New here: kinship / adoption

So my husband and I have been married for nearly 12 years and we have 3 children. I was preggo with the oldest when we started dating. We did a step-parent adoption and she now has his last name! 2 years ago we were contacted by CPS and asked if we were interested in having my husbands 2nd cousin live with us. He was 9 at the time and was removed due to physical abuse from his step-father. We took him in without hesitation. His biomom never showed up to any visitations, failed her drug test, never called or contacted us at all and refuses to leave her husband - the abuser. The biofather has never been involved. Ever. All parental rights were terminated and we are moving to adopt. Did our fingerprints 2 weeks ago and now we are waiting for our updated home study - the very last thing before our court date! We are excited. It has been a very long road (ADD, behavior issues, disrespect, acting out, etc.) but we wouldn't have done it any different. Hoping things get better once he knows we mean it when we say "forever". He has an older half-sister who's biodad has had custody of for mannny years now. So he is used to only having visitations with her - which luckily we have been able to keep that connection. My husband went to school with her biofather so they already knew each other and about the crazy biomom! lol It's a tangled web, I know! This kinship adoption is so very different from the step-parent adoption we already went through. And the fact that he was 9 when we got him made things alot harder too. Anyone have experience adopting an older child?