4 times in 9 months!!!!!!

Chase will be 11 next week. In 11 years I have visited the ER only 1 time with my 3 oldest children. When Chase was 3 he fell off his bed during the night and kept complaining in the morning. We thought his collarbone was broken. I honestly can't remember if it was or not because they don't cast collarbones.

As of last night, Piper has now been to the ER four times in 9 months. Our latest trip? A broken leg! Yes - that's right a spiral fracture of the left tibia.

So here's the run down: Sept 2007 - McCall Idaho - upper airway obstruction (croup like)

December 2007 - Lancaster General - deep 2nd degree burns on hands

February 2008 - Heart of Lancaster - upper airway obstruction - this time she was admitted and spent 2 days in the hospital and came home on a nebulizer

June 2008 - Heart of Lancaster - broken leg

Not to mention that she spent her first 6 days of life in the nursery at the "Heart", where she was born, under bili - lights. She has spent more time in a hospital in 19 months than I have my entire life!

Yesterday started out as a great day. The kids and I picked 13 pounds of strawberries. We are making jam with my mom tomorrow. We came home and packed a lunch and headed out to the park. On Mondays we meet friends from Ainsley's preschool to play at the park. It's worked out well since many of her friends have older brothers so the boys don't mind going either. Piper fell asleep in the car on the way there so she actually slept the whole first hour. When she got up she followed the kids around and played on the playground equipment. It's pretty safe equipment for all ages.

We were packing up and I said to the boys - I'm going to load up the car, you guys go get the baby. MacGregor and Piper had been in a little tunnel. Piper came out of the tunnel onto a platform. She sat down on the platform and went down the slide where MacGregor was waiting for her. The slide was tiny, maybe four feet. It was made of hard plastic. I saw all of this going on out of the corner of my eye while I was packing up. Then I turn and see MacGregor carrying a crying Piper to me. He said, "Mommy, I think she broke her leg, her foot got caught when she was coming down the slide and I heard a crack." Well - he's 8. I didn't really think her leg had broken. I held her and tried to put her on the ground but her legs just turned to jelly. She wouldn't put any weight on it.

She continued to cry, not a screaming bloody murder cry, just a sustained cry while she leaned her head on my shoulder. That's not really like her. She usually gets over things and wants down. I knew she wasn't tired because she had only gotten up 45 minutes before.

I got in the car and called Daniel who told me to go to his office nearby and have Dr. Heise look at it to see if we should take her to the ER. Daniel was at a different office (across town) that day. Dr. Heise told me he didn't see anything obvious so I should take her home and see if she calms down. If she was still protective of it in the morning then call the Dr. So we took her home. She did calm down and seemed fine while sitting on the couch or in her high chair. But when she got bored she'd try to get down and then start crying and want to be held. She's very frustrated that she can't get around. We thought it was her foot but later I had her in the bathtub and was squeezing her foot and she seemed fine with it. I told Daniel I thought it might be in her leg because it only bothers her when she puts weight on it. So he started squeezing her shin and that did NOT go over well.

We decided to call the pediatrian and see if we should take her to the ER last night for an X-ray or wait until the morning. He said, we should go ahead and get the X-ray. So Daniel took her in. After looking at the X-ray Daniel said, "that looks broken", pointing to the crack on the X-ray and I don't know if it was the X-ray tech or the ER doc said, "No, that may be just a nutrient canal. Let's get the Radiologist to read it." So Daniel waited another hour with the baby to find out that indeed it was a spiral fracture, which is cause when the bone twists. As she came down the slide her rubber shoe got stuck but momentum carried her body forward causing her leg to get twisted behind her. The bones are not displaced at all. Nothing is swollen. The bone looks perfectly straight on the X-ray - it just has this little black line running vertically (but diagonal) through it.

Last night they just put a splint on it and wrapped it in an ace bandage. Today I have to take her to an orthopedist. I'm really not looking forward to a baby in a cast, especially on vacation! M told me that they make water-proof casts. I'm definitely going to inquire about that. Wish us luck.

And poor MacGregor who feels so bad, like it was his fault because he was standing there. I told him that many times while I've been there her legs have gotten stuck. Rubber shoes and slides don't mix.

Here she is - trying to walk but not wanting to put any pressure on the foot.

I'll give an update and a new picture after our visit today.

