Best way to integrate existing project with CVS

I have a project that I created in Intellij and i want to integrate revision control.  Currently this is the only way i was able to successfully accomplish this

1)  Create empty CVS project on server

2)  In Intellij, import my complete project into the CVS project folder I created in #1

3) I then have to checkout the project from CVS in order for Intellij to track any changes I make to the project and actually have revision control.

This should only be a 2 step process IMO as it is with other IDE's i have used.  After step #2 the project should already be CVS ready and track my changes.  I shouldn't have to checkout the project I just imported into CVS.  What am I missing here, Is there a better way to do this?