How did you adjust?

Aside from the usual, new sheets, pajamas, socks, books, other necessities...You can never fully prepare for this type of experience. Get ready for a lot of sleepless nights. Every child, in general, has their own issues, as does a typical adult. Every situation is different, especially when you factor in past life experiences, genetics, and overall personality of the child/children. Don't expect to instantly be in love. You may be in love with the actual thought, or experience of "having kids" for the first time, but that quickly evaporates when reality sets in. We didn't instantly fall in love with our spouse/partners, so why would our kids be any different. Even natural parents go through bouts of this; however they don't have as many "what-ifs" to deal with. Don't stress too much and get ready for the experience of a lifetime

Just take one day at a time. I can't really answer the question from 0-2 kids because we went from 2-5 and then six months later added 3 more. Prepare yourself to expect the unexpected even with little ones. (I see that is what you are hoping for) Example: Our 18m old who was removed from her birth home at 3m and placed into a good foster home has issues. We were told that she was healthy and developmental on target. She was moved to our home when she was 11m. She is now dx with RAD, PTSD and FASD. None of these were known prior to her moving here and us getting things moving. So again...just take one day at a time. Sometimes it feels like you are crawling up a mountain but for every bad day, in our case, there are 20 fantastic ones! If you are wondering our child is doing well with all her issues and has made HUGE gains. So it is possible to conquer your mountain.I also think that planning to far ahead is a bad idea. Adoption will test your emotional state more then you have ever been tested before. I would just wait to collect items, clothes, beds etc until you have a concrete match. Then you can personlize all the items. Like if your little boy likes spiderman and hates batman. You just never know. Others will disagree with me on this but I am a "fly by the seat of your pants" type of person so it works.Best of luck to your family!!!

My husband and I just met the sibling group of five that we are going to adopt. Its 4 girls ages 2, 3, 4, and 7 and a boy age 5. We are so excited and overwhelmed.

I feel the same way - NERVOUS!!!! :) We have zero kids and are considering a sibling group. To those who DID go from zero to 2+, what do you feel were the biggest changes to your lifestyle? **************************** Married DH after 9 (yes, 9) years of dating 10/19/02 Hosted 4 exchange students :female: G from Brazil 2007 :female: V from Germany 2007 :female: A from France 2009 :female: A from Italy 2010 Started *serious*adoption discussions late 2010 Met w/local DFS March 2011 :roadblock: More research & trying to decide which avenue is best for us 3/2011-present...:confused:

We had a lot of support from the community, people donated beds, dressers, clothes, grocery store gift cards, everything you can imagine when we went from 0 to 6.