Baseball

Baseball season finished last week. I love watching my boys play baseball. I love being outside in the spring - most days. But it really does take a toll on our family. I remember my dad saying that his father didn't make it to most games because he was working. He and his brother walked to the ball fields. Dan tells me that his parents didn't make all his games - and if he had a parent there it was only one. He had a large family and sports schedules definitely disrupt the family. I have fond memories of evenings spent at the ball fields watching my brothers but I don't know how many of the total games I actually went to. It's hard to get the whole family to these games but we do it. I only missed one game and Dan only missed about 4 games out of 16 . I think Piper and Ainsley made them all.


There were many days when the boys got off the school bus at 4pm. Then I'm yelling at them to find their uniforms and get dressed. They are exhausted from school and just want to crash and have a snack. Then we're eating dinner at 4:30 so we can get in the car by 5:05 so we can fight rush hour traffic and get to the field by 5:30 for warm ups and 6 pm game. Whew... . We'd get home sometime after 8pm and then it was time for showers and homework and music practicing. The kids were completely worn out and we parents weren't far behind them. I'm tired just typing it out!!


I do love baseball - the kids love playing too but I've told them that one team sport a year is all the family can take. Chase wants to play lacrosse and basketball. MacGregor wants to play flag football. I said you have to choose one. The others you can play in the back yard with friends. It's hard cuz they have friends that play everything but either their friends parents are super human or they don't have little ones to entertain during all these games and perhaps their friends don't have cub scouts at church and take piano and trombone lessons which require practice time. I can only take one season a year at this pace.


This is the little one we have to keep busy and safe for 2 and half hours several times a week. Here she is fascinated by the clover. She was picking each piece very carefully.


Then she gleefully gave them to Daniel.


Her favorite thing though was to play with the big kids. I didn't mind that one bit either. Then I could actually keep my eyes on the game.


We heard there was a little ghost that haunted the ball fields. Every once in a while we caught a glimpse. I even managed to catch it on film one day.
Doesn't she look like a little ghost or little angel floating above the field?

For the end of season party we had a "parents" vs the "kids" game. It was really fun. Both moms and dads played and I was surprised at how well many of the moms did. I had to watch Piper so I didn't play the field, which is just as well - throwing a ball really isn't my thing. When it was time to get up - they asked me if I wanted a turn at bat - the other parents would watch the baby. At first I sort of refused - I really didn't want to embarrass myself but on the other hand some of the other parents had struck out so I wouldn't be the only one. So I was debating. Daniel got up to bat - the dad's had to bat on the non-dominant side. Daniel had to bat right handed against Chase. Well Chase struck his old Dad out. Very Surprising - especially for Daniel.




So I decided to give it a whirl. If Dan struck out then I didn't have to feel too bad right? There was a new pitcher put in - Tim. He warmed up and then I stepped into the box. He hit me on the first pitch, only on the shoe. They told me to take my base - but I wanted to HIT the ball so I asked if I could stay in. You'd think that the fear of embarassment would have been enough to send me running to the base - Get to get on base without looking like a fool - who wouldn't do that? But the pride in me kept me in the box. I wanted to have a chance to prove I could do it. CRAZY! So they called that a ball and then I got 2 more balls and swung at 2 really bad pitches. The kids coach was coaching me in the box - sad! So now it was a full count 3 balls 2 strikes - here comes the last pitch. I swung. I made contact. I ran! I didn't look back. I made it to the base and had to look up to see if I got there in time. I did! I did! Dan said I ran like a cheetah! How sweet of him. Then I wasn't sure if I should steal and my heart was pumping on base waiting to run. I wanted to make sure I did it right. I made it to second but then I got thrown out at third when the dad up to bat bunted it directly toward 3rd. What I realized is that it's a lot of pressure in there. It's a lot easier to coach the kids from the side - we say don't reach, we say don't swing at the high ones, we say "swing" that was a good one. It's alot harder being in that box and making that decision. Even their head coach felt this pressure. He totally wasn't aware of where his team was. He was on second and didn't think he had to run. The batter hit the ball and he hung out on second until the first base runner got almost there. The kids tagged third and the Coach was out!! The assistant coaches were laughing and yelling "Fundamentals Coach - Fundamentals" which was the mantra of the season. I also realized how out of shape I was because one time at bat gave me a sore knee and sore abs. For days every time I sneezed my abs were sore and I thought - that's from swinging a bat a few times? I need to get out more!


