function custom_do_loop() {
    global $post;

    // arguments, adjust as needed
    $args = wp_parse_args(
        genesis_get_custom_field( 'query_args' ),
        array(
            'post_type'      => 'post',
            'posts_per_page' => 8, // Change posts per page to 8
            'post_status'    => 'publish',
            'cat'            => '',
            'paged'          => get_query_var( 'paged' ) 
        )
    );

    global $wp_query;
    $wp_query = new WP_Query( $args );

    function get_first_post_image() {
        global $post, $posts;
        $first_img = '';
        ob_start();
        ob_end_clean();
        $output = preg_match_all('/<img.+src=[\'"]([^\'"]+)[\'"].*>/i', $post->post_content, $matches);
        $first_img = $matches [1] [0];

        // Defines a default image
        if(empty($first_img)){
            $first_img = "wp-includes/images/media/default.jpg";
        }
        return $first_img;
    }

    function _sposts_thumbnails( $excerpt ) {
        global $post;

        $settings = get_option('sideposts_widget');

        $images = get_children( 'post_type=attachment&post_mime_type=image&post_parent=' . $post->ID );
        if ( $images ) {
            $img = array();
            foreach( $images as $imageID => $imagePost ) {
                $img[] = wp_get_attachment_image_src($imageID);
            }
            $thumb = array_pop($img);

            $thumb_h = intval( (int) $settings['thumbnail'] * (int) $thumb[2] / (int) $thumb[1] );
        }
    }

    // Select default or alternate layout for blog posts: Default = 1 / Alternate = 2
    $blogLayout = 2;

    if ( have_posts() ) :
        echo '<div class="blog-page-section">';
        echo '<ul class="blog-grid">'; // Grid class for the posts
        $counter = 0; // Track the number of posts
        while ( have_posts() ) : the_post();
            if ($counter % 4 == 0 && $counter != 0) {
                echo '</ul><ul class="blog-grid">'; // Start a new row every 4 posts
            }

            if(get_the_post_thumbnail($post->ID, 'post') ) :
                if ( $blogLayout==1 ) :
                    echo '<li class="blog-item">';
                    echo '<div class="featured-blog-image"><a href="' . get_permalink() .'" title="' . the_title_attribute( 'echo=0' ) . '">';
                    echo get_the_post_thumbnail($post->ID, 'post' );
                    echo '</a></div>';
                    echo '<div class="blog-info">';
                    echo '<h2 class="sub-title"> <a href="' . get_permalink() .'"> '. get_the_title() .' </a> </h2>';
                    echo '<p class="excerpt">'. get_the_excerpt() . '</p>';
                    echo '<a class="blog-list-button" href="' . get_permalink() .'" title="Read More">Read More</a>';
                    echo '</div>';
                    echo '</li>';

                elseif ( $blogLayout==2 ) :
                    echo '<li class="blog-item">';
                    echo '<div class="featured-blog-image"><a href="' . get_permalink() .'" title="' . the_title_attribute( 'echo=0' ) . '">';
                    echo get_the_post_thumbnail($post->ID, 'post' );
                    echo '</a></div>';
                    echo '<div class="blog-info">';
                    echo '<h2 class="sub-title"> <a href="' . get_permalink() .'"> '. get_the_title() .' </a> </h2>';
                    echo '<p class="excerpt">'. get_the_excerpt() . '</p>';
                    echo '<a class="blog-list-button" href="' . get_permalink() .'" title="Read More">Read More</a>';
                    echo '</div>';
                    echo '</li>';

                endif;

            elseif( !get_the_post_thumbnail($post->ID, 'post') ) :
                if ( $blogLayout==1 ) :
                    echo '<li class="blog-item">';
                    echo '<div class="featured-blog-image"><a href="' . get_permalink() .'" title="' . the_title_attribute( 'echo=0' ) . '">';
                    echo '<img src="' . get_first_post_image() . '" alt="' . get_the_title() . '" height="300px" width="auto">';
                    echo '</a></div>';
                    echo '<div class="blog-info">';
                    echo '<h2 class="sub-title"> <a href="' . get_permalink() .'"> '. get_the_title() .' </a> </h2>';
                    echo '<p class="excerpt">'. get_the_excerpt() . '</p>';
                    echo '<a class="blog-list-button" href="' . get_permalink() .'" title="Read More">Read More</a>';
                    echo '</div>';
                    echo '</li>';

                elseif ( $blogLayout==2 ) :
                    echo '<li class="blog-item">';
                    echo '<div class="featured-blog-image"><a href="' . get_permalink() .'" title="' . the_title_attribute( 'echo=0' ) . '">';
                    echo '<img src="' . get_first_post_image() . '" alt="' . get_the_title() . '" height="300px" width="auto">';
                    echo '</a></div>';
                    echo '<div class="blog-info">';
                    echo '<h2 class="sub-title"> <a href="' . get_permalink() .'"> '. get_the_title() .' </a> </h2>';
                    echo '<p class="excerpt">'. get_the_excerpt() . '</p>';
                    echo '<a class="blog-list-button" href="' . get_permalink() .'" title="Read More">Read More</a>';
                    echo '</div>';
                    echo '</li>';

                endif;
            else :
                echo '<li class="blog-item">';
                echo '</li>';
            endif;
            $counter++; // Increment post counter
        endwhile;
        echo '</ul>'; // Close the last row
        echo '</div>';
        do_action( 'genesis_after_endwhile' );
    endif;

    wp_reset_query();
}

remove_action ('genesis_loop', 'genesis_do_loop'); // Remove the standard loop
add_action( 'genesis_loop', 'custom_do_loop' ); // Add custom loop

genesis();