yes, I have heard the patina thing before, and if it is yours, i guess that is cool. I just hate to think i would look down and say oh that is where the baby spit up in 2008? My only story is here on houzz, someone bought a fairly large home, master bath was large and all white marble- I mean all of it. The shower was stained, where they stood a lot was stained, over at the make up area where we guess she sprayed her hair was stained. even by the toilet was stained. Could have just been hard water, but who wants to guess?

The only con to marble is it softer and more porous than granite or a solid surface. It has been on floors and on bakery counters, and atop antique furniture for hundreds of years. .......but. In twenty years, it MAY not appear in your kitchen as the on the day of install, and on the other hand it may well look brand new. Acidic products can etch marble, wine can stain. It requires sealing, very prompt wipes of spills, particularly acidic spills like wine and berries. If you need 100% perfect all the time and forever, have no constitution for caring for a surface in that manner, don't do it. Part of its beauty is the the occasional etch.....and even the slight blemish of a scratch or faint stain. Caesarstone, Zodiaq, have mimics that can make a perfectly lovely kitchen, No they aren't real marble, but are impervious to staining and never need a seal. You are the only one who can answer the questions. What is your tolerance for maintenance and care and how do you and those around you live within your kitchen......and do you need forever perfect? Or can you live with a gorgeous thing that might have some imperfections as most "gorgeous things" do.

http://www.baneclene.com/articles/marble.html

even if i didnt care if my marble was stained and etched, i'd worry about trying to sell the house down the road. marble with patina and all that in a 'typical suburban house' is a fad at the moment.

i do like how marble looks, tho, and i have an old house, so when we redid the kitchen last year i did quartz. mine is LG rococo.

Marble has been the choice in Europe for eons I love the softness of how it looks I have put cararra in many of my kitchens i have designed and my clients love it. FYI if baby throw up stained a counter i would be getting that child checked. Yes you need to wipe up spills but don’t you always anyway.

It's only been about a month, but so far our Fantasy Brown marble- with a satin finish- has been no problem at all. We are by no means perfect. I have definitely found morning after red wine drops and tomato sauce splashes, but they all have wiped up easily. I think resale could be an issue for some if selling soon, but we plan to be here until we are nursing home ready and at that point the kitchen counter will be the least of my issues. I figure in 15-20 years all kitchens need a redo.

This marble was the only thing in the slab yard that I fell in love with, so we went for it after testing pieces with all sorts of abuse.

I am not saying i do not like marble, I have not lived with marble in a kitchen or a bathroom. I am only stating what has been shown here on houzz. If it stains from a person standing on it, water running on it, why not from a baby spitting up on it. I have a couple small table tops in it and have no problem, but they do not get wet things on them etc. so it appears it is not a love it or leave it issue. I love it, but might not put where i have to worry so much?

Don't use it if you're going to worry about it or baby it. My marble countertops have no stains on them, unlike the white laminate I used to have, which was constantly being stained by coffee and wine. They are etched from everything, and have some chips in them. It really doesn't bother me at all, and I love the look and feel of real marble. It's authentic and honest, just like real hardwood.

Just don't think that using engineered quartz is foolproof. I've had that too--it gets watermarked and chipped as well, just not as much as marble. Nothing is perfect, and nothing lasts forever.

so there you go op, you up to 50/50 I think. lol