I think the parents ended up winning by 1 point. After the game we ate pizza and the coaches gave out the game balls to each of the kids. They each received a game ball in which they had an outstanding performance. Chase recieved a ball against the Red Sox when he struck out 4 players. MacGregor received a game ball where he slid into home and scored a run right under their catcher. I think that was really thoughtful of the coaches. It was a great season and I was so lucky to have the boys on the same team. We won't be so lucky next year when Chase has to move up. (That will really add a kink in our schedule!) The event ended in a "rockin thunderstorm" and everyone grabbed all the gear and ran to their cars. A few of the dads, including Daniel, got pretty wet as they were the last to gather trash and supplies.
GO TWINS!!! What A Year!

A Day With the Kids

My days are very full. I often feel as though I am rushing. I often feel as though I am nagging my kids and just saying do this, do that, get on your shoes, get in the car, set the table, clear the dishes, hurry hurry. I have alot to fit in - making meals, doing dishes, planning my Sunday lessons, grocery shopping, laundry, bills, giving baths, changing diapers, cleaning the house (and yes - that's the one I neglect most often). And sometimes I try to cram my stuff in too - watch a show, sew a project, read an article.

So every once in awhile - I try to take a day for the kids - I don't do house work, I don't do anything for me. I focus 100% on them. Today was one of those days.

We woke up and didn't have any milk - yet I didn't go to the store. We used evaporated milk -( 2 parts water, one part canned milk.) The kids don't mind it at all on their oatmeal. The boys and I eat it on cereal and Piper doesn't mind drinking it in her sippy. (It tastes exactly like the milk they drink in Spain.)

So today I sat one on one with Chase and Ainsley while they worked on workbook pages. I read loads of books to Ainsley and did some sight word flash cards. I played in the back yard and salvaged all my tulip bulbs from a flower pot I got for Mother's Day. I let the girls help me separate the bulbs and bag them. I helped MacGregor repot his little cucumber plant he raised in school. I sang with Piper. We took a walk, blew bubbles and pet the neighbor's puppies. The girls got a bubble bath and their toe nails painted. Then we ate ice cream together and snuggled on the couch under a blanket watching Wonder Pets.

I really love my children and I like spending time with them but I know they don't always get the quality I'd like to give them when life is rushing by. It was really nice to just focus on the kids and push everything else aside. I know it can't be done every day but I hope a day like today reenergizes the kids like it does me.

Llama Llama Mad at Mama

This is my new favorite children's book. We picked it up from the library this week and Chase read it to all of us in the car. Everyone loved the rhyming and the story and each child couldn't wait for a turn to see the pictures. I like the message too. Check it out - it's worth it!

Recitals come and gone

I am so behind on posting. I am trying to catch up though.

May 28th the boys had their first piano recital. It was very laid back and comfortable. There were 10 children and one adult (my VT Penny who has just begun piano - her youngest child is 22. I am so proud of her) that each played one song. Most were beginners. The boys have officially been playing 1 year now. Although we did take 6 weeks off - the whole month of May and first two weeks of June - because baseball didn't allow for us to practice often and many game days coincided with piano lessons. Our teacher was awesome for being so flexible. Her thing is that she really wants the kids to enjoy it - if they are too over scheduled and hate practicing because they don't have any time for anything else - then they'll start to hate it so she said it's better to take a break. So we did.


They did keep practicing their recital songs through out May and both did a very nice job on their songs. Chase played "The Entertainer" and MacGregor "You're a Grand Ole Flag". MacGregor had his piece memorized but when he arrived and all the other kids used their music - he decided he'd use his too.

We did video but the battery ran out after MacGregor but before Chase. So we had Chase do another run through after the recital while everyone was having refreshments so we could get a video. I think he actually did better during the real recital. I still don't know how to do videos on here but someday I will and then you could hear their pieces too.

Ainsley had her dance recital too. It was a long program but her class did as good of a job as 3-6yr olds can do. They looked adorable too. Ainsley was really testing me though because with the lights out they brought out the whole class and put them on their little tape markers. There are 12 girls in her class. I knew she was 3rd from the left so I knew it was her that was lying down on stage and running over to the other little girls and circling them and laying down again. All of this going on with the lights out and you could just see this little shadow dancing all around while the other 11 shadows stood absolutely still in a perfect line. It took all my self control not to start yelling and running up there to discipline her. Luckily when the lights came on she smiled and got right back to her spot and danced her whole routine. So Miss Ainsley - are these the things you do when you think no one is watching? You bet I'll be keeping my eye on you!!

