diff --git a/src/Phaseolies/Database/Entity/Model.php b/src/Phaseolies/Database/Entity/Model.php
index 98acec4..0fb25ed 100644
--- a/src/Phaseolies/Database/Entity/Model.php
+++ b/src/Phaseolies/Database/Entity/Model.php
@@ -1017,14 +1017,15 @@ public function toArray(): array
         $attributes = $this->makeVisible();
 
         foreach ($this->relations as $key => $relation) {
-            if ($relation instanceof Model) {
+            if ($relation === null) {
+                $attributes[$key] = null;
+            } elseif ($relation instanceof Model) {
                 $attributes[$key] = $relation->toArray();
             } elseif ($relation instanceof Collection) {
                 $attributes[$key] = $relation->map(function ($item) {
                     $result = $item instanceof Model ? $item->toArray() : (array)$item;
-                    if (isset($item->pivot_data)) {
-                        $result['pivot'] = (array)$item->pivot_data;
-                        unset($result['pivot_data']);
+                    if (isset($item->pivot)) {
+                        $result['pivot'] = (array)$item->pivot;
                     }
                     return $result;
                 })->all();
diff --git a/src/Phaseolies/Database/Entity/Query/InteractsWithModelQueryProcessing.php b/src/Phaseolies/Database/Entity/Query/InteractsWithModelQueryProcessing.php
index 2eaef44..ce2410c 100644
--- a/src/Phaseolies/Database/Entity/Query/InteractsWithModelQueryProcessing.php
+++ b/src/Phaseolies/Database/Entity/Query/InteractsWithModelQueryProcessing.php
@@ -105,31 +105,6 @@ public static function count(): int
         return static::query()->count();
     }
 
-    /**
-     * Converts the model's attributes to an array.
-     *
-     * @return array.
-     */
-    public function toArray(): array
-    {
-        $attributes = $this->makeVisible();
-
-        // Include loaded relationships
-        foreach ($this->relations as $key => $relation) {
-            if ($relation === null) {
-                $attributes[$key] = null;
-            } elseif ($relation instanceof Model) {
-                $attributes[$key] = $relation->toArray();
-            } elseif ($relation instanceof Collection) {
-                $attributes[$key] = $relation->all();
-            } else {
-                $attributes[$key] = $relation;
-            }
-        }
-
-        return $attributes;
-    }
-
     /**
      * Pluck an array of values from a single column.
      *
@@ -265,7 +240,7 @@ public function getDirtyAttributes(): array
         foreach ($this->attributes as $key => $value) {
             if (
                 !array_key_exists($key, $this->originalAttributes) ||
-                $this->originalAttributes[$key] != $value
+                !$this->valuesAreEqual($this->originalAttributes[$key], $value)
             ) {
                 $dirty[$key] = $value;
             }
@@ -274,6 +249,21 @@ public function getDirtyAttributes(): array
         return $dirty;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Compare original and current values for equality, treating nulls as equal
+     *
+     * @param mixed $original
+     * @param mixed $current
+     * @return bool
+     */
+    protected function valuesAreEqual(mixed $original, mixed $current): bool
+    {
+        if ($original === null && $current === null) return true;
+        if ($original === null || $current === null) return false;
+
+        return (string)$original === (string)$current;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Insert multiple records into the database
      *