If you're adopting two children of different ages - wow - that's impressive, and it's going to be a challenge. A wonderful, marvelous, joyous challenge, but a challenge nevertheless. With everything we're focusing on for the baby, I'd remember to make plans early on to take the older kid shopping. The usual dynamic with older siblings and new infants is for them to feel that the baby gets all the attention, and to act out - you'll have an older sibling who hasn't even had the benefit of your attention for the past several years. So you'll want to find ways to meet that kids needs, too.

As for soft items - bumpers are okay for infants if they're tied to the crib properly, and can help prevent legs and arms from getting stuck, but you need to remove them as soon as the baby is old enough to stand or climb. Leeneia is right otherwise - no blankets or other soft items at night.

Here's a hint - Ikea has very affordable kids furniture (and really creepy plush toys). Almost all kid and baby furniture is "some assembly required," including cribs and beds and such, so you'll want to give yourself time for that. I spent three hours putting together our crib, which I did in my study since we were still using the nursery as a guest room. Then found I discovered I couldn't get it out the door, so I had to take it apart and reassemble it.

Dan