One Step Forward Two Steps back

Sometimes it just seems like I am dreaming when it comes to our adoption. I know it is real but the time frame just continues to increase every time I think we are one month closer to getting our girl. When we first put in our adoption application at the end of November 2005 we were told the process would take 12-15 months from start to finish, 9 months was the waiting for referral time after DTC. It took seven and a half months to get our paperwork to China. I have watch the referral time go from nine months to sixteen to eighteen months. I have decided to go ahead and sign my contract for the next school year and take a maternity leave due to the fact that I do not know exactly when we leave for China. I really was looking forward to not returning to work especially after this extremely hard year but that's OK. It will help pass the time until I get my referral.