This Get Ready With Me post is brought to you by guest blogger Miss Betty Doll, blogger, Instagram babe, and glam pinup mumma extraordinaire.

I have been asked a few times how I get ready with a little one. I’m always honored when someone asks, because as a mother I have a tenancy to second guess every single thing that I do (motherhood is one giant guilt trip. Seriously.). It’s nice to know one aspect of my life appears put together!

One thing that I have refused to budge on as a mother is my getting ready time. I am happy to shower with my child, hold her as I cook, have very little downtime and put her needs first just about all the time. I love it. I really do. But I will not give up my getting ready ritual, and I will not give up my pretty dresses. I think it’s important as a mother to weigh up something that is important to you and hang onto it for dear life, because if you don’t make it a priority – it won’t be.

First things first, ladies: shower the night before. If I were to shower in the morning, blow dry my hair and then attempt to starting styling my hair and applying makeup, I’d never get out the door and my child would be a sobbing mess. Also, for those of you that do pincurls, it just makes more sense to shower at night because your hair is damp for when you go to apply your pincurl set!

Secondly – you get ready first. Before breakfast. Before getting your child ready. Before making the bed. Before your cup of coffee (if you’re a brave soul. Anyone? Nah, didn’t think so.) Babies and toddlers tend to be happiest in that first hour of waking time and gradually decline throughout the day. It will also make you feel better throughout the day to know that you had a good 30-45 minutes in the morning of time just for you! Not only that, but if you get them ready first they will find a way to destroy their appearance before you get out the door anyway. Unknown liquids will be spilled on their top. Shoes will disappear. Hairbows will go into hiding. Just wait to get them ready, woman, trust me!

Alrighty, now that we have that down, let’s get started!

I always roll out of bed when Selene does. It’s very rare that I wake before her, and if I do it’s because I managed to go to bed sometime before 10pm and my body has advised me I can safely wake without being so exhausted I want to stab someone in the eye. I take the next 10 minutes or so of my morning routine to do some multitasking by holding her. It helps her to wake up and have some cuddle time before my time begins. I start with brushing my teeth and then hers, all with her in my arms. Next I turn my curling iron on at my vanity (whether or not I’ve done a pincurl set. Chances are I will end up using it to one extent or another).

I keep a little basket of toys next to my vanity which I change  every few weeks to hold her interest. I also play cheery music to keep her perky momentum going.

I start with my makeup. My look rarely changes and I have my routine down pat. Dita Von Teese herself states that this is the secret of getting ready. Repetition! Save the awesome YouTube makeup tutorials for nights out and special occasions. If you find a look that works for you and stick to it, it makes life with a baby/toddler so much easier! I tend to change up the lip color to match my outfit, but everything else is the same every day. My makeup takes me about 15 minutes, including cheekbone highlighter, false eyelashes and bright lips., because I do it all the time.

I keep little snacks on my vanity for when Selene starts to fuss. This normally happens halfway through doing my hair. Crackers, rice cakes, baby snacks – anything goes…. I might have given her a couple of super soft jelly beans the other day to keep her quiet. Shoot me, I ain’t perfect.

Whilst I am doing my hair she is generally finding things in the room to scatter and trash. She is a beautiful tornado. When your lil one does this, ladies – let them! Unless it’s something dangerous, just let it be. It will take you 5 minutes to straighten up afterwards, and if you go checking on what they are doing every 2 minutes and taking things away, putting things back, etc, you will never get ready! It’s entertaining them and buying you some very valuable time.

If Selene really loses it (generally when I am having an awful hair day and taking twice the normal time to do my hair) I just pull her into my lap with me and let her either munch on said snacks, or explore my vanity.

My hair routine is similar to my makeup routine – I do the same thing all the time. When I learn something new (like that big-ass front hair swoop, whoo!!) I incorporate it into my roster of changing hairstyles, but other than that it’s all the same. I either pin my hair back, do a front swoop or do victory rolls.

Once my face is on and my hair is tamed, I go about my day as normal till I’m actually ready to head out the door. Getting dressed takes a couple of minutes, and if I have breakfast to make, diapers to change and running around the house to do, I don’t want to do it in a tight dress and high heels (I save that for when the hubs gets home so I can look insanely productive AND eye-catching at the same time. It’s all a lie. *insert evil cackle*). As you may know, I currently match outfits with my daughter just about every day (see this guest post at Pinup Persuasion on how to choose matching mother daughter outfits) and I generally pick our ensembles out the night before. There are lots of bits and pieces to a pinup and mini pinups wardrobe, and I need to ensure they are all on hand in the morning.

So that’s my current routine! When Selene was a tiny baby, I did alot of baby wearing. I have been known to plop her on a breastfeeding pillow, hike it up to the proper height and let her feed whilst applying my makeup. I also used to get ready whilst she napped as she used to sleep alot more during the day that she does now as a toddler. I would also plop her down on her play gym and let her tinker with things whilst I got ready. If it works, it works!

If you have multiple kiddos, hopefully the older one is old enough to watch TV. I do find TV to be a major savior when I’m cleaning, so if you have one nearby – use it! My bedroom is upstairs and my TV is downstairs, and I don’t like leaving her on her own for that long. I know a mama who has a TV upstairs and a babygate at the stairwell so her little one can watch TV and wander into her room at his leisure whilst she gets ready. A girlfriend of mine who has two currently gets up about 30 minutes before her kiddos to get ready. When I expand on my family, I will need to do the same.

I see alot of women say they don’t have enough time to get ready post-baby. Oh you beautiful, beautiful mamas! You do! I swear! You just have to make it a priority. That, ladies, is the hard part. Putting your mind to it that rocking red lippy is important when you have a tiny life to tend to is hard. But it’s worth it. Some may call it vain, but if vanity is putting one aspect of your life before your child and managing your time wisely, then color me conceited.

So the key points to remember are:

• Shower the night before
• Keep snacks nearby
• Keep a few toys in your room or wherever you get ready
• Messes will happen – let them
• Get your routine down pat
• Put together outfits the night before
• Do nothing before getting yourself ready – put yourself first for once ❤