I am parsing an xml doc with Linq, but i am running into a scenario where I am not sure how to handle the processing. Everything I have found / tried doesn't seem to work. As you can see below (very simple scenario) where the OrderAmount is empty. This is a decimal field. When I try to handle this in LINQ it keeps bombing. I have tried using deimcal?, using the null check, etc nothing seems to be working (Most likely user error). Any suggestions would be appreciated. 

How do you handle when an element is a non string (like a decimal) and is empty ?

Xml:

```
<Orders>
  <Order>
    <OrderNumber>12345</OrderNumber>
    <OrderAmount/>
  </Order>
</Orders>

```

LINQ:

```
List<Order> myOrders = from orders in xdoc.Descendants("Order")
                       select new Order{
                       OrderNumber = (int)orders.Element("OrderNumber"),
                       OrderAmount = (decimal?)orders.Element("OrderAmount"),

}.ToList<Order>();

```