Snips and snails and puppy dog tails are what little boys are made of and believably there are a few extra special ingredients that are added in by moms who have a house full of sons.

Whitney Porter and Jennifer Tillotson know first hand what goes into the making of boys. Combined, the women are mothers of 10 sons, six and four boys respectively, with not a drop of sugar and spice in their homes.

Though at different junctures —Tillotson’s sons are grown and Porters range in age from 8-years-old to 2 — the women share a bond that mothers with girls could never understand.

“There was a little while when I wondered what it would have been like to have a girl. A lot of my friends have girls, and I see that they get to go to pageants and girly birthday parties, and I kind of sat and wondered for a quick second how that might would have been, but there is so much more that I get to do with having boys. I don’t ever feel like I am missing out on anything and girls are expensive. I can only image how complicated it would be with girls,” Porter said.

After the birth of her first two sons, Porter said she and her husband, Steve, decided to try one more time for a girl, but no matter whether the baby was a boy or girl it was to be the last.

“I had to take clomid (a fertility drug) to get pregnant, Porter said, and because she had used it in her previous pregnancies, which had both been single births, it never crossed her mind she would have multiples.

After finding out there were three babies, the doctors told Porter there was only an 8 percent chance she would give birth to all males and only a 2 percent chance the triplets would be all boys.

The youngest son was born after Porter claims her husband missed an appointment.

Like Porter, Tillotson too had also wondered what it would be like to have a daughter.

“I had always hoped for a girl and longed to buy those cute outfits and bows,” Tillotson said, “but in truth, a healthy baby was my greatest desire.”

But the optimism was always there, she said.

“Actually, I had the girl name, Jessica, picked out for each pregnancy. So when my last boy was born, I knew his name would be Jesse and the coolest thing is that Jesse will marry a Jessica in just two weeks. So, I will have a Jessica after all!”

Like Porter, Tillotson has no regrets in not having a daughter.

“I don’t feel like I missed anything by not having a girl, because, in truth, one day I will have four daughters-in-law and maybe a few granddaughters,” Tillotson said.

Ironically to date, Tillotson has one grandson with another on the way!

Living in a house full of sons is not the only thing Porter and Tillotson share. Both also have large families, which can be challenging.

Porter’s two oldest sons, Caleb, who is 8 and Connor who will soon be 6 attend elementary school, while the triplets, Easton, Noah and Colston, who are four and Camden who is two go to preschool.

“We are usually going in eight different directions,” Porter said.

“My husband has a full-time job, and we own our own business, so we are always running. There is never a dull moment. We are constantly doing something. My two older boys even play baseball, so even our nights are full,” she said.

Tilloston and her husband Jamie are now empty nesters, but she recalled a time when her life was hectic.

“I taught at Warren Central High School, Zak (30) attended Vicksburg High School, Alex (27) was at Vicksburg Junior High School, Caleb (24) was at Vicksburg Intermediate School and Jesse (21) was at South Park Elementary. We would not have survived that year without the help of our parents,” Tillotson said.

“One summer, they all played baseball. It was very hard to be at all the fields when they played at the same time. That was another one of the times that grandparents came to the rescue, which happened a lot during their growing up years. We were blessed to have both of our parents live in town, and they were always willing to help when needed,” she said.

In addition to playing sports, all of Tillotson’s sons are musicians.

Zak, Alex and Jesse play the drums and Caleb the saxophone.

“Since I play the piano and my husband is a drummer, I had always hoped that we would form a family music group, but life was always so busy,” she said.

Because Porter’s sons are still very young they have not really distinguished between the sexes yet, she said.

“My boys know nothing about girls. To them I am just their mom. They know that I am a girl, they are not dumb, but they don’t realize there is a difference,” she said.

“My boys (and their dad) always liked to tease me a lot about being the only girl in the house. They always encouraged me to do the boy things with them like swinging on a vine like Tarzan’s Jane, and the conversation at the dinner table was always full of laughs and some undesired sounds and smells,” Tillotson laughed.

However, there have been times she said when a mother of all-boys just has to hold her ground.

“When it comes to weddings, there is a difference between the roles of the son’s mother and the daughter’s mother. We get to plan the rehearsal dinner. My oldest three boys love to cook. In fact, they sometimes take over my kitchen at holiday dinners, which is really nice, but in the planning of Jesse’s rehearsal dinner, my boys, in their desire to help, got a little bossy in trying to tell me what I should do. I said, ‘Now just hold on. This is what I get to do for Jesse’s wedding. It is my job, and I want to enjoy every bit of it.’ Although, I did very much appreciate all of their wonderful advice,” Tillotson said.

“I love my children beyond anything anyone could have told me,” Porter said.

She explained that each one holds a special place in her heart.

“It’s a different love for each one of them. They each are their own unique person and have their own personalities and my bond has bed different with each. My first made us parents, my second is unique because he made his older brother a brother and I love him for being his brother’s first sibling. Of course my triplets were miracles in themselves, that I carried them as long as I did and they were all healthy and that is my special bond with them because I carried them at all the same time and my baby — he is my baby,” Porter said.

“Children are truly a gift from God,” Tillotson said.

“The most wonderful and important responsibility we have as adults is being a parent. Life is a roller coaster with all of the ups and downs, but oh — what a ride!”