Shants

Daniel has always loved shants. In fact he was wearing them when I met him on our first date (blind date). They were ones his mother made him for Christmas. Flannel... blue and orange plaid... calf length. I was a little confused by them but he told me that they were shants and that his mother made them and well ... that cleared it up....hmmmm. In fact on that first date at the ice cream place some people at another table were looking at us. Daniel got up and walked over to their table and modeled his shants explaining to them the same thing he had said to me.

He then graduated to some real ghetto/rapper shants. They were cranberry denim and at least two of me could fit in each leg. And Yes - he did wear these quite a bit. He'd wear them when we went roller skating and surprisingly he didn't really look out of place. He fit right in with the guys with the fat wheels and fat laces that do all kinds of tricky steps while leaning back in a sitting position.

We've had a vacation from Shants for quite a few years but when at TJ Max this past week searching for something to wear to the annual charity golf event - how could he pass them up? The tempation was too great. We've now graduated to "GOLF SHANTS". He was so excited he asked me if I wanted to see his new clothes... (he NEVER does that) at 12:30 AM!!! So he got dressed in this here outfit. Yes - I was a little surprised at the ensemble. I smiled and asked him what color was that shirt? Hot Pink? He laughed a little and said, "NO, Hot PRED" But it was an authentic Tiger Woods brand so it had to be ok. I told him the shants reminded me of koolats (how do you spell that word?) . He wasn't sure what that was - but I'm sure all my 80s girlfriends remember them. I asked him if he was afraid anyone would make fun of him and he said he couldn't wait to hear what people had to say.

That's my hubby. He has a style all his own and people are attracted to him (I know you're thinking because of his utmost sense of style but no..) because of his confident and playful personality. He's not afraid to be himself and he's not afraid of what others think. This is what draws people to him. It's what drew me to him.

Let Down

I've made a lot of blankets but I have given away about 90% of them. I always get so excited to give it to the recipient but then after it goes I always have a let down. I miss it! I miss seeing it around the house. After I finish one I always have it laid out so I can look at it every time I pass it. I always show it to as many people as I can before I give it away (my poor visiting teachers - they've seen so many projects).

And so it went last Thursday when we gave away my NEW favorite. The homeroom moms had collected money for a gift card for MacGregor's teacher, but then a sister of one of MacGregor's classmates died. Mrs. Appleyard had been close to this family and so in Mrs. Appleyard's honor the class donated the gift fund to the grieving family for the foundation where their daughter had gone to summer camp. I don't know for sure but I think this teenage girl died of complications of epilepsy.

MacGregor's teacher had told me that she thought he was pretty special. She has taught many years and said she loves all her students but there are those few that just capture her heart. I wanted to make sure we still did something for this special teacher to let her know that we thought she was great too. Incidentally, MacGregor was scared to death when he found out he had her because she was the "strict" teacher in second grade and quite a bit older than the other teachers in his grade. In the end he loved her and was excited each day to go to school. Can you ask for anything better than that?

I was inspired by the signature quilt that we made for our graduate at church so I came up with my own pattern and decided to make a signature rag quilt for Mrs. Appleyard. I knew I wouldn't have time to quilt it so ragging it was the way to get it done fastest.

First I picked the fabric. I picked 6 coordinating colors. I just love them. They're soft and old fashioned but yet trendy. I sewed each block using two different fabrics on top and bottom and inserted a cream middle. Once all the blocks were done I took them to school. We asked Mrs. Appleyard to leave the room for 10 minutes so she wouldn't know what we were working on and then a homeroom mom helped me get the 25 signatures that I needed. We had 3 extra blocks without signatures so we filled those in with special messages for the teacher
For the 4 corners I just sewed random sized strips from each of the six fabrics together. I quilted a flower in the center of each of these and set them vertically as to contrast the horizonally set name blocks.

In the center I put a picture of the class that I had copied on fabric that goes thru your printer. Then I put a border around this. The only thing that disappointed me was that when I washed the quilt - which I had to do to get the rag effect - the picture did fade quite a bit. I had even bought the more expensive printer sheets and did the whole "color fast treatment". It still looked ok but not as crisp as before I washed it.

