Kevin Elaine

The wait time for an EAD card/travel permit could be 8-12 months (sometimes more) after filing AOS. Therefore your wife could not leave the US or work during that period. If you did consular processing, she could work and travel immediately once entering the US with her visa. 

This is a delicate situation.
 
How long has your wife been present in the US on this trip? To adjust on basis of marriage to LPR, one should be in valid immigration status, all the way up to AOS approval. Only US citizen's spouse overstay and unauthorized work is forgiven. If your wife overstayed by more than 6 months but less than a year, she will have a 3 year bar on entering to the US, if she leaves now. If she overstayed by more than a year, she will have a 10 year bar on entry!
 
Are you thinking of naturalizing? How soon can you naturalize? This may be a solution. E.g. naturalize first and then petition for her. Do not submit anything before that.
 
If she's lawfully here now and didn't overstay, she needs to leave the US before her status ends. And you will file I-130 for consular processing in this case.
 
Regarding the question about pending I-130 and her visiting. Yes, it's possible, but not guaranteed. She cannot lie to CBP if they ask whether she has family in the US or say she's travelling as a tourist with a toddler etc.
 
There's a thread discussing just that:
 
 
Good luck!
 
 

Adjustment of Status       
    More expensive than CR-1    
    Spouse can not leave the US until she/he receives approved Advance Parole (approx 6-8 months)    
    Spouse can not work until she/he receives EAD (approx 6-8 months)    
    Some people have had problems with driver licenses, Social Security cards, leases, bank account during this period    
    Spouse will not receive Green Card for many months after Adjustment of Status is filed.
     
       
CR-1
    Less expensive than AOS
    No Adjustment of Status(I-485, I-131, I-765) required.    
    Spouse can immediately travel outside the US    
    Spouse is authorized to work immediately upon arrival.    
    Spouse receives Social Security Card and Green Card within 2 or 3 weeks after entering the US    
    Opening a bank account, getting a driver's license, etc. are very easily accomplished with GC, SS card, and passport.
    Spouse has legal permanent Resident status IMMEDIATELY upon entry to US.
   

 

Op - If your wife is already in the USA and her authorized stay has not expired, she is eligible to file for AOS. The F2A Family sponsored visa category is current, so yes you/she can concurrently file both I-130 and I-485 now. I don’t get why some in this forum continue to make the blanket statement of only the spouse of a USC is eligible to file for AOS. That is absolutely not true. As long as the spouse of a LPR was legally admitted into the US, their authorized stay has not expired, and the visa category is current, (and of course the decision to file for AOS was made after their admission to the US), the spouse of a LPR is AOS eligible. The USCIS Manual debunks this myth of the spouse of a LPR not being eligible to file for AOS as it lists the relatives of a LPR as one of the categories eligible to file for AOS:
 
Noncitizens eligible for adjustment of status generally may apply based on one of the following immigrant categories or basis for adjustment:
Other relative of a U.S. citizen or relative of a lawful permanent resident under a family-based preference category; [3] 
[^ 3] This category includes the following family-based preference immigrant classifications: unmarried sons and daughters, 21 years of age and older, of U.S. citizens; spouses and unmarried children, under 21 years of age, of lawful permanent residents; unmarried sons and daughters, 21 years of age and older, of lawful permanent residents; married sons and daughters of U.S. citizens; and brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens (if the U.S. citizen is 21 years of age or older). See INA 203(a). 
 
Yes, maintaining a valid status while the AOS application is pending is recommended, it is NOT a required condition for AOS approval. This is recommended as it ensures one has a valid fall back status if the AOS application is denied for some other (not related to falling out of status following AOS filing). This shouldn’t be a source of concern IMO, if there’s no glaring reason for the AOS to be denied.
 
You however need to be aware your wife will not be able to work or depart from the US until after her I-765 (for EAD) and I-131 (for AP) have been approved, these can take several months after filing to get approved. If she departs from the US without an approved AP while her AOS application is pending, the application will be deemed abandoned and subsequently denied. 

Hopefully your wife is okay with not being able to travel or work for up to a year, as the AP/EAD is taking that long.   Green cards out of Seattle are taking over two years.