When can I switch over to Family Mobile's Unlimited Plans? #familymobilesaves

Almost a month ago I wrote about my experience signing up for Walmart Family Mobile and finding freedom  and great service with their unlimited talk, text and data with no contracts. Now that I've been using it for a while I can give you a little update on my experience with this cheap wireless plan.

While I intended to get this phone for my husband, I have to be honest. It hasn't left my side. He has a newer phone than me, and well, I just couldn't give up this awesome phone. Especially when my other phone hardly even works anymore. As a blogger, I feel the need to be connected. I even took it with me to a conference in Arkansas, and was able to get some great pictures using it.

A couple of weeks after activation, I received a text letting me know my bill was ready. When you get your bill, you have a couple of options. You can easily sign into your Walmart Family Mobile account online and pay with a credit/debit/atm card or checking account, you can pay over the phone (just dial 611), or you can go to your local Walmart and pay at the Customer Service desk if you prefer doing it in person. I like the convenience of paying online

While the data plan is unlimited, after you've used 1GB of data, your speed will be reduced. I managed not to get anywhere near 1GB, by using wi-fi as much as possible. If you're worried about your usage, you can always sign into your account and check on it easily.

So the burning question is, will I continue to use the Family Mobile service? Absolutely, positively, yes! It's the best wireless service I've tried. I still have a couple of months left with my current provider, but as soon as they cut me loose I plan on becoming a loyal Family Mobile customer. And my husband is planning on it as well, especially since a second line is only $35 a month. Of course we'll then have to share the 1GB of data, but I think we'll be okay since we're around wi-fi most of the time.

To check out my entire experience, you can go to my Google+ story.

What do you think of the Family Mobile service? Is it something that interests you?

Samsung Wi-fi Cameras make photography fun and exciting! #pixbundle

Disclaimer: I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias and their client, Samsung. I'm sharing my genuine experience as a consumer. All opinions are my own and are not influenced in any way.

I have to admit I have a bit of bad luck with cameras. If I'm not dunking them into the ocean with a fishing pole, I'm usually dropping them, losing the battery charger, losing the camera, or even somehow getting some fuzz underneath the lens so that every picture is blurry. I've got quite a collection of old and ruined cameras that I call my camera graveyard.

When we went on our road trip this past Winter we had an extreme lack of a camera. We were able to capture most of our adventure with our phones, but I feel like I missed out on a lot of moments that should have been captured. After that I was determined to do my research and find a camera that would meet my needs, and maybe even break my bad luck streak.

I grabbed the little guy and headed off to Sam's Club to check out the Samsung WB800F Camera. Reading about the features, I knew I would have a lot of fun with it. Touch screen, many fun picture modes and edits, and of course built in wi-fi! Not to mention the 16.3 megapixels that would mean great quality pictures as well.

Last year I attempted to buy a wi-fi enabled camera with pretty bad results. Neither my husband or I could end up getting the camera to connect to our phones or to any social network, so the social sharing didn't even work. It didn't have a touch screen, so it made selecting options and typing pretty impossible. We ended up returning it soon after we bought it. I was a little nervous buying another wi-fi camera, but I'm happy to say that these Samsung Smart Cameras do not disappoint! 

The camera bundle is the way to go because you've got everything you need to start taking pictures as soon as you take it out of the box! The battery was charged up and the memory card was ready to go. A case means I can stick it in my diaper bag or purse without having to worry about it getting scratched up. And it doesn't cost you anymore than it would just buying the camera by itself!

Once I had it set up and ready to go I had a lot of fun playing with some of the different photo features:

The macro feature took some great pictures of my strawberry plants.

Fisheye is always fun!

I've never done a panorama shot before, so I tried it out in my backyard. Pretty neat!

The split shot feature allowed me to take two separate pictures and make it into one. The only way to get both of these boys smiling in the same shot!

Of course I had to see how the zoom worked, so I tested it on a tree from a different neighborhood.

This is the same tree at a 17x zoom. It's not blurry at all, even in the dim light of the foggy morning!

I am confident that this camera will not be ending up in my camera graveyard any time soon! While I've only explored a small portion of the features, I'm excited to continue to use it and learn about all of the different things it can do. This camera is my new best friend.

To learn more about this camera, and other great Samsung cameras, follow along on Twitter and Facebook!

What do you look for in a camera? What features are most important to you? What do you love taking pictures of?

For more photos of my experience, check out my Google+ photo story!

Goddess Garden Sunscreen - Enlightened Suncare for the Whole Family *giveaway*

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored review and giveaway from Goddess Garden Natural Suncare. I received two products to facilitate my review. No other compensation was exchanged. All opinions are my own and not influenced in any way.

