When we were in this phase of our adoption processes it was very difficult to wait. I'm not a good wait-er.
We did things that I knew would be difficult after the child arrived. All day excursions away from home. Remodeling projects, or big craft things. One time I had surgery on my hands since I knew that was going to be difficult to do after the next child arrived. We did a vacation another time to visit out-of-state relatives. Different things. Uninterrupted bubble baths (privacy in the bathroom with no one banging on the door, calling through the crack at the bottom, etc.), chocolate candy all to myself, watching a tv program all the way through, uninterrupted! Doing my nails.
But the bottom line was that I needed to be patient in my heart, and trust that God was accomplishing His will in the way that our family was being formed. No children, one child, and then eventually five children. We had a long process of learning about the special needs our children had as well. So all in all the timing was perfect because it was God's doing. Resting in Him was (and is, oddly enough!!) very difficult to do on a daily basis, as day after day went by with no phone call from the cw.
During all the different waiting times for the various parts of the adoption process I can see how God sustained us and I wish that I'd been more content and trusting with each step. First there was the wait just to get the homestudy completed. Once we had the homestudy then we had to wait for some cw, somewhere (anywhere!) to think our homestudy matched up with what they were looking for in an adoptive family for some child on their case load. THEN it was the wait for the committee to meet. (In our state children waiting in foster care are matched through a committee process.) THEN it was the mandatory wait period between being matched and getting to meet and transition the child. THEN it was the wait for the adoption to be final. It's good to be reminded about this and remember all of these feelings as this can help me to be content and trusting with various things in life now!
We didn't really buy much of anything before we were matched, since we didn't know what age or gender we'd be matched with. We also didn't know what kinds of needs that child might have, so...we waited for all major purchases until we were matched. THAT was the hardest part of all! I did paint the bedroom and we did have a set of bunk beds...and then it turned out that we were matched with a small toddler who was still in a crib.
I did get a book, "Toddler Adoption: The Weaver's Craft" by Mary Hopkins-Best. That was a helpful book, even if the child you adopt is older than a toddler. Great info on transitioning, grief, etc.