Lauri Peterson and her husband, George, recently became the adopted parents of her son Josh's young daughter Kennedy.

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In a new interview, via All About TRH, the former Real Housewives of Orange County star opened up about going from a near-empty-nester to a full-time parent.

“There just wasn’t a lot of options. There’s this beautiful child. I was there for her birth and I connected and bonded and I never knew it would go in this direction," Peterson told Bravo. "When it was evident that we needed to step in to help and I talked it over with George — we were like two seconds away from being empty-nesters. And I would say it was something, I mean, he was startled and he was really opposed to it initially.”

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“It was long conversations because George is at a time where he’s thinking of winding down his business and we really wanted to travel the world and put that ‘Gone fishing’ sign on our door and be gone. But this my first granddaughter and she’s precious and she’s smart and she’s beautiful and she needed somebody,” Peterson continued.

According to Peterson, she's started over again as a parent, but this time around, with two children under her belt, and one helpful daughter, it's been "so easy."

“It’s totally different," she said. "So I’ve got so much wisdom and it’s so easy and I’ve got my oldest daughter, Ashley, and she’s a huge help."

Tags: lauri peterson Bravo Reality TV The Real Housewives of Orange County