Since I used thin cotton for the front I used a middle layer of pink polka dot flannel (to thicken it up and give it more "rag") and bluish gray polka dot flannel for the back. In the bottom corner, we put a letter from MacGregor that he wrote all by himself. We copied it onto one of the printer fabric sheets and sewed to the back.


Isn't that cute? I got in trouble for not correcting his spelling. The day after I sewed it into the quilt he came home from school and asked me why I didn't correct his spelling. I said the letter was from him and I thought it was great just the way it was. He said he had spelled the same word wrong that day in school (probably thought it was right because I didn't correct him the night before) and was told by his teacher that 2nd graders should know how to spell that word. So now he's feeling terrible about giving his teacher this letter with a misspelled word that he should know. Now I feel terrible because he feels bad about his letter. He did give it to her and told her that there were some misspellings and she said, "Well, 2nd graders shouldn't know how to spell everything yet." Now she probably feels terrible for making him feel bad the day before. So we all feel terrible but yet we all feel great because it was an awesome gift. She sent a thank you note home with all the kids on the last day of school saying that she loved it and would always remember them. (I'll try to get a picture of the note and post it on here later).

I'm having my let down because those cute little signatures are no longer laying in piles in my home but I know they will always be cherished and I am happy that I could play a part in that.

Fast Fingers (or Not)

We have this Cranium pad of paper with little quizzes and such... We pulled one off not to long ago and have had a great time with it - they entitled it Stunt Double.

OK - so here's what you do...

1. Point out just your left index finger and raise your right thumb.

2. Switch thumb and forefinger positions between hands.

3. Keep alternating thumbs and forefingers at the same time as quickly as you can.


Sounds easy doesn't it, but it seems that when I go to switch and point the right index finger my thumb stays up. I concentrate really hard before I switch hoping that I can do it but there's some kinda slow brain thing happening. A slow connection causing a really slow reaction.

On a side note - It says that piano players seem to have faster finger response times. In fact they said that professional pianists have significantly faster finger response times than professional typists. Hmmmm... I've always been a great typist but never got very good at the piano... it must come from a different part of my brain that's not very developed. Too Bad.

We had alot of fun asking all of our family and friends to do this and watching them try.

Let us know how you did and whether or not you play the piano.

Tiny Dancer

It's recital time again.
The recital will be Saturday evening, June 7th, but we have dress rehearsal on Friday night and we had a regular rehearsal on Monday and class pictures last Saturday. We've been busy with Dance. These photos are from Saturday's photo ops. The teacher organizes times for the classes to come and sets them up in poses but there are no professional photographers. Parents just take the pictures they want. We spent an hour showering Ainsley, blow drying her hair and setting it in hot rollers. She is supposed to have her hair down with curls. But the humidity was out of control Saturday morning and by the time we arrived her curls had mostly melted away (I think we'll use sponge rollers for the recital and take them out 10 minutes before the show). In spite of all that -we got really lucky because we were the first time slot. A half hour later, right after we arrived at the church primary activity - it began to downpour. I imagine all the classes for the other hour and a half of time slots had to get their pictures inside in front of a boring white wall. I am thankful we got our pictures in front of the beautiful greenery.

Here is Ainsley with her two "Emilys". They were also in Ainsley's pre-school class and they all got yellow. The girls got to sign up for their first and second choice for color. Ainsley's first choice was yellow and I was really worried that it wouldn't look good against her hair and skin color. But I was really surprised - because I think she totally pulls it off.

This year her class is doing a tap routine to "Bigger isn't Better" from the Broadway show "Barnum". I think their costumes are the cutest of any that I saw on Saturday. I thought that about her class last year too. Maybe I'm biased, or maybe just lucky that both years she gotten the cutest costumes. I think their costumes, with the bright colors and vertical stripes, are supposed to make you think of circus tents. Part of their routine includes walking on their tip toes with their arms out to the sides like they are walking on a tight rope. Their routine is the most complicated of all the routines in their age group. It really doesn't repeat any elements throughout. Ainsley's getting better - we've been working a little at home. I told her just to watch her friend Courtney, who knows all the steps. She does fine when the teacher is in front of her but the teacher won't be with them Saturday night.

