kids at the zoo than any of the animals he saw. I'm not sure if it's just that to him Magda is so exotic and fun that animals behind glass not licking his ears were just not as exciting or what. But me? I had a GREAT time! I love the zoo!These were a few snaps I got of the polar bears. I also wanted to see the brand new baby gorilla, but it was no where to be seen. We did, however, see adult gorillas (as well as a gazillion other kinds of monkeys) and some zebras, giraffes, penguins, sea lions, tigers and a wolf. So a pretty great day for three bucks, eh? Yup. I love the Twin Cities -- that Como Zoo is a total treat.
Because it's Friday, I have a few internet shares for you. First, I love what 
My mom arrived in town today from Wichita. This was a huge feat because she flew for the first time by herself since 2003 (when I moved to Minneapolis). I was pretty nervous about her getting through security and the enormous Minneapolis airport, but she managed just fine. She was seated next to a 7-year-old boy who was traveling by himself to Washington DC. He helped mom out by reminding her of the finer tips of airline travel, like buckling her seatbelt on the airplane and scoring free sodas from the flight attendants.Anyway, from the airport we went straight to daycare to pick up Ezra and there was a lot of love between the two of them today. I'll have loads of photos in my weekly Monday at the Madhouse post, but I loved this image of their hands together. And yes, my mom's nails are ALWAYS perfectly manicured. And no, mine are never that nice. It probably drives her nuts... (sorry Mom!).Tomorrow we have some fun things planned, but for now I'm going to close and go spend time with the family. Oh! But before I forget, 
This right here is a little corner of my buddy Leah's house that I adore. The light blows me away every time I visit! Look how tall/low the windows reach! Her home is one of my very favorite spots to shoot.Anyway, I was over there this morning pinning down the final details of her wedding that I'm shooting in a few weeks, and I snapped this right before I left. I could sit in that nook and read the paper and sip my coffee all day long, I tell you. Also? That wedding? It's going to be stunning. I cannot wait to show you photos from that day.For your internet share today, I'm showing you some Vans that I'm pondering for my shoe collection. Now that it's SIXTY degrees out (!!!), I'm refusing to wear any socks and 
This morning I had a breakfast meeting with