Summer's almost here! Well, in some parts of the country, it might already feel like it. Even though it's technically still Spring, it's warm and sunny here in Southern California, and we've already made it out to the beach a few times.

Even on an overcast day at the beach, the risk for sunburn is high! I try to double up with protective shirts for my boys as well as a great sunscreen. 

Shopping for sunscreen can be a little overwhelming. I prefer to purchase something that's as natural and organic as possible, especially after studies came out last year linking the chemicals in conventional sunscreens to skin cancer. It seems a little ridiculous, right? Putting sunscreen on your children to protect them from skin cancer can potentially give them skin cancer?! Not if you do your research and purchase a safer product.

Obviously the ingredients are very important to me. But so is the functionality of the product. I've purchased plenty of sunscreens that had the very best ingredients, only to find them too thick, too thin, too gloopy, not gloopy enough, whatever. 

One of the products I received to try was the Sunny Kids Organic Continuous Spray Sunscreen. I normally steer clear of spray on sun products due to the questionable nature of the ingredients, but I was impressed by the quality of this one. It has mineral-based sun protection, as well as a non-aerosol and fully recyclable container. With my older boys, getting a sunscreen lotion on their heads is hard, but with their hair so short it's important to have coverage. This spray was easy and quick to apply, so they could get right to playing. And when it was time to reapply, it only took a second!

For my little guy, the Baby Natural Sunscreen worked wonderfully. It also has mineral-based sun protection, as well as mild ingredients to protect and hydrate baby's sensitive skin. This formula was rated as a top pick last year in the EWG Best Sunscreen list.

Don't forget about yourself! Goddess Garden offers sun protection for everyone with their Everyday and Facial formulas. I was too busy worrying about the kids, and fell asleep without ample protection. Believe me I was not happy for the next few days!

You can purchase any of the products right from the Goddess Garden web site, or find a store near you that sells it!

Win it!

Enter the rafflecopter giveaway below to win a free Goddess Garden product of your choice.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Celebrate the June Calendar Bums SoftBums print and win!

Disclaimer: This is NOT a sponsored post. Just participating in a fun blog hop and giveaway for products I think are super awesome. I will not receive compensation, but if you win the giveaway on the SoftBums site, I could win something too.

It's no secret that I love cloth diapers. The cute prints, the fluffy bottoms, and the efficiency of the diapers of course! SoftBums has a really great trim and effective diapering system that makes cloth diapers easy for everyone, even cloth rookies and skeptics.

SoftBums is also doing something really fun this year with their diapers. Each month they've released a special edition Calendar Bums print. For June, the halfway point, they're celebrating the newest print with a fun blog hop and giveaways! 

SoftBums is giving away $100 in product to one lucky winner! 

Just click here to enter their giveaway and don't forget to tell them that Nine More Months sent you! 

What do you think the June print will be? Something Summer-y or beachy maybe? I have no idea! But you can win one here on my blog! Just enter the Rafflecopter giveaway below. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

How to create a clickable link in Rafflecopter

Rafflecopter has made hosting giveaways so incredibly easy! The simple widget makes entering your giveaway foolproof, and also makes sharing so much quicker. One thing I noticed when entering giveaways on other blogs is that I sometimes have to copy and paste link into the address bar of my browser because it's not clickable. If the prize isn't super enticing, I might skip that entry altogether.

As a blogger, we want those Pinterest followers to help grow our readership. We take care to put in different methods of entry that benefit both our blog and the company that is sponsoring the giveaway. It's a huge waste of time to add all these methods of entry and then have most people skip them over because they'd rather not copy and paste! And in a world where you can click on most anything, do you blame them?

Unlike most social media outlets, Rafflecopter doesn't automatically make your link clickable. This is why it's important to take an extra couple of seconds and enter in some super simple code. The first time I did this, I noticed a definite increase in the amount of entries that each person used! I've created a simple tutorial to help you out:

I'm using Pinterest as an example because this option is only available to those who pay for premium Rafflecopter services. Luckily, there's a way to get around that. 

Select "Invent Your Own Option" at the bottom of the Rafflecopter form.

Fill out the highlighted areas.

When you're adding your link you just simply use brackets next to a parenthesis. In the brackets you'll put whatever text you'd like the link to say, and in the parenthesis you'll put your link address. No spaces, no quotes, nothing else. 

I even made a little rhyme to help me remember the code even easier. Text in bracket, link in parenthesis - that's how you make Rafflecopter linkies!

When you're done it will look like this:

Now when people enter your giveaway they can click right over to your Pinterest page, your Google+ page, your sponsor's website or wherever else you'd like them to go! You'll see an increase in the amount of entries each person takes advantage of, and hopefully you'll see even more success in your giveaways.

