Well, we are definitely taking the plunge. The further through the process we've gotten, the more sure we feel that this is what we should do. We have nearly all of our paperwork in, our home inspection done, and we just have a couple more meetings, CPR and a bit of training left to complete before we are licensed.

So...we are starting to prepare our house. We have a spare room that was always going to be the "kids room." We have a twin bed and bedding for it, a bookshelf with tons of really old kids books, a few stuffed animals and toys, and a couple of clothing items. We are hoping to start with an infant, so we are in the process of looking for a crib.

I'm trying to figure out how much gear and supplies we need. Not knowing the age makes it really hard. The agency said not to get a car seat yet because they will help us buy one when we get a placement. But then it's an emergency and I hate being rushed into buying things! Then there is so much else, bottles, formula, diapers (we are hoping to use cloth if we can find a reasonable stash of one size fits all to pick up used), and the list just keeps going. I think many foster parents already have kids so they have a lot of the supplies.

If any of you have done this, what did you buy ahead of time? Did you have time to shop once you got the placement call? One problem is that we are very rural and the only store within 45 min is walmart, which we really try to avoid as much as possible. So it's not quite so easy just to run out to the store. It's so hard to not want to BUY ALL THE THINGS!!