I wanted to catch everyone up. First, thanks for the replies! All of the help has been fantastic! 
Here is where we are and what we are doing.
Upon searching for the “best bank” we kept coming back to Millennium bank and we make it our first choice. We contacted the bank through email and phone and was told we could not open an account. We reached out to Youtube ExpatsEverywhere and they were able to give us a contact inside the bank that is helping us get setup. Just as one of the earlier replies stated, it depends on who you talk to! The contact has been helpful and responsive!
As mentioned, we have our NIF. We provided them proof of address, proof of job, passport copies. They sent us back the forms they need.
Here is the shocker… They need the documents signed and for us to complete one of the two options.
- Have the signatures recognized in the Portuguese consulate near you. With this you will not need the apostille;
- Have the signatures notarized in the US and then apostille the notarization.
Our challenge is we live at least 10 hours from the nearest consulate… so we pulled up apostille services in Atlanta GA and we were shocked by the price. One was 375 for the 1st and 1/2 of 375 for each document thereafter. The other was 150 for the first and “about” 100 for each remaining document… so we are looking at a 20 hour round trip, overnight stay or 5 hour round trip to Atlanta and at least $500 for the apostille service.
I am now considering just going with Bison and the online process… we will make a decision today. 
More to come!