Drake was born nine days earlier than anticipated, but still with impeccable timing. We had completed building our new house (9 am 2/25), passed the city inspection (10 am 2/25), moved in (by 3 pm 2/25), established phone service (2 pm 2/29), completed Kristin's last day of work (5 pm 2/29), unpacked most of our boxes, and bought plane tickets to Anchorage to watch our friend John Bramante and his dog team start the Iditarod Sled Dog Race (5 pm 3/1) when Kristin went into labor (5:30 pm 3/1).



David Thomas, Kristin Mitchell
and son Drake Murphy Mitchell Thomas

Labor was swift, intense, and drug-free. Since she didn't want to be sent home from the hospital in early labor, Kristin waited until she was pretty sure this was the real thing; we arrived at the hospital at 10 pm and left our bags in the car while we checked in. She dilated from four to eight centimeters over the next forty minutes and started pushing moments after her doctor arrived. Drake arrived at 11:17 pm. 

"Feel free to stop here unless you are a glutton
for baby pictures!" 

David's nine-month project has been building our house - a long-standing dream for him. We originally designed a small "in-law" place with plans to build a bigger house later elsewhere on our thirteen acres;  but, with a baby on the way and after experiencing the advent of friends and family visiting for the summer, we remodeled and built a bigger house before the sheet rock went up. We now have a 1700 square-foot home with dramatic views of Cook Inlet and the volcanic peaks across the water. We're delighted to have a place of our own that Drake can grow in, surrounded by forest, beach and meadow.
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