Christmas is done...Now What?

We have made it through Christmas....now what?  That seems to be how we live our life from day to day...we filled out all paperwork that is currently due..now what?  We have online training and a classroom training...then what? 

The paperwork does ask you so many in depth questions I wonder what the world may be like if those conceiving a child naturally had to assess every question in your life to know if you are ready to be a parent.  We are currently filling out our home study questionaire and they ask everything from your finances (specifics) to questions such as "What type of discipline did you encounter as a child", "What type of discipline will you give your child" and "How do you handle interpersonal relationship conflict"...this questionaire is 10 pages of detailed questions and essay responses.  We each have to fill one out and it is rather daunting.  It makes us think about everything we hold near and dear and think about those things that we wouldn't give a second thought to on a daily basis.

This week will be the finliazation of this questionaire as well as beginning our online training module.  Nothing too exciting for us but it keeps us moving along the path.

Martin Luther once said "Everything in the world is done by hope."
Team Harvey agrees and couldn't have said it better ourselves. 

Now What?

Christmas and Hope

Christmas time is a magical yet sometimes depressing time of year if you have experienced infertility or are longing for a child to placed into your care.  Everywhere you look there are screaming children in the store, frazzled parents frantically shopping for the perfect gift and children sitting on Santa's lap.  We can only hope that this is our last Christmas without a child for us to love and show the true meaning of Christmas and family.

Christmas is the season of hope and with that we have a renewed strength of hope in God, our families, and most of all each other.  This process is not an easy one and tests you to your very core.  We love each other deeply and are both committed to doing this to complete our family.  As I sit at Christmas Eve service tonight I hope that instead of being saddened by the parents and their adorable little cherubs (sinced we don't have one), that I can be hopeful in the season and that looking forward to Christmas 2011.

Romans 12:12 states "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayers."  This is the quote we are choosing to live this journey through.

We wish all of our family, friends, and those that read this blog a Happy Holiday, Merry Christmas, and to remember to hopeful in whatever challenges are in your life and continue to be faithful in your prayers.

Love,
Jilien and Craig

And the Paperwork begins....

For those of you who know anything about the adoption process, it is a process that contains an inordinate amount of paperwork.  We received a zip folder with over 20 documents of checklists, documents that need to be filled out by us, our doctor, friends/familiy as references, and bank statements.  It seems somewhat daunting in the task but after almost 20 months of doctor appointments, ultrasounds, and pharamacy visits, it doesn't seem so bad.

This weeks duty was for us to go get fingerprinted at the Blaine Police Department, this is required for our extensive criminal background study that is done by the State of MN.  So, so far we have:
1.  Asked 3 family/friends to write detailed reference letters for our application.
2.  Paid and accessed the online MN Department of Human Services website and opened our background study.
3. Filled out 5 pages of paperwork that goes along with the background check.
4.  Gone and paid to be fingerprinted at the police station.
5.  Today, I will be turning in all paperwork to our Lutheran Social Service case worker.

This just begins the mountains of additional paperwork.  We hope that as we continue to fill out paperwork and think about the reason and meaning behind it, it will seem less daunting and more exciting as we continue to move one step closer to the approval.

What If....

For some of you, you may be wondering:  Why Adoption?  Why Now?  We have been discussing for the past 20 months the "What Ifs" of life.  When you are actively trying to conceive and no time or money is making your plight any better, you start to wonder "What if we never have kids", "What if we spend $20K on IVF and it doesn't work...What If..."  Those "What If" moments led us to discuss adoption.  Ultimately, we just want to be parents.  We would love to have a biological child but perhaps God's "What If" for us was Adoption.

Every day each of us are faced with our own "What Ifs"...our current one is "What If God decided that to be a parent, we would need to go through the adoption process."  Each of us has our own journey through life.  For those people that have faced infertility, each corner you turn is a calendar, timetable, and a hurry up and  wait approach.  We hope that whatever "What If" is around our corner, that we continue to make the best decisions for Team Harvey. 

Meet Team Harvey

Greetings!  We are Jilien and Craig Harvey and we have now entered the world of being a perspective adoptive parents.  We are excited and nervous for this amazing journey in our life and decided to begin a blog to record all of our happenings over the next months and maybe year(s).  We are doing this so our friends and family can keep up with all of our timelines, emotions, and daily life through this journey.  We thank you for your support, love, and encouragement through this amazing time in our life.