If this post was helpful to you, please feel free to pin it or share it!

Finding freedom and great service with Walmart Family Mobile #familymobilesaves

Disclaimer: I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias® and Walmart Family Mobile. This blog post is a true story about my experiences in phone service. #FamilyMobileSaves #cbias #SocialFabric

I've been a loyal iPhone user for over 3 years now. Right after I upgraded my phone last Spring I was so in love with it. But as the months went by I became increasingly frustrated with both my phone and my service provider. I mean, I get absolutely no service at my son's school. Even outside! And the other mothers who use the same provider as me can attest to that.

Oftentimes you'll find me angrily deleting apps from my phone because there's not enough room to take a picture, even though I have barely any pictures saved and the settings say I have a free gig of space. Regardless of how updated I keep my operating system and apps, it still seems to run as slow as can be. But the thing that bugs me the most is it's recent issue with chargers. Every time I plug it in - even to the charger that came with it - it gives me the same error message. After a lot of wiggling and jiggling I can sometimes get it to work. Other days it dies before I can get any juice.

My husband and I have been toying with the idea of switching to an Android - and another provider - for a while now. Many of our more tech-savvy friends have been trying to convince us to do so as well. One thing that's been holding us back of course is our current cell-phone contract. We still have a few months left, but when we can finally switch, it is nice to have an idea of where you want to go.

My Walmart has a variety of phones that are super cheap when you sign up for service. Since I'm not looking to be tied down for another two years, that doesn't work for me. Side rant: Two years is a long time to be stuck with the same phone or service provider. Every few months there is something new, and when I'm stuck in a contract I feel like I miss out on the newer technology. Contracts are not cool! 

Then you have your prepaid service. While this is a better alternative, you tend to be limited on the amount of minutes you're given. In a time where most people use the data and text more than anything, you would think that minutes would be the last thing to be limited. And while I don't talk on the phone a ton, I do talk to my mom almost every day, and I'm sure we go way over 100 minutes a month. The prepaid service would end up costing me extra because I'd need to buy more minutes.

Walmart recently launched a new option for those looking for affordable and reliable phone service. The Walmart Family Mobile plan is not a contract plan, but it's not prepaid either. It's 4G service, with unlimited text, talk, and web, for a small monthly fee. How small, you ask? After the initial $25 starter kit which includes your SIM card and activation, it's just $40 a month. Need to add more lines? Each additional line is $35 a month. 

I went through the activation in store, and it was pretty painless. However, I don't particularly like giving out my personal information out loud. Thankfully it was early and there weren't too many people in the store. I would have much preferred either typing the information in myself, or filling out a form to have the employee type in. Afterwards I found out that you can activate your starter kit online as well. 

When I got home, I received my first text with the account management link and was excited to explore my new phone! I do have to say that it is quite a learning curve going from iPhone to Android. My brother-in-law - an Android lover - actually sat down with my husband and I and gave us a few tips and tricks, and showed us around the new phone. So far I can say that we are very happy with the service and the phone. In a few months when our contract is up we are planning on becoming a Walmart Family Mobile family!

See more pictures from our adventure in my Google+ story here!

What is your cell phone service like? Are you looking for a change?

Goodies Co. - A Snacker's Delight!

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Goodies Co. All opinions are my own and not influenced in any way.

Are you an indecisive eater?

I am. In fact, my husband can't stand going to the store with me, because even with a list I still hem and haw over every choice. He will eat whatever he is offered. For me, choosing what to eat for a meal or a snack is as much of an emotional choice as a physical choice. And forget about eating the same thing twice in a row. I'm always seeking out something new to excite my taste buds with!

Enter Goodies Co. The Goodies Co. is a subscription service that brings a variety of snacks directly to your door each month. Each Taster's Box, as they're called, contains 5 to 8 yummy snacks and is only $7.00. 

Goodies Co. is a highly sought after service, and there is currently a waiting list to get your invitation. Of course I wouldn't be writing about them if I knew you wouldn't be able to try it out, so I have a special code that you can use to "skip the line" and get an instant invitation from Goodies Co. Just use: BLOGVIP.

Once you enter the code into the promo page, you will receive 2 emails from Goodies. The first will state you are in line for your invitation, the next will tell you your invitation has arrived - not much of a wait at all!

What I really love about Goodies Co. (besides the great variety of snacks, of course) is the reward system. After trying all of the treats in your box, you can go onto the website and share your thoughts. With every review you'll earn credits that can be saved up and redeemed for free Taster's Boxes!

I didn't receive a free box, but I am definitely taking advantage of the chance to skip the wait list. I can't way to try my first box of treats. I just hope it comes when my kids aren't around so that I don't have to share! 

Have you ever done a subscription like this? If you decide to try Goodies Co. please let me know what you think! 

Greeña colada smoothie recipe featuring Fruti all natural frozen fruit bars #CBias #FreshNFruti

I'm always trying to give my kids the healthiest food possible. Within reason of course, because they're not always going to eat the things I really want them to eat. I try to sneak extra veggies and protein into their snacks and meals, but they have started to get wise to my tricks, sadly. Social Fabric sent me to Sam's Club on a mission to find a healthy snack alternative that my kids would love.

Luckily, in the frozen dessert section, Sam's Club has a new addition. The Chunks O' Fruti frozen fruit bars are made with real fruit! They take pride in selecting premium fresh fruit from around the world to ensure a quality product. The fruits are delivered to the facility soon after harvesting, so they're as fresh as can be. 

You can really see the pieces of fruit in each bar! The Caribbean Mix (shown above) has quite the variety. It's also my favorite of the four flavors. That rich color isn't the result of artificial anything, it gets it color and delicious flavor from all of the fruit it contains. There's also no High Fructose Corn Syrup to be found, and best of all, they are now Non-GMO verified! 

If your freezer looks anything like mine, you might be worried about fitting a box of 16 frozen natural fruit bars in it. Lucky for you and me, they come packaged in smaller boxes, one for each flavor. 

If your kids are anything like mine, you might have less than 16 left by the time you get home, so no need to worry about freezer space! What, you don't let them eat popsicles while you check out?

While the Fruti bars are totally delicious by themselves, I thought it would be fun to make something extra special to drink. My four year old actually likes spinach in smoothies, and I'm totally fine with that, so I made him a special snack using spinach, a banana, a cut-up pineapple spear, some homemade almond milk (about 1/2 cup) and a Piña Colada Fruti bar that I broke into pieces. Don't forget to take the stick out!

Blend it all together, and what do you have?

I call it a Greeña Colada. It's alcohol-free, so everyone in the family can enjoy it. But you might want to double the recipe if you don't like to share. The possibilities are endless with the drink combinations you can make using Fruti. You can find some great suggestions on the Chunks O' Fruti Facebook and Twitter pages. Use your imagination, and enjoy your healthy treat.

Check out more pictures from our shopping adventure in my Google+ Album!

Disclaimer: I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias®  and Fruti #cbias #SocialFabric #FreshNFruti

Eco-friendly and adorable - meet the Baby Buds crew! #BabyBuds #giveaway

In my quest to raise my family in a more natural way, I've become very selective about the products that enter our house. Baby products are especially tricky because there are so many cute and colorful things to choose from, but I can't be sure about the integrity of the materials.

When I was contacted my MomSelect on behalf of BabyBuds™  I was immediately drawn in. All natural and very adorable baby toys that I could give to my little guy without any worries. I thought they might be expensive, much like many other eco-friendly baby products. To my surprise, they're not only affordable, they're being carried at Target! (Select stores for now, but be on the lookout at yours.)

So what are BabyBuds™?

BabyBuds™ are a line of toys that are made with naturally sustainable, eco-friendly fabrics, including certified organic cottons and natural silks. Each BabyBuds™ toy is filled with virgin biodegradable corn fiber, uses only low impact dyes, and is packed with minimal packaging.

There are four equally adorable characters to choose from:
Mogo the Monkey
Zeke the Zebra
Hoot the Owl
Frump the Elephant

Every BabyBuds™ product is free from harmful chemicals, and complies with the strictest global safety standards. There are several different products to choose from, including rattles, teethers, plush toys, crib toys, and blankies. Morgan was instantly drawn to the Mogo the Monkey blankie. It's so incredibly soft, and it makes a comforting travel buddy for a little guy who hates being in his car seat.

Each toy comes with a cute little back story that makes it all the more adorable. Although Morgan's a little too young to get it now, I would love to share it with him when he's a little older. He can even add to it if he wants to get creative with his little friend.

Mogo swings from tree to tree and does flips that make everyone gasp.  He is always on the move and looking for the next cave to explore or cliff to climb. Mogo would go to the moon if he could, and maybe he’ll meet a child who can help him get there.

BabyBuds™ are available in 138 Target stores across the country. Check out the store locator to see where the closest one to you is. I have one less than 20 miles away, so next time I head up that way I'll have to check out the rest of the BabyBuds™ line.

Win it! 

One lucky winner will receive a pair of BabyBuds™ products for their little one. Follow the directions on the Rafflecopter form to enter. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer: I received free products in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own and not paid for!