New kitten having trouble settling in.

Hi all, I'm new here. And relatively new to kittens. Until recently we had a wonderful dog and we had to say goodbye this summer My two kids missed having a pet and I felt like a cat would be a better fit for our busy family. Fast forward to Saturday and someone on Facebook posted they had some stray kittens in their backyard, I caved and we picked up two. In my ignorance I made a few mistakes like letting them have free range of the house, and they have been peeing EVERYWHERE. I have shown them the litter box and even put them in the litter box, but they continue to pee outside of the litter box. They are pooping in the litter box but not pee. I have spent a small fortune on pheromone diffusers, special litter, different litter boxes, enzyme cleaners... I'm just not sure why they aren't peeing in the box.

Also, how can two litter mates be so different? The Orange kitten is so outgoing and friendly, he seeks out affection and starts purring immediately when you pet him. The grey kitten is terrified. He hisses at us and hides all the time. Like comes out to eat and goes back immediately. I've tried feeding him wet food with a spoon and that seems to bring him out a bit, but my husband is concerned that our busy rambunctious home might not be suited to him. We have a two year old who is just learning to be gentle (ie. she is a cat's worst nightmare...). He's afraid she might get bitten or scratched badly when this cat is older. He also thinks that it would be better to rehome the grey kitten while it's still young and more likely to find a better suited/quiet home. In fact he's regretting giving me the okay to get these kittens and wants to take them to a shelter. I have two small children and work full time as a teacher. I don't have a ton of time to work on getting a kitten tame. Would we be better off trying to find the grey kitten a home now while he's still adorable (he is super cute) or risk that he won't ever settle in or be happy in our busy/loud home and will need to be regimes later. I don't really want that to be the message I send my children that you get pets and get rid of them when they aren't easy, but my husband's concerns are valid too.

Thanks in advance.

When I adopted my kitten, Roxy, she was the same way. We loved her so much but she just hated the attention and would hide in places that were almost impossible for us to take her out. Some cats need much more time to adjust. When we first brought her home, she our entire hallway to herself (it had a connecting door to our bedroom and bathroom, and while we were at work, we would only leave her in that hallway. At night when we would sleep, we could hear her finally playing with her toys and jumping around (this was after a couple of days).

Also, after a while, we would leave the bedroom door open while we were asleep so she could smell us and get used to our scent, then after that, everyday we would come home from work and play with her in that hallway. Then eventually we opened up more and more space and slowly but surely, she got used to the place. It took her about 4 months to even think about going to the patio. but now she spends most of her days out there.

Some cats just really need to feel secure and they should always be able to run into that safe spot when they get scared. As for the hissing, we nipped that in the but from the beginning. If she would hiss, we would SSSHH her and she rarely hisses anymore.

All cats are really different. We just adopted another cat (Luna) and she didn't need an introduction to our place. She loved us from the second she stepped in the house and would even start purring the minute we opened the door and got home from work. she also loved our Roxy cat but for about 2 months, Roxy hated her. She still attacks her sometimes but they now sleep together. We had to give these girls a very slow introduction (mainly because of Roxy). 

I don't think you should give up on her, I think she just needs to know that she's safe, and if you can do that for her, and give her lots of love and treats, she'll hopefully open up! But every situation is different, so do what you think is best!