Those who have watched Jenelle Evans' motherhood journey since she appeared on 16 and Pregnant in 2010 have witnessed her many ups and downs. MTV viewers first met her as a pregnant high school senior before giving birth to her son, Jace, and then watched her as a young mother on Teen Mom 2. Recently, Jace celebrated his 15th birthday ā and fans can hardly believe Jenelle's son is already so grown up.
To recap, Jenelle's mother, Barbara Evans, had primary custody of Jace from shortly after birth until March 2023. Jenelle has since welcomed two other children, a son named Kaiser, 10, with her ex-boyfriend, Nathan Griffith, and a daughter named Ensley, 7, with her estranged husband, David Eason. Although she briefly lost custody of Kaiser and Ensley in May 2019 after Eason allegedly killed their dog, she regained custody by that July. Jenelle and Eason legally separated in March 2024.
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On August 3, Jenelle Evans posted a new photo of herself and Jace to celebrate his birthday.
Jenelle took to Instagram on August 3 with a sweet birthday shout-out for her eldest son. In the photo, the mom of three smiled while holding a cake with lit candles and standing in a kitchen. Jace stood next to her with one arm around his mom.
She reflected on how quickly the time had passed.
In addition to the photo, Jenelle shared a touching tribute for Jace.
"What is 15? Being 15 is riding 4 wheelers, building tents, ordering pizza with friends. Thats how @jace_vahn wanted his birthday!" she wrote. "How did those years go by so quick? ā¤ļø Iām the short one now! #HappyBirthday."
In the comments, many Instagram users could hardly believe how much Jace had grown.
Jenelle's Instagram users reacted to Jace turning 15 in the comments, with one writing, "Happy birthday kiddo! Man heās so big now!"
Another echoed, "Happy birthday!! I canāt believe heās 15 already."
Someone else commented, "Happy birthday! Yall both look so happy!! yay to new beginnings. Ignore the haters."
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Unfortunately, others got snarky.
Not everyone shared kind words for the Teen Mom star. One Instagram user snarked, "Time goes by fast when you prioritize lots of men over your children."
Another commenter wrote, "It went so fast Probably because you werenāt there for most of it. ."
Yet another critic commented, "It went by fast because … ."
Still others noticed Jace's shirt and wondered if he was high in the photo.
Meanwhile, others took one look at his "cookies" shirt and wondered if Jace was high. "Cookies shirt at 15?" one Instagram user pointed out, as another bluntly speculated, "Is he high?"
Another follower commented, "Yea 'just a shirt' and just his eye balls too huh lmao shorty is toasted ."
"Not saying he is high but if he was who cares?" someone else wrote. "Thereās a lot worse things he could be doing and smoking weed is really not that bad."
In response to the weed comments and snarky remarks, one Instagram issued an important reminder.
"Wow you guys really donāt let people change do you?" the person wrote. "Yes she was an absent mother. She got pregnant young, she didnāt really have a good support system, AND the show definitely made her look 10 times worse that it probably was."
The person continued, "The only thing that matters now is that she changed and is doing her absolute best. Let the past be the past. Iām sure her and her baby have worked through these things already. She doesnāt need to work them out through you š ."