Wish her luck!!

Small mouth

Last week Daniel treated my Dad to a fishing day on the mighty Susquehanna River. Dan knows a part time fishing guide who has taken him on more than several adventures.
The weather was supposed to have been awful. In fact the night before, I tried to talk Daniel out of doing it on that particular day. I didn't want him to spend quite a bit of money and have my Dad have a miserable day. They wanted to go anyway - they wore warmer attire and brought along their head-to-toe rain gear. Well - they fished from 7 am - 3 pm and only got rain their last few minutes. In fact they both got rather sunburned and Daniel ended up wearing his rain gear to keep the sun off of him.

My Dad had never been small mouth bass fishing before and said he was feeling a bit insecure with his fishing ability when by hour 5 he had yet to catch one. He said, Daniel brought in a fish, then the guide brought in one, then Daniel, then the guide etc.... Finally my Dad caught a Susquehanna Bone Fish - he said it was basically an oversized minnow. Not quite what he was hoping for. But then his luck began to change and he caught these doosies when Daniel and the guide couldn't seem to get anymore bites. These are some pretty good sized small mouths.

In the end - it ended up being a FINE day!

Transformation

I have mentioned before that when we bought this house 3 years ago we felt like we got a good deal of space for the money, but the house was plain jane - only basic features (except for the upgraded corian countertop in the kitchen which I love). This year we have tried to upgrade some other features. We put in tile in the kitchen to replace the linoleum. We had a patio poured out back. My brother in law, Brock, came in late February to put up our tile backsplash. Isn't it fabulous?The deco tile strip we did special order but the larger squares are just 4x4 tumbled marble that you buy by the box at Home Depot.

On his working vacation in February Brock also remodeled our master bathroom. For the size and price range of our home - the master bath and closet are on the small side. If we ever sell this house I wanted the buyer to feel that the bathroom was luxurious and forget that it was small. And we all know that kitchens and bathrooms sell homes.

Here are the before pictures:
We had linoleum floors. The lights were the cheapest bulb on a plate you can find. (Notice half the bulbs are out - we knew we were replacing the lights soon so we didn't buy new bulbs). The sinks were a white one piece double bowl made of ceramic or hard plastic.

The shower was a once piece plastic insert.

The walls were all white and above the tub was your basic shiny white 4 x 4 bathroom tile.

I want you understand that there is nothing wrong with this bathroom. Everything was very functional and relatively new, only 3 years old but it was very basic... very plain. If you ever need to sell a home especially in a soft market (such as the one we are in) you want to have something that stands out... something that says "this house is different (in a good way), this house is special. So we are trying to upgrade our house for ourselves, because yes we like nice things, but also for resale value.

Here are a couple in process pictures: He ripped out the plastic shower and shiny tile above the tub and put up new backer board (dry wall) then coated it with a water proofing substance (Red Guard).

He also put in a sub floor to make a more durable surface for laying the tile.
Brock has been done his part for almost 3 months now but I didn't want to post pictures til we were done painting... We still have a few things to do like up grade the cabinetry hardware, towel bar and plumbing fixtures to match, dress the window and perhaps replace the mirror. But that will come in time. We did however finish painting yesterday and I am really pleased.

In order to pick the paint color - I found a shower curtain that I absolutely LOVED. Then I found a paint color that matched the curtain exactly and then I looked on the card and chose the color two shades lighter. I think it was a pretty good match.

We kept our same vanity and upgraded the countertop to granite. We replaced the faucets and the lights.

We ordered ivory travertine from the special order boards at Home Depot. I was surprised that it didn't really cost much more than basic ceramic tile and nothing beats the feeling of bare feet on REAL stone. We used the travertine on the floor, shower walls and around the tub. We ordered a deco tile for a border, also from Home Depot.

The shower floor is the same "in stock" tumbled marble we used for the kitchen backsplash.


Brock even built a corner shelf and corner seat. The little seat is the kids favorite and they always ask if they can shower in there and sit on the seat. Don't they know the seat is really just a place to put your foot while shaving your legs?

I think Brock did a fabulous job and I feel like I'm in a spa every day when I take a shower. We felt like we changed it a lot without spending BIG bucks with major renovations like moving walls and replacing expensive items like bathtubs and vanities. What do you think? Is it luxurious enough to forget that it's rather small? Would YOU chose luxury over size?