A few mornings ago, I got up to feed Ezra in his room. When I stumbled back to bed, this was what I found. Replaced so soon!But in all seriousness, we are trying to keep things as normal as we can with Magda now that Ezra's in the picture, and that includes bedtime snuggles.She seems to be handling the change pretty well. If anything, she just needs more exercise (which, sadly, I can't give her until I heal up). But overall, she's been fantastic. Just a few pacifiers destroyed here and there. And I suppose that's to be expected. The good news is that she cannot for the life of her figure out the diaper pail (SCORE!).

Awwww, look at that cutie.After breakfast and the newspaper (and a very small amount of work), I went to find Miss Magda. When things get super quiet around the house, it means she's either a) getting into trouble b) napping or c) hiding from a small child. I was pretty sure she was down for her morning nap, but I wanted to check because I could only find one of my sneakers. And yup! Here she is, napping with the other one.I would also like to point out that she is in my bed, which was all made up before she arrived. She loves to jump into a made bed, pull down the covers and rearrange all the pillows so that she is nested in all nice and cozy. It would make me crazy except that it's so dang cute. Also? I found her napping today in 1) my bed 2) the daybed in my office 3) the sofa in the living room and 4) the bed in the basement. And in each instance, she had carried this shoe with her. She doesn't eat it or destroy it, she just feels better with it there.This dog, I tell you. TOTALLY ADORABLE.I'm packing in a bunch of internet shares right now in case I go into labor (WHICH WOULD BE AWESOME ANY TIME NOW KID PLESSER), as I like to keep you all entertained.So up first, this appliance could totally make my life easier and at the same time scare the crap out of the dogs. Hmm... entertainment for all? Nah, I'm not that cruel. Yet.Up second, if you think you're having a crap day or things are hard or you're just feeling really sorry for yourself, go check out some of the stories from Humans of New York as of late. This one knocked everything into perspective for me.And lastly! That last one was harsh, no? Let's lighten things up a bit. As photographers, sometimes we do get feedback like this. Aaaah, these are the clients you run from.

Happy Labor Day from Magda! Magda, who has been a complete angel all week until today when she has been on several barking rampages, several digging rampages, has stolen toys from the nursery and in general seems a little angry at the world. I have no idea what happened between yesterday and today, but man is she pissed off about it. So she's out on a long walk with the man right now (whew!) and hopefully that will mellow her out a bit.Merlin? He's the gentlest of giants and I'm gonna walk him after I post this since I'm apparently the speed of an 11-year-old arthritic collie right now. And let's be real, I'm winded keeping up with him at this point. But I'll waddle along. We make quite the couple.For your internet share of the day, I adore this poster mapping out all the legends of lake monsters throughout the United States. As someone who has always dreamed of spying Nessie in the Loch Ness, this is super fun!

I seriously hesitate to write this for fear of jinxing myself, but Magda here has been a total sweetheart as of late. She's super snuggly and full of kisses and even, ahem, MINDING. Maybe it's the heat? Maybe it's so exhausting that she just lacks the energy to be ornery right now. I dunno, but I'll take it.Also, while things are totally normal over here in Plesserville, I wanted to alert you guys that when I do go into labor, there will be no blogging for a bit. Or maybe I'll post some photos every once and awhile, but not many words. I'm not sure how I'll be in those first few weeks of sleepless parenthood. Apparently complete Zombieland is a real possibility, so please be patient. I have arranged to keep my Savory Sundays going for a bit, but that's it for awhile.Please don't give up on me. I'll just need my rest. And don't you worry, I am already securing photo passes for a concert or two in October. So I'm planning on not going totally soft (right away, anyway).Now, for your internet share of the day! I have two today. First? I am currently coveting this leather jacket for fall. LOOK AT THAT LINING. I would rock that so hard. And second? Look at these sweet baby bears. Awwww.

You know what happens when your parents wake up early on the weekend and treat you to a trip to the farmer's market and the dog park and you pay them back by rolling in feces at said park? YOU GET A BATH. A LONG, UNPLEASANT BATH. AND A SCOLDING.Seriously. Must we stoop to that level of gross? Really?I will never understand the "instinct" that some dogs have to roll in dead things or poop.The rest of the weekend was pretty mellow around the house. We were very busy with chores and the like, but the mood is pretty low around these parts as we are still deeply saddened by the loss of Alby. No internet share today, folks. I just don't have it in me to browse online for funny things when all I want to do is curl up in bed. I'll try to get back on the horse tomorrow.In the meantime? Go hug the people you love. Tell them how much they mean to you. Enjoy every day that you have.

One of the most fascinating parts of Magda's personality that's coming out more and more as she get's "older," is her sensitivity to emotions. I've started to notice that if I get upset about something (even if it's something I'm reading -- meaning there is no physical or audible reaction), Mags will pick up on my mood change and hide. And should I get mad enough to vocalize my frustration about something? Watch out.For instance, at the cabin a few weeks back, I read "The Fault In Our Stars," (Don't judge! I love easy brain candy books at the cabin!) and at a few points in the book I began to tear up or cry. About 20 minutes later I would realize I didn't know where Magda was, and I would find her hiding under beds or couches. I think it's this sensitivity to emotion that also makes her hide from kids (talk about little balls of emotion). I always joke that she better shape up or I'm gonna make her walk the halls of Southwest High School with me (imagine the hormones at play there!).Anyway, this morning I was reading up on my emails, and Magda was snuggling with me on the sofa. I had several notes from friends that were really hard for me -- ranging from the death of a dear friend last week in California (cancer) or another friend's ongoing difficult battle with, you guessed it, cancer or another friend who had opened up about some real difficulties she's facing right now. Between the three things swirling in my head at about 6 am, I was an emotional basket case. And boy, Magda has been down about it all day long, the sweet thing. I keep finding her in corners of the basement, hiding in big blankets or her crate full of big sighs and sad eyes.I get you girl. Life is hard sometimes. But I've never had a dog who felt it like this one. I never would have guessed her heart was capable a year ago* -- imagine all the other things we have to learn about our sweet vizsla in the years ahead.For your internet share of the day, I'm sending you to photos of last night's super moon. It was cloudy here in Minneapolis, so I didn't see it myself. But wow, do I love these images!* I would like to point out, however, that should I be pissed at HER for bad behavior, she has absolutely no reaction. In fact, she just kindof glares back, like, yeah, I ate that thing of yours. Deal with it. Sooo... don't go getting the idea that she's this sweet all the time.

So now that it's August, and this family is about to expand a bit in the next few weeks, I've *finally* made time to slow down on work and start, you know, preparing for the kid or whatever.First of all, see those floors up there? My husband refinished those ON HIS OWN after we were abandoned by the person we hired. And he did such a good job (very proud of that guy). We have a little touch up painting left to do in the kid's bedroom (and by "we," I of course mean "Jamie"), and then we can start assembling furniture etc. In the meantime, I am gathering all the gazillion awesome gifts and clothes and diapers and supplies that have been gifted to us or handed down to us from a variety of the most generous people on the planet, and I'm trying to organize them by age so I can get an idea of a) what I have and b) what I need.Today? I thought I'd start with my favorites: The Shoes. OMG how adorable are those camouflage baby shoes?!? And the vans?! Suuuuper excited about those. I tried to get Mags to wear them for the photo, but she kept trying to eat them off her feet and I didn't want them damaged, so I gave up and just tried to pose her with them. She better be good though or I might try to wrestle her into a onesie. Just sayin'.

Man, it's muggy and hot here today guys. The heat index was about 105, and as soon as I put the fan out, this guy settled in for the breeze. What a handsome guy.And because of the heat, Mags hasn't gotten in her walk which means she is constantly wanting to play tug of war. And that's about what we're up to over here besides processing and editing photos and meeting with clients.I have two internet shares today! The first is the real estate listing for Horst Rechelbacher's (he founded Aveda) condo that overlooks downtown Minneapolis -- it's going for a cool $8 million. I love perusing these kinds of listings... And the second is of this happy man on the dance floor. Who doesn't love seeing senior citizens get down?