All the low rewards Seattle to Rome are gone for next summer. I did find 2 seats Milan to Seattle on August 23rd for 30k each. If you have enough miles, you could book those return flights today, and book Seattle to Rome for 60k each (availability is wide open for 60k) when you finish earning the miles. This would cost a total of 90k points each. That's the nice thing about one way awards. Remember, you can hold tickets, and you have 24 hours to cancel a redemption without penalty. I would book hold those seats on August 23rd immediately and then talk it over with your spouse.

Otherwise, getting SPG cards will help earn more AA miles, but by the time you finish earning them, you'll be stuck paying 120,